When used right, Slack can be your all-in-one productivity tool. It houses all your important files, facilitates team collaboration, allows for seamless communication, and lets you set reminders — one-time or recurring.
Slack recurring reminder is an extremely useful feature and is an answer to common problems. It helps you optimize your workflow by reducing interruptions. The tool will automatically remind you at the specified time, making it a valuable addition to your daily routine.
You don't need any project management app when you have Slack recurring reminders with you. Keep reading to learn how you can set up both recurring and one-time Slack reminders, and why it is important to do so.
A recurring reminder means that you'll be reminded of a task on a regular basis. Suppose you want to remind yourself every Monday to log your weekly progress. Instead of manually setting up a slack reminder every now and then, you can create reminders on repeat in one go.
Here's how:
When you're typing in the Slack text box, you can use several commands by entering ''/'' followed by the command name, also known as a slash command. The slash command for reminders is ''/remind [@someone or #channel] [what] [when]''
Don't worry; you won't have to complete the whole statement yourself. Just type ''/remind'' and click on the reminder icon from the pop up menu. Here's what this command means:
Keep in mind that while you can write one-time reminders for other members, you cannot set recurring reminders for them. These can only be set for the whole channel or yourself.
Let's show you a few examples of the commands you can write.
Command @someone or channel What When /remind #current-project Submit weekly reports Every Monday /remind @memberXYZ Submit the presentation 15 January /remind Me Join the product launch meeting In 20 minutes
Now, let's take one of these examples and actually run the command. We'll use the following command:
/remind #current-project to submit weekly reports every Monday
Once you press Enter, here's what you'll see in the text box.
Click on the ‘'When'' drop-down menu and select ‘'repeating'' to set a recurring reminder.
Next, you will be asked to set the time.
We set the time to 9:00 am and the day to Monday, as indicated in our initial command. Then, we click ‘'Set Reminder.'' Here's the Slack message you see next.
Now, Slack will be reminding you every Monday at 9 am on the selected channel to submit the weekly reports.
Let's say the project is over, and you no longer want weekly reports every Monday. You can simply go to the notification where Slack notified you that the reminder has been set. Click on ‘Delete’ to end the reminder. Alternatively, if you want to pause reminders temporarily, then you can always snooze your slack reminders.
Whichever reminder you set, Slack will set the default time at 9:00. Let's say you set a reminder for Tuesdays. You'll receive the reminder at 9:00 in the morning every Tuesday. That's Slack's default reminder time.
If you want to change this time, you can do it manually for each reminder you set. Alternatively, you can change the default time for all the reminders.
You can learn more about managing and dismissing reminders in Slack's guide.
Pretty much everyone could benefit from using slack reminders which recur. Here are some examples of how different groups can use them:
Every individual team member in Slack can use reminders which recur to stay on top of tasks without having to remember everything themself. Since the reminders can be scheduled on a daily, weekly, or monthly basis, you can customize them according to your needs.
Suppose you want to set a repeating reminder for every month. On the 30th of every month, you want to clean up your workspace, delete unnecessary files, and organize your documents. Let Slack remind you about your to-do list for the 30ths!
Team managers have to keep track of the collective progress, meetings, task completions, and so on. It can be hard to keep all of this in mind, especially with a bigger team. Instead, the managers can automate reminders for the communication channels to make sure everyone is on track.
For example, a manager can create a reminder that recurs for every 10th of the month to get status updates from the members.
Sometimes, the whole channel doesn't have to be reminded of something. Individual team members can set reminders for each other, too.
For example, suppose you're planning a product launch. The channel includes marketers, social media managers, and developers working on that project's testing, content creation, and design.
Now, the content creators can set reminders for the head developer to send them the specs for the new product so that they can start creating marketing materials.
Then, content creators can set up and edit reminders for the development team to send updates every Friday. Or, the marketing team can set up reminders for the social media team to update them about social post creation every Friday. You get the point, right?
