Other triggers are more fun (read: rely heavily on gifs). “Damn” prompts gif responses — generally ones in which people are injured. “Online” prompts gifs of people suiting up, or getting to work, and sometimes, inexplicably, an incredulous look from The Dude.
“Weather” and “hot” prompts more slackbot sass:
In the latter category, we have the big rule: gender neutral language.
Turns out, your coworkers are interesting. Buddy calls is our designated, mandated, once-a-month chance, to talk about anything but work. As a result, I know now something about trains through rural Canada, interior design for the mobility challenged, and tea. But, more important, I know who my colleagues are and what they care about.
And we brag for each other.
I start my workday by greeting unconscious people I’ve never met.
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- How robots remind of us to communicate as humans.
- How we “humblebrag” and share our “fuckups.”
- The tools we use to work “in the open” — even if across time zones and behind laptops.
SLACK
If you’re not familiar with Asana, it’s project management software. The building blocks are boards, and projects, and tasks. The point of all these things is: you can make notes with stuff to do — assign them to people, give due dates, leave comments, favorite tasks, organize them by topic, and get. your. act. together.
But I don’t. Because that’s boring.
Ask yourself…
The bots:
Slackbot:
And by “the dawn of time” I mean “9ish months ago when we started this whole system.”
According to our Holacracy model — we have standardized “Tactical” and “Governance” meetings. If you know Holacracy — you know that it’s very structured. There’s a check-in round, there are checklists, there are metrics. There’s an agenda to set. And there’s a proper order in which to do all of this, so that the meeting runs smoothly.
This is to say: at Convert, we communicate a bit differently.
And through tacos.
Sometimes we just end up talking about stuff.
Other things we do differently are…
In theory, this means, I can, if I want, sit at my desk and do my work and publish my articles and finish my tasks and interact, throughout the day, with absolutely no one.
Full disclosure: I’ve never done a buddy call correctly.
Slackbot didn’t forget (or, at least, Dennis, who programmed the command, didn’t).
And then when I lamented that “y’all” is not a proper plural form, slackbot adapted.
But honestly, they’re not just jokes. And it took me a few months to understand how we really program slackbot.
Then I get into a fight with a robot.
If Convert had a traditional office, slack would be our conference room, and kitchen, and meeting room, and bulletin board. Here’s how we use it to make the “online” feel like the “in person.”
And then we have a channel for the opposite!
But honestly — tools and processes are all sort of irrelevant.
In a remote team: you have to get over that.
Slackbot telling you “it hopes you feel better” would feel pretty lousy if your coworkers didn’t also chime in. #Watercooler works because we share. Asana works because we sent out “likes,” and are transparent enough to give updates.
I’ve found that at Convert, the fuckups we share take a few different forms. Sometimes, they’re “general life” stuff (ie. I spent 4 hours at the DMV). Sometimes they’re actual “I wasn’t great at my job” stuff.
This does a couple things.
Hey Taco:
And when Converters celebrate each other, slackbot celebrates with them. (Sometimes in ways which are, admittedly, a little strange).
We brag for the company:
Everybody and their Tech Crunch-subscribing mother uses Slack — and for good reason.
So slackbot gives us “gentle” reminders if we screw this up.
Because I’ve always gone over of time.
Here, we’re a totally remote team, working nearly totally flexible hours. We’re based in 9 different countries, and work across 11 time zones.
They’re the human foundations to our primarily digital communication.
Hey Taco also allows you to “cash in” tacos for team rewards — which you can customize. But it’s real rewards aren’t tangible ones. It’s breeding a culture of positivity and encouragement through small, congratulatory actions.
Convert has a dedicated Conscious Business policy — which is multi-faceted and always developing. But a big part of it is gender neutrality — which is core to our hiring process, to our social mission, and to our language.
And honestly — it’s a big win for company culture because it makes me look forward to logging onto slack. The big red notifications aren’t just scary — they’re updates from friends.
