Slack Grows to 8M but Causes Distraction

Slack Grows in User Numbers but Causes Distraction and Inefficiency in Teams: What's the Alternative?

Slack is habitually used as a real-time chat app, which can cause a lot of distraction for employees; a new team communications app Tipi solves this problem by encouraging an asynchronous communication model.

Slack, that allows teams to chat and share files, has recently added a million new users, and now counts 8 million daily active users in more than 500,000 organizations. In addition, as a demonstration of the popularity of team communications apps, Microsoft has joined the competition with its Team chat app, now being used by 200,000 companies.

The advantage of Slack comes from being a pioneer in team collaboration technology, born at the right time - just as the structure of companies was shifting from hierarchy to free flow of information. Slack reflected on this new, much looser framework, where people are valued for their skills and abilities, not position; goals and projects are transparent; and companies exist in a culture of shared values.

However, it was found that real-time chats can become a huge productivity issue for many businesses, with millions of dollars lost every day because of ineffective communication.

'Real-time communication often makes employees distracted," said Aurelija Urbonaviciute, CEO and Co-founder of Tipi, a new asynchronous team communication app. 'People get distracted not only by the real-time notifications, but also by the pressure to respond quickly. Also, Slack, like other social media, can become addictive. That's why we have created a tool that doesn't need team members to respond in real-time. Tipi is asynchronous, meaning it should be used only when a person is finished working on their current, most important task. This removes distractions and preserves creativity, focus and efficiency."

The difference in response time between real-time and asynchronous communication could be only hours, but it adds a huge company-wide productivity boost.

Tipi is designed as a modern discussion board - so it keeps information accessible to all teams and employees at any time. This helps companies to be well aligned and more transparent, but it doesn't distract employees from their current tasks.

Tipi also helps managers to be better in tune with the pulse of a company every day. Important information from each department is available in one place - and this could never be achieved with project-oriented tools and chat apps.

Generally, Tipi is great for exchanging information that might be relevant today or in the future, sharing valuable documents, onboarding information or simply having a meaningful, thoughtful discussion on any topic inside the team. Tipi can also be used for asking for help without breaking colleagues' focus and sharing ideas to get team feedback.

On the other hand, Slack can be used for certain real-time communication, such as replacing phone calls, sharing most relevant information that will be out of date in 1-2 days or for planned stand-up meetings for remote teams.

For more information, please visit Tipi's website.