Use Self-Serve Materials
Learning Objectives
After completing this unit, you’ll be able to:
- Describe the purpose of self-serve learning materials.
- Design Slack self-serve learning materials.
Self-Serve Materials
In addition to preparing for your live training sessions, create materials that your client’s employees can access at any time, at their own pace. This will reach those that learn more through reading and writing, independently and on-demand.
For Slack learning, consider the following self-serve materials when creating your content. These are the most common categories of self-serve materials you can use with your clients. However, determine what works best for your client, and use these as initial guidance.
Guides
This typically refers to PDF documents that cover a specific topic, usually one to a few pages in length. Guides should be easy to read, so they can be shared directly in Slack or learning portals. For example, check out the Slack Etiquette guide, which explains common ways to use Slack for work.
Slack Channels
Share Slack tips in a Slack channel such as #tips-slack or #help-slack. Depending on the channel structure your client designs, you might have a space to provide Slack support directly into their Slack Enterprise Grid. You can create easy-to-read content, such as Slack tips, that can be shared in these support channels (for example: #help-slack). This way, clients can learn more about Slack right in the platform.
Want a quick tip? Start a Slack Tip Tuesday campaign, and share a helpful tip every Tuesday. You can get this started for your clients by queuing them up with Slack’s scheduled send feature. Consider sharing well-formatted Slack messages, Slack Clips, or GIFs to convey your message.
Need another option? Block Kit Builder is a supplement for self-serve support that provides more flexibility with how your messages appear with clicks not code.
Videos
Videos are short digestible pieces of content to demonstrate a specific topic or concept. You can share a lot of knowledge through videos in different formats using these resources.
- Slack Clips: Good for creating quick clips and sharing in channels.
- Third-party tools: You can create more professional videos through other video creation tools outside of Slack, depending on the resources you have. Keep in mind, this can require more time to produce and must be imported to Slack to share in channels.
- Slack Help Center: Access curated content at the Slack Help Center.
To promote Slack’s experiential learning approach, opt for live training before suggesting self-serve alternatives. However, sometimes live training isn’t optimal to meet your client’s needs. In fact, sometimes it’s impossible. In these situations, consider using video as an alternative to live training. You can also supplement live training by using videos to introduce concepts ahead of time or reinforce concepts after the fact.
Consider these factors to decide when to use video as a substitute or addition to live training.
- Difficult coordination across time zones
- Bandwidth of client’s team members
- Persona of typical user or the client’s culture
- Whether learners need extra support for certain topics
Quick Tip
Record and share live sessions for learners so they can review the session.
In this unit, you learned to design and deliver effective Slack training by creating learning materials, preparing live environments, and developing self-guided resources, all while maintaining Slack standards. This module has equipped you with the skills to support successful Slack adoption through comprehensive training solutions.