Have you ever dropped an important message or update into Slack only to watch it get completely lost in the chatter often with no responses at all? We call it the “scroll to oblivion” and its consequences are a collaborative nightmare: important updates go unread, timely feedback requests become overdue, and more.
For leadership it invokes our worst micromanagement behavior, stemming from the anxiety and frustration worrying that no one will follow through on a request.
The problem is that Slack is so low friction that requests can be dashed off quickly without any afterthought. Responding and reacting in Slack makes people feel busy and productive. It’s rewarding in the moment, even if it chips away at the important work by creating more and more distractions without action.
And all of this comes at a cost- the loss off accountability.
Bring the most important work into focus
That is why we are excited to introduce a new feature in the “Open Hoops” tab that solves all of this.
Leaders and teams can now clearly prioritize the most important work happening, and easily view all of the open requests that require attention in order to bring collaboration full circle, without all of the stress and anxiety of chat.
We think of it as the dashboard for team collaboration.
At the top of are the three highest priority hoops. These can be set by leaders or managers so that everyone on the team knows in a glance what needs their focus. We’ve found this feature to be great for driving the team’s attention and input to a wide range of requests that, if lost in Slack, would set us back days or weeks in productivity:
- Important updates
- Monthly and quarterly planning
- New product features
- Marketing projects and campaigns
- Offsite planning
To set a hoop to high priority simply click the menu icon in the top right corner and select “Make High Priority”
A bird’s eye view of what needs to get done
Below the highest priority hoops are the rest of the team’s open hoops. They are conveniently organized in order of when their response requests are due and display when the hoop is due and who still needs to respond.
For the more visual folks out there, toggle the “Highlight hoops” option at the top of the page to more easily distinguish which hoops still require your response. (We can pause here if you’d like to address those real quick.)
We’ve also added a few convenient ways to interact with a hoop in just the click of a button. Click the menu on the top of the hoop and:
- Save time with an AI summary of what’s happening in the hoop
- Give a nudge to anyone who needs a reminder via Slack or email
- Create clarity by making a hoop high priority
- Change response dates and contributors
- Delete a hoop completely if things have changed
Are you ready to take control of your team’s collaboration and get away from the Slack scroll to oblivion that is preventing work from moving forward, faster? We are looking for design partners who want to use Hoop with their business and help us build a better way to work. If you’re interested, drop us a line at founders@hoop.app and let us know.