Do you ever feel like you or your team could be more organized? Do meetings, tasks, and deadlines consistently slip through the cracks? Well, you‘re not alone – and Slack wants to help.
Slack has quickly become the team communication app of choice for its user-friendly interface and robust features. Over 12 million daily active users have embraced Slack to collaborate with co-workers. But did you know Slack does more than chat?
Buried in its features list is a productivity power-player: Slack reminders. Whether recurring meetings or one-off to-dos, Slack reminders help keep you and your team accountable. No more missed deadlines or last-minute scrambles!
This step-by-step walkthrough will teach you how to leverage Slack reminders for productivity. You‘ll learn:
✅ Key commands for creating reminders
✅ Tips for setting useful reminders
✅ Steps edit or troubleshoot reminders
Let‘s dive in – because getting organized shouldn‘t be chaotic!
Why You Need Slack Reminders
Before we get to the how-to, let‘s discuss why Slack reminders are worth using in the first place.
Like most professionals today, you‘re probably drowning in things to do. Reminders fall through the cracks in long email chains or scribbled sticky notes. And keeping your team in sync? Even harder.
Fortunately, Slack already brings your team together for communicating. Why not also leverage it to organize projects too? Here are some key reasons Slack excels at reminders:
Slack is where you collaborate already
- 12+ million daily active Slack users proves wide adoption by teams
- Easy way to set reminders directly where conversations happen already
Persistent reminders
- Reminders set in Slack remain visible and actionable
- Email reminders get buried or ignored
Integrates into workflows
| Reminder Use Cases | Examples |
|---|---|
| Team Meetings / Events | daily standups, sprint reviews, company all-hands |
| Group Task Management | launch deadlines, testing reminders |
| Personal To-Do Tracking | submit expenses, quarterly 1-on-1s |
Seamless recurrence setting
- Supports repeating reminders for meetings, projects spanning multiple days
The convenience of getting reminded right where work happens makes following up on responsibilities much easier. Let‘s look at how reminders work in Slack.
Anatomy of a Slack Reminder
Slack reminders use specialized bot syntax to define who, what, and when to be reminded about a task or event.
Reminders use the following format:
/remind [who] [what] [when]Breaking it down:
| Component | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
| who | @user or #channel to notify | @john.smith, #marketing |
| what | Reminder message text | Attending quarterly budget review |
| when | Date/time or recurrence | Tomorrow at 2pm, Every Monday 9am |
To remind yourself:
/remind me [what] [when]Some examples:
/remind @john Q3 Budget docs due tomorrow 9am
/remind #social-media Brainstorm social content every Tuesday 10am
/remind me Send client reporting every Friday 5pmNow that you know the syntax basics, let‘s walk through creating reminders.
How To Set a One-Time Reminder
When you need a simple one-off reminder delivered in the future, use Slack’s built-in dialog.
Follow these steps:
-
Navigate to the channel or direct message to create the reminder in
-
Type
/remindand hit Enter to launch the reminder popup modal -
Configure the details:
- Choose date/time
- Enter reminder text
- @mention users or channels
-
Confirm by clicking ”Save” and you’re done!
Here’s an example setting a one-time reminder to submit 1-on-1 talking points:
The user will receive the reminder message directly as a DM when the date/time hits.
For a true walkthrough experience, you can follow along in your own Slack workspace. Try setting a reminder to grab coffee tomorrow!
Setting Up Recurring Reminders
What about reminders you need again and again? Repeating meetings, daily status updates, weekly reports—these cry out for recurring reminders.
Rather than repeatedly creating one-off reminders, Slack allows you to define repetition right in the command syntax.
This structure works for all recurring reminders:
/remind [who] [what] [when recurrence]Some examples:
/remind #marketing Team meeting every Monday 9am
/remind @john Send status update every workday at 5pm
/remind me 1-on-1 talking points every 2 weeks Friday 10amNow your most frequent reminders recycle automatically, saving tons of effort!
