Two simple emoji worth adding to Slack

If you’re using Slack on a team with more than fifty people, you’ve probably found yourself overwhelmed by the experience. I certainly have.

My team (like pretty much every team using Slack) is still figuring out how to reap the benefits of work chat (transparency, community, connection) without the added costs (information overload, constant interruptions, “hey you” knowledge sharing, etc.).

At Stitch Labs, we’ve tried lots of things to make Slack a less overwhelming place (channel naming conventions, clear channel topics, channel cleanup, usage guidelines, etc.). Our quickest win? Two simple emoji:

I wanted an easy way to thank teammates (and respond to thanks) without the overhead of additional messages and notifications. Slack’s emoji reactions (“reacji”) are perfect for this, but I couldn’t find any built-in emoji that unambiguously expressed “thank you” or “you’re welcome.” So I made my own!

For English speakers, “TY” is nearly universal. When someone shares a valuable update or announces free food in the kitchen, the “TY” reacji (+:ty:) makes it easy for coworkers to express gratitude:

“NP” isn’t perfect shorthand for “you’re welcome,” but it works for us. When a coworker thanks you for something, you can share a quick “NP” (+:np:) without giving your coworker a new unread message to deal with:

We use a couple other reacji that function as standalone communication: 👀 (“On it”) and ☑️ (“Done”). Sometimes we even use them in sequence:

We’ve found the :ty: and :np: reacji really helpful, and at least one former coworker has added them to their new company’s Slack workspace. To add them to yours, download them here. I’d love to see them spread far and wide!