Sometimes, you don't need to set up reminders on repeat. You might just have to remind one member to complete a task before a specific deadline. Maybe you want to remind everyone in the channel there's a meeting at 3 pm.
Again, use the reminder command as we did earlier.
Your co-workers or team members will then see the reminder in the chat.
Thanks to the existence of calendar apps, we can keep track of events like special occasions and important meetings. But what about the everyday tasks that we have to do? Slack's recurring reminders come in to save the day.
We all have that one coworker whose desk is an exhibition of Post-it notes. They probably have multiple reminders set on their phones as well. Even then, it's easy to forget a thing or two.
Automating reminders can make the reminder process easier for team members, freeing up their time and mental energy to focus on more important tasks.
When juggling multiple tasks and projects, it's common for something to slip through the cracks. You don't want it to be something important like a client meeting or client work details. Fortunately, if you set up reminders in Slack, you won't have to worry about missing important dates of submissions or meetings set up in the past.
In a team setting, it's important to be able to rely on each other and hold one another accountable. Repetitive reminders in Slack allow everyone to take responsibility for their tasks.
For example, if a manager sets up a repeating reminder for the group to submit their weekly reports, the members won't have any excuse to miss the deadline.
The way every organization or work group uses Slack will be different. Some use it more liberally, and others only for very specific purposes. Here are some use cases of how Slack's repetitive reminders can benefit your team.
Part of the process of creating a family-like environment in the workplace is checking in regularly with your team members, especially if you're in a managerial position. Don't simply make it about your current project.
Instead, you can maybe ask about their wins for the week or something they're looking forward to, too. You could even ask about a challenge they faced during the week.
Then, you can use this information to offer help or guidance where needed. You may also use it to praise an individual's achievements.
These reminders will ensure that these check-ins happen weekly, bi-weekly, or monthly, depending on what works best for your team.
We all know the importance of customer service for any business. Happy customers equal more business. So, it's important to talk about your customers and their experience regularly.
You can use Slack recurring reminders to remind your team about the weekly customer service meeting. The process becomes even smoother if you use a customer support tool like JustReply that integrates with Slack for seamless ticket management. You can then use the customer data within JustReply to present a summary of the critical customer issues during that week.
The same applies to other types of meetings, be it for marketing, sales, or any other department.
Feedback is an integral part of self-growth and progress. It helps your team identify their strengths and weaknesses. Feedback collection isn't just for the members but also for managers and other higher-ups.
You may collect feedback through one-on-one conversations or through surveys. Slack recurring reminders can help in this regard, too.
Suppose you want to collect feedback from every team member once a month. You can ask the members to set personal reminders to meet you (the manager) for a feedback session on a certain date and time every month.
Note: You cannot set personal reminders on repeat for other members, so they'll have to do it themselves.
If you plan to take the survey route, remind everyone to fill out and submit their responses through Slack by a certain date. For instance, you can send out a personal reminder to complete the survey on Friday before they leave for the weekend.
Do you want to create a buzz around your upcoming product launch? Use Slack reminders to create a countdown for the big day. Set up a channel specifically for this purpose and use the /remind command to send daily reminders about how many days are left until the launch, known as channel reminders.
Technically, it's not a ‘'recurring reminder'' because you have to set it up manually every day. But it's a fun way to keep everyone excited and engaged, especially if you have a group of people that operates well in a remote work setting. You can also use channel reminders to share sneak peeks or behind-the-scenes of the product development process.
Summing up, we can easily say that Slack is a little more than just a communication tool. The more features you use, the better functionality you can get out of Slack. Here are some takeaways from this article:
The Slack automation of reminders has not only made it easier to maintain an uninterrupted workflow but also ensures productivity that comes with task completion. Use Slack reminders today so that you never miss out on a meeting, an important email, a crucial message, a feedback session, or any other important task. Start achieving your goals earlier with Slack Reminder!