Let‘s say your team needs a daily 15-minute standup meeting. You can set it up like this:
Recurring reminders keep your team refreshed on tasks through constant reinforcement.
Crafting Effective Reminder Messaging
Now that you know how to create Slack reminders, let’s discuss best practices around what your reminders should say and when they should be scheduled.
😁 Pro Tip: Reminders only help if people actually complete the actions!
Keep it Actionable
For best results, reminders should clearly state:
✅ The specific action needed
✅ Who needs to do it
✅ Any relevant supporting details
For example:
✅ "@john Send today‘s sales numbers by 5pm to support reporting"
❌ "Sales numbers for the weekly report"
Action-oriented messaging leaves no ambiguity around tasks.
Help them Prepare
Give ample lead time before deadlines – surprises cause delays!
😲 Imagine if your co-worker suddenly asked you to send presentation slides with 30 mins notice before the board meeting.
Set reminders at least 24 hours prior so teammates have time to prepare quality results.
Make it Visible
If the reminder is for a group, use an @channel or @here notification to flag it to everyone involved. Though initially intrusive, a little upfront visibility prevents last-minute scrambling.
Review Past Performance
See lots of snoozed or missed reminders from certain people? Have a constructive chat about reasonable workloads and timing.
Uncompleted reminders might indicate opportunities to adjust responsibilities or schedules. Leverage this insight to improve team collaboration.
Sticking to clear, actionable messaging and thoughtful timing will ensure your reminders actually get consumed rather than ignored.
Managing Existing Reminders
What happens after you set a reminder? How can you adjust them on the fly or clean up old ones?
Access all your current reminders by typing this Slack command:
/remind listYou‘ll see a list of your upcoming reminders with options to edit or delete each one.
You can also modify reminders right from the initial confirmation message sent by Slackbot. Hover over the message and choose "Edit Reminder".
Between these options, you have full control to periodically prune or adjust reminders.
Pro Tip: If you want to reset a repeating reminder’s frequency (like turning a daily standup into weekly), delete the original and recreate it with the new recurrence rather than editing.
Now you’re fully equipped to wrangle all your existing reminders!
Troubleshooting Guide
Of course with all this Slack bot complexity comes potential for errors. But armed with the right troubleshooting knowledge, you‘ll get through any issues in setting up reminders.
Here are fixes for the most common problems:
Reminder fails to send
- Check for direct messages turned off in your Slack notifications settings. Reminders use DMs so they‘ll fail if you have this communication channel disabled.
Reminder sends but nobody responds
- Use an @channel or @here notification to make the reminder more visible
- Ensure the reminder has clear, actionable messaging
- Set the reminder further in advance to increase response time
Edited reminder not updating
- Deleted reminders can‘t be edited. Try deleting and recreating the reminder from scratch
- Slack won‘t always save edits done through the confirmation message. Use the /remind list method instead
Reminder sends at the wrong time
- Double check date formats match your Slack timezone settings
- Use recurrence for frequent reminders instead of multiple one-time reminders
I hope these troubleshooting tips clear up any issues you run into with sorting out your Slack reminders!
Recap: Slack Reminders for Easy Organization
After this extensive walkthrough, you should now be a pro at using Slack reminders to stay organized and productive.
We covered:
✅ Essential reminder syntax and commands
✅ Step-by-step reminder creation
✅ Recurring reminders for meetings and tasks
✅ Writing effective reminders your team will actually complete
✅ Managing and editing existing reminders
✅ Fixes for common reminder failures
So slash through the chaos, and remind yourself just how awesome Slack is for both communication AND organization. Keep your team‘s priorities on track with a few simple keystrokes.
Now, I don’t know about you, but reading all these tips has made me thirsty. I‘m off to grab some coffee. But don‘t worry – I just set a reminder to come back and keep writing more Slack tips later!