The channels:
So I love the HeyTaco! bot for two reasons: 1) I like to win things. 2) I like tacos.
And honestly, it’s just a nice, congratulatory place to hangout. Whenever I see new notifications from this channel — I’m pretty thrilled. And I’m pretty proud of some of the things my coworkers have accomplished.
#all_watercooler:
Now, I know these just look like jokes.
So we’re not in the same place — and not all the gifs sent over slack can make up for that.
My first few weeks at Convert, pretty much every answer to every question was: Asana.
What keeps your meetings on track? And who takes your meeting notes? Where do they live? Are they easy to access?
I usually send pictures from my travels. Other people send photos of their kids. Or food. Or a course they’re taking. Or hikes or strange laptop set ups or swanky Airbnbs or more food.
The fuckups channel makes it easier.
#all_fuckups:
(And some more sass from slackbot)
In the end: we use slackbot in a manner that’s subtle, and undiscussed, but important. It’s a robot that reminds us to interact in ways that are human.
Tools are only as good as the teams that use them. But when you have a great team, using great tools — that’s when you can really build something.
At Convert, these things only work because we work with them.
But here’s why it’s cool: it encourages you to encourage each other. There becomes a set protocol for saying “Hey–you did an awesome job.” And that makes saying “hey you did an awesome job” easy and habitual.
Every week we have a 30 minute hangouts meeting called “Share Your Wins and Miseries” (which, I know, isn’t the most creative title). It acts, more or less, as the “humble_brag/fuckups” channel in real life. Or, like, a team wide buddy call. Basically, we sit around and say, one by one: what went well for us this week, and what went poorly.
Still — weekly meeting’s structure, agendas, and notes—all live pretty nicely, and track-ably in a set Asana project.
#all_humblebrag:
Every company should have a space like that.
Gifs and tacos and hearts are shared.
I’ve spent a lot of time working remotely. One thing I notice we do differently? People keep their webcams on, unless their internet quality is exceptionally bad. If you stumble into any of our meetings, you’ll see people in coworking spaces, or in cars, or cafes, or from their decks. I’ve taken a call from a tent. Visibility is more important than formality.
Ask yourself…
And Converters aren’t boring.
When Converters get sick, slackbot joins the empathetic human chorus:
And how about you?
Buddy calls are ramped up more frequently for new members. That way, you get to know the team better, faster — and you feel more comfortable reaching out with questions. They’re also good practice for the Convert-honored art of navigating timezones, and learning to make your calendar play well with others’.
- How can we automate humanly? Attentively? What can we “build in” that shows “I’m paying attention.”
- What does our company stand for? How can we reinforce that in the way we communicate?
- How do we remind ourselves to give positive feedback? And how do we encourage ourselves to admit our mistakes?
- Where is our space to talk as humans — not just as coworkers?
ASANA
Buddy calls are ramped up more frequently for new members. That way, you get to know the team better, faster — and you feel more comfortable reaching out with questions. They’re also good practice for the Convert-honored art of navigating timezones, and learning to make your calendar play well with others’.
Buddy calls are ramped up more frequently for new members. That way, you get to know the team better, faster — and you feel more comfortable reaching out with questions. They’re also good practice for the Convert-honored art of navigating timezones, and learning to make your calendar play well with others’.
- What can we do to make my remote team feel less isolated?
- Do we see value in dedicating a few work hours to take a break from work?
So what’s the big idea?
The least practical channels in the Convert slack tend to be the most important.
At Convert, we work on a Holacracy system — which means we work autonomously. We own our “spheres.” There’s no real approval process, or excessive back-and-forth.
When slackbot suggested I address the team as “y’all” — I complained.
Where is your “no nonsense, get shit done” space? How do you use it to keep yourself on task?
And you might be wondering: “What’s so innovative about a bot that over-relies on gif humor?”
(By “us,” I mostly mean “me.” Slackbot mostly gives me gentle reminders when I screw this up).
