Guides

How to keep up with Slack direct messages without living in Slack

Questions in Slack DMs are easy to read and forget, both the ones you’re asked and the ones you ask. A simple way to make sure each one gets an answer.

Slack makes it easy to read a message and move on. The red badge goes away the moment you open a DM, whether or not you answered it, and a question you asked someone yesterday leaves no trace at all once the conversation scrolls. Both directions slip: what you owe people, and what you’re waiting on from them.

Questions you’re asked

• Answer in under two minutes, or mark it. If you can’t reply now, use Slack’s “Remind me about this” or “Save for later” instead of leaving it read and hoping to remember.
• Reply in the thread when the question came in a thread, so the person sees it where they asked.
• If the answer will take time, say when: “Looking into it, I’ll get back to you by Thursday.” That closes the question for them and turns it into a promise for you.
• Check your saved messages at the same two times every day, not every time Slack pings.

Questions you ask

These are the ones nobody tracks. You asked a colleague for the signed contract, they reacted with an emoji, and three days later you realize it never came. A few habits help:

• Ask one clear thing per message, with a when: “Could you send the signed contract by tomorrow?” is easier to answer and to check on than three questions in a paragraph.
• Set a reminder on your own message when the answer matters.
• If a day passes, follow up in the same conversation with the one thing you need. A short “Any luck with the contract?” is normal on Slack, not pushy.

Keep DMs and email in one list

The bigger problem is that Slack and email each keep their own half of what you owe. A colleague’s Slack question and a customer’s email are both replies you owe, and they belong in the same place, in the order they matter.