Communication in Slack happens in channels. By creating Slack channels aligned with your company structure and using clear, predictable naming guidelines, you can ensure that your workspace is organised and easy to navigate.

 

Establish channel structure

Organise your workspace using categories that your team already knows to help your members get orientated when they join Slack. Add new channels named for major topics that most members are already familiar with:

• Departments (e.g. #design, #marketing, #finance)
• Office locations (e.g. #san-francisco, #paris, #tokyo)
• Company-wide announcements (e.g. #announce-global, #announce-engineering)

Tip: Add a channel topic and description to let people know what each channel is used for. 

Use channel prefixes

We recommend using a set of standard prefixes to keep channel names consistent and descriptive. Here are some of our favourites:

 

help-	To ask questions or find information from other teams or departments. Examples: #help-benefits, #help-finance, #help-it
team-	For teams to coordinate work and activities. Examples: #team-design, #team-support, #team-sales
proj-	For cross-functional teams working together.  Examples: #proj-redesign, #proj-office-move, #proj-expense-reports
announce-	For important announcements that your team needs to know. Examples: #announce-sales, #announce-london, #announce-new-features
triage-	To triage issues or tasks in a streamlined manner. Examples: #triage-sales, #triage-help-centre, #triage-website
event-	To plan and execute events – large and small. Examples: #event-board-mtg, #event-company-picnic, #event-hr-offsite

 

Tip: Prefixes can help organise your channel list if your sidebar is set to sort alphabetically.

 

Manage existing channels

Work is dynamic, and sometimes priorities shift. Here's how to keep your channels organised when things change:

• Rename a channel to reflect what you’re currently working on.
• Manage posting permissions to keep announcement channels focused.
• Archive a channel to remove it from the list of active channels.
• Delete a channel to remove it and all of its contents from your workspace.

 

What’s next?

• Set default channels for new members so that they can access the most important information in your workspace from day one.
• If you're on a paid subscription, you can create user groups and set different default channels for each one.
• Let members know that they can star specific channels to keep those conversations above the fold in their app sidebar.