Slack

Slack is our main communication tool. You can reach every team member of thomann.io via Slack.

Etiquette

Using Slack can become confusing from time to time. That's why we try - especially in channels with more than two people and various topics - to answer questions in threads. This helps to keep the channels clean and to switch context between topics more easily.

Asynchronicity

Slack helps us to be very flexible in how and when we work. Therefore and due to other reasons (e.g. meetings, deep work, workshops) it might occur that team members do not respond immediately, and it's not expected from you that you respond immediately. Just make sure you respond to messages in a timely manner once you are available.

In situations where you need very urgent help, it's better to use channels such as #tech-dev or one of the support channels mentioned below to ask for help. This will increase the crowd you are reaching.

Open channels by default

Our Slack channels are open by default. If you’re unsure, whether you need a private channel, check these guidelines.

Private channels can be created when

you need a safe space for a team or organizational unit/division, e.g. each of our teams usually has a public channel for requests and a private channel to handle day-to-day work, discuss conflicts, or hold retros
the channel is used to work on and communicate classified information, e.g. financials or personal data of our employees
the channel is used by two team members maximum, e.g. to collect 1:1 topics

Channel naming

To make it easier to search through channels and organize them, there is a naming scheme in place (introduction 01/2024). Please stick to this scheme when creating channels and apply it to channels that do not yet use this scheme.

The naming scheme uses prefixes, followed by a dash, and the channel topic: prefix-topic

Prefixes

io- applies to general company-internal channels, reporting line channels, and office channels, e.g. #io-berlin, #io-managers, #io-team-all
division- applies to channels that gather members of one division , e.g. #division-organization, #division-data
unit- applies to channels that gather members of one unit, e.g. #unit-shop-engineering, #unit-product
team- applies to all publicly available team channels, e.g. #team-flavortown, #team-bk
community- applies to all community channels, e.g. #community-diversity, #community-wiki
tech- applies to all public & general engineering channels, e.g. #tech-dev, #tech-talk
data- applies to all public & general data channels, e.g. #data-gcp-alerts
prod- applies to all product-focused channels, e.g. #prod-review
proj- applies to all project-focused channels, best case temporary, e.g. #proj-cyberweek
1on1- applies to channels that are used for 1on1 topic collections, e.g. #1on1-jöran-ralph
recruiting- applies to channels dedicated to recruiting a new role, e.g. #recruiting-it-security-engineer
workshop- applies to channels used for organizing and conducting a workshop, e.g. #workshop-pc-and-finance
thomann- applies to all channels that connect us to the headquarters, e.g. #thomann-universe
support- applies to all channels in which team members can get support, e.g. #support-opsteam
news- applies to all channels used to share information, e.g. #news-slackcast
event- applies to all channels used for event organization, e.g. #event-openspace-2024
misc- applies to all general channels with no specific business focus, e.g. #misc-music

If you find a prefix missing, feel free to add it to this list.

Important channels

#io-team-all and #news-slackcast

#io-team-all is used for must-have/must-know information. Announcements made in this channel should always use the @Channel mention. Ask yourself: does everybody need to have this information right now?

#news-slackcast is used for should-have/should-know/nice-to-have information. For example all-over business context, information on workshops/team events that happened, progress of team projects, new people starting, old people leaving... Information provided here should either be posted without a mention or only use a weaker form such as mentioning a single team or @hier

Both channels are standard channels every newly added team member should join. If you haven't joined yet, please do so.

#thomann-universe, #tech-news, #tech-talk, #misc-coffee-time and #prod-bauchpinselei

#thomann-universe is used to connect all team members and all guests. It has no real communication purpose other than being able to contact all people we have in our slack workspace, regardless of being guests or workspace members.

Use the #tech-news channel to share important announcements that are relevant to all developers. This includes important code changes, accepted rfcs, patch day information and many more. All other questions and discussions that are relevant to all developers or where it's not clear which developer to ask are best placed in #tech-dev.

Use the #tech-talk channel if you stumbled upon interesting news in the tech world outside thomann.io that team members could be interested in.

If you find a really positive customer feedback, provide it to everybody in #prod-bauchpinselei.

#misc-coffee-time is a standard channel that helps you to connect to other team members. Every monday our coffee bot will match a new pair of team members to have a call in the current week.

Do not use @channel or @here mentions in these three channels. If you have important news that justify pinging everyone better choose #io-team-all or #news-slackcast.

Support Channels

Any questions regarding our infrastructure or how to track data and receive it? Both channels help you to quickly connect with team members of our operations and of our data team. Remember: there are no stupid questions. If you’re asking yourself a question, chances are high someone else can also profit from an answer.

#support-opsteam

This channel offers you a simple form for your request. Please try to provide as much information as possible and as little as needed. Opsteam will look into your issue and report back in the channel. All information is also tracked in an aligned Jira issue. The status of your request in the channel is visible at any time.

It is also possible for other team members to jump into the conversation and help out. Feel free to do this! Your collaboration is very much appreciated...

if externals use Slack themselves (i.e. at their company), invite them to the required channel(s) via Slack Connect. Admins on both sides will have to approve this request
if externals do not use Slack, invite them either as single channel or multichannel guest, depending on the number of channels they need to be part of
you must not add externals as full member due to the potential security risk

Slack admins

If any of your requests need admin approval, Slack will notify this group. In case you have an urgent request, you can find all admins via the @admins handle in Slack.

THOMANN.IO Employee Handbook