The way Slack Huddles was created is part of what makes them so great. Although Slack is not the only one to embrace audio-only chats, and some might be inclined to laugh at yet another Clubhouse clone, I really appreciate the Discord-like approach to the feature. The feature sits in the lower left corner of your desktop window. Simply enter a channel, DM or click on the headset toggle to join a chat. A nice "Bloop" will be heard. To indicate that a Huddle is underway, you'll hear a "Bloop!" It doesn't take up a large screen and all the information is in a small corner. This really emphasizes that Huddles are not meant to replace meetings, but to circumvent them.Slack Huddles were announced at the end June to help bring back casual office conversations in this work-from-anywhere environment. It's the type of thing you do when you see a colleague and want to have a quick chat about hot gossip or update on a project. These conversations are not formal and should not be rushed.If you are like me, then you have been at home during the pandemic. While many employees are returning to work, others remain at home and rely on telecommunications services such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams, among other things. Ara Wagoner, Android Central's founder, listed Slack among the top 10 apps she uses to manage her phone and life. This is certainly true for many of us. One of the drawbacks to working remotely is that it can be difficult to connect with colleagues and make personal connections. Slack Huddles introduced me to this optimism, which turned into pure joy.Huddles don't have to be scheduled and anyone can join or leave the Huddle as they please. Instead of setting up a Google Meet session that will cover a lot of information, you can start a Huddle to have a quick chat and then jump right out. It's simple and effective. You can even share your screen and turn on live transcriptions if you need it.You can't view captions or share your screen on Android and iOS. The experience is slightly different. Although it defaults to full-screen, you can swipe down to reduce the Huddle and scroll through other Slack conversation.I don't know if you are a millennial but I was raised in a time when text messaging was the next big thing. You don't need to spend a lot of time on them. They are easy to use. Phone calls were never a priority for me. I still get anxious when I need to make a call. I have largely ignored the calling option on Slack, and sometimes forget it exists. Because phone calls seem to carry so much weight, especially in professional environments, I hate that little icon.Slack Huddles offers me the best of both worlds. That's why I love it.Slack Huddles allows me to have both the best and worst of both worlds. Clubhouse-style audio chats, Terse, are a bit like long-form voice messages. They're somewhere in the middle of an audio message or a call. This is great for social media, but it also works well for business communications apps that require many people to be absent from work. This also adds a casualness to remote work environments that is often lacking. The best thing about Huddle is that employers cannot monitor or record Huddle conversations. This means office gossip remains between the participants.Although new Slack features may not always be a hit with everyone, sometimes companies do manage to get it right. For example, when it introduced a pronoun field. Although Slack is not used by everyone, it's a great tool for communication.
