The impact of social technologies on the workplace is astounding. Take Slack, for example - launched in 2013 and was named in 2014 by the Verge as “the fastest growing workplace software ever.”

Yes, you heard right - that startup worth $2.8 billion that is basically a slicker version of MSN.

Reduce Junk

To be fair, Slack does empty your inbox considerably of those pointless e-mails that could be easily answered with a simple yes or no. I often leave the app open all day and for me it’s just another way of saying “I am at work and I am available to talk.” In that way, these apps are taking over corporate communications within teams.

A quick skim through Product Hunt shows hundreds more products focused on increasing productivity and getting things done. Workplace apps are now a dime a dozen. Sometimes they help. Sometimes they add to the distractions to your day, leading to general in-house banter and emoji overload.

Apps like Slack, Box and Yammer have really taken off in places like Silicon Valley, New York and startup hubs around the world. They’ll be slower taking off with the big corporates though - they represent something of a culture clash. Generally, corporates are much more conservative and have to factor security into the equation.

New Competitors

Cisco have have developed their own collaborative chat product, Spark, which we’ve used and which we find effective just like Slack. So now we face the problem of dealing with multiple channel-oriented chat products all over again.

Problems aside, like many companies we find the new form of communication productive. And although email’s not going away anytime soon, apps like Slack and Spark are doing a good job of trying to kill it off!

Photo courtesy of wallpaperbeta.com.