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Problem statement
By attempting to replace email, Slack is changing companies’ cultures, including bullying and unprofessional behaviour.
Companies nonetheless are still responsible for this.
Workplace chats can amplify infighting, help divide companies and facilitate employee organising.
Private channels with their exclusion and saying nasty things are a real problem.
Organising to advance group interests on Slack is very easy.
Reaction and overreaction
Google: listened to the protests and then shut down the communication tools and supposedly retaliated against the organisers.
Still killing the tool may be a real overkill and a brake slam on productivity.
It’s the CEO and top management’s job to instil the company culture, which should trickle down to private channels.
UPD: interesting comment: make all private chats public after a certain period of time. Don’t think it will work well with HR type issues.
[MK: in Aviasales we’re channelling some of the communications by having specially-made channels for venting out – still with boundaries, just more relaxed rules that anyone joining agrees to abide by.]