This is a normal part of today’s work. I don’t understand how people do that without losing their minds.

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Dear, thank you for your hard work.

I work full time for a 100% remote company. Most of my work is done independently, with a few team meetings a week plus a weekly meeting with my manager, but other than that I work alone on a project basis. I’m writing this under stress on Slack.

Since the entire company is remote, Slack is very important to the company culture. The “People” division has launched a number of channels tailored to various interests, such as pets, children, TV shows, etc. Of course, there are also channels for projects and teams. Team leaders post about new projects in team channels, project channels, company-wide channels, and post details about projects that different people are working on several times a day. It’s great to be transparent about what the rest of the company is doing, but it has nothing to do with my actual job.

Most of the time I find Slack to be a terrible distraction. I really don’t understand why people read stuff like this all day long, let alone post it. You probably need to actually message someone once or twice a week. Most communication with managers is saved for weekly meetings. Occasionally he messages me on Slack, but it’s not urgent. That being said, I find it scary to step away from my computer, even for bathroom breaks. Because Slack makes you “look away.” I think about it all the time when I’m at work and worry that I’ll ignore the app too much and “look away.” I feel like I’m tied to my computer in a way that I don’t really need other than using Slack. I don’t even know if anyone notices that I’m “online” and it really stresses me out. How are others getting through this?

— slacking off

Dear slacker

Isn’t it weird that all these tools meant to make us more collaborative and productive are mostly just distractions? I’m a freelancer, and I still find myself distracted by my (few!) Slack channels. My memories of Slack when I worked full-time in an office were exactly what you said. I had dozens of active channels, only a few of which were actually work-related. There was definitely someone who seemed to be using Slack. all Did they ever finish work that day? Unclear! I’m sure some of us are really good at multitasking and can keep Slack open while we work, but for many of us, it’s really hard to stay focused when Slack notifications are going off every three seconds.

All that being said, I’m very sympathetic to your predicament here, but I still wonder if you’re imagining obligations to Slack at work that don’t necessarily exist. You say your boss doesn’t communicate with you much on Slack. And it seems that the boss is the most important person to pay attention to there. If he’s texting you constantly and you don’t respond, it might be a cause for concern. But he seems to have a very healthy relationship with Slack. He doesn’t seem to expect you to be very active on Slack either, so I’m wondering where the pressure to seem available comes from. It bothers me that you describe yourself as being “afraid” to leave your seat, even to go to the bathroom, because you’re worried it will look like you’re leaving your seat. I think you may be worried about the work you are projecting entirely onto Slack. I’d like to have an honest conversation with your manager (again, he seems to have a healthy view on Slack usage!) about his or her expectations for Slack. I doubt that he expects you to appear regularly on a TV channel. So what exactly does he expect from you and your Slack usage?

There’s no one — that is. no one— uses Slack all the time, and sure, everyone takes bathroom breaks. We hope you can find ways to have a healthier relationship with Slack at work. Because the way you’re thinking right now is very stressful. I’m thinking of you!

Dear, thank you for your hard work.

My current title is “Senior Manager”, but I don’t manage anyone. I am an independent contributor. I manage projects, so that’s how I collect cats and manage people’s contributions, but I’ve never had anyone reporting directly to me. I would like to get a job in another organization that requires experience as a human resource manager. Do you think my project management experience and “senior manager” title is enough to apply? Or will I look stupid if they find out I’ve never managed a team? If it’s the latter, how can I get this kind of experience? How do I manage people when I’ve never managed them?

-“manager”

Dear “Manager”

I say do your best! The worst that can happen is that they decide that your experience doesn’t exactly match what they’re looking for, but you won’t know until you apply. Also, since you might be interviewed, write a script to make the case that your current role requires you to manage a lot of people, even if you don’t have any direct reports.

As for how to gain such experience, I think the best place to start is at your current workplace. Discuss your career path with your manager and explain your interest in becoming a manager. In my experience, good managers (and people interested in management) are somewhat rare, so I think they’re excited about this. Too many people get promoted to managing people because it’s the next step in their career, whether or not they actually want to manage people. If your boss tells you he doesn’t think you’re ready, ask him what it would take for you to feel confident taking on one or two of your direct reports. Are there any courses I can take? Would you like to follow your manager at work? We hope to help you transition smoothly into your new role at your current job, and make it easier for you to apply for the next role in your career. Good luck.

-dolly

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