Policies & Procedures Technology

Five Reasons Hostels Should Use Slack

Byron Bunda
Written by Byron Bunda

Most people in the business world know about Slack, the productivity messaging tool. Three million users and 77 of Fortune 100 companies use it. Maybe you savor the fact that working at a hostel has nothing in common with working at a corporation, but when it comes to this messaging tool, you’re mistaken. Here are the reasons why Slack is the ideal communications tool for your hostel.

Slack logo

More organization

Most hostel inboxes are cluttered with emails of every kind. As a result, this can become another chore, another space in your hostel for employees to keep clean. Using Slack enables your hostel team to communicate without the clutter. There are different channels to organize all the different functions of your hostel. Message the Housekeeping channel to let them know Room 203 is checking out late. Ping the Front Desk channel to remind the morning shift about the school group checking in. If the heater in Room 112 breaks, alert the Maintenance channel. Using Slack to replace your communications log or incident reports will save you time, keep you organized, and enable you to quickly share information with the right people.

Less distraction

Also, the program allows you to set different Alerts for different kinds of messages. This ensures that you’re instantly notified about the things that matter most, but you leave non-urgent, low-importance items for later. With Slack, your employees can read back on messages they missed if they need to, but unnoticed messages don’t become clutter in an inbox.

Helpful integrations

Slack integrates with hundreds of other applications. Jibble allows employees to clock in and clock out. Upkeep will enable your staff to create maintenance work orders.  Housekeeping can use Manifestly keep track of which rooms need cleaning. Tech savvy hostels can even configure Slack to take bookings or manage a CRM platform. Instead of training employees to keep up with different systems, you can use Slack to do it all, quickly and easily.

Fast and Easy

Using Slack is like having a conversation, whereas sending an email is like writing a letter. This type of instant communication is more convenient and timely for your staff than checking their emails at the beginning of their shift. Instead of sitting down at the computer to draft lengthy email, tap out a quick message on your cell phone. You can access the app from cell phones, tablets, or computers, making it perfect for people in hostels who are on the move. Your front desk staff can use computers, whereas housekeepers and maintenance staff can use slack from a mobile device.

Most importantly, Slack is fun

Working at a hostel is supposed to be fun, and how you communicate can be part of it! Express your emotions with emojis. Ask Poncho the Weathercat for today’s weather. Start a channel to catalogue all the funny things you overhear in the hostel.  This is a tool your team will want to use, not have to use. Making it fun will improve your communications and make things better for everyone.

Improve the way your hostel communicates. Start using Slack today.

 

About the author

Byron Bunda

Byron Bunda

During my final year in university, my advisor told me to dedicate my research to a topic I enjoy learning about, that way it will be easier to focus on the project. This was the first time I engaged my curiosity around hostels and decided I wanted to be more than just a frequent hostel guest. I believe that hostels contribute positively to society and that there are not enough people who know about hostels. That is why it is my mission to learn, experience, and contribute everything as much as I can to the hostel industry. If you have something to teach me, or a way that I can contribute to the hostel community, please let me know!

1 Comment

  • Hello Byron, we are using Slack to manage our house project, we need something to prevent overbooking and set events and tasks, do you have any integration to suggest?

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