Slack’s great for helping your team communicate, but with the right Slack bots, it can actually boost productivity, too. The best productivity bots for Slack help your team keep track of important dates, stay motivated, and get quick answers to important questions.
1. Best for Daily Check-ins: Geekbot
Pricing: Free with premium option
Geekbot is one of the top productivity bots for Slack for helping remote teams stay in contact. When team members live in different time zones, it’s hard to always keep track of who’s doing what. Geekbot helps keep all employees on the same page with daily check-ins or standups.
Set up questions to ask members daily, such as how they’re doing, what tasks they’re working on that day, and any questions they have for other members. These results are posts for everyone to see and respond to as they check in. Set up custom questions, use templates, and even get feedback on team morale.
It’s free for up to 10 members, then only pay per user for the members who need to use it.
2. Best for Daily Digest: Spoke.ai
Pricing: Free, with premium options to be released later
Slack bots often add to the conversation, but Spoke.ai helps reduce the Slack message overload. Set up a daily digest of the most important Slack channels and conversations to see everything in one place. It even works in private channels.
Set up different digests for different channels, sets of team members, or have one that includes everything for everybody. The best part is that the bot uses AI to help members quickly answer questions. Need to know more details about a project? Just ask and Spoke.ai searches for answers in recent conversations.
3. Best for Task Management: Trello
Pricing: Free
Trello is a well-known project management tool, but when you add the Trello bot to Slack, you get a powerful task management combo. Easily view and update Trello cards directly from Slack. You can even create new ones.
Of course, it’s not just about seeing Trello details in Slack. Move Slack conversations to relevant Trello cards to see everything in one place, no matter which platform you’re on. All you have to do is learn a few quick commands, and you’re all set to use the two apps together.
If you love using Trello, try these Trello automations to get more done. Or, try these public Trello boards to see new ways to use Trello.
4. Best for Time Tracking: AttendanceBot
Pricing: Free with premium options
Many team members are guilty of always leaving their status as available or away, whether they’re active or not. With AttendanceBot, a quick message to the bot starts tracking attendance and time. Another message clocks you out. It’s a simple and effective way to track members’ attendance, how long they’re working, and even manage who’s available at any given time.
If you bill projects based on time worked, this Slack bot lets you track time per project and per team member. You can even set up time-off requests, and quickly see an overview of vacation, sick days, and what hours other team members are working. I highly recommend watching the tutorial to get everything set up correctly.
5. Best for To-Do Lists: Workast
Pricing: Free with premium options
Workast is one of my favorite productivity bots for Slack to keep track of daily to-dos. It’s easy to create a checklist directly in Slack. Then, keep track of what you need to do, what’s still outstanding, and even get reminders so that you don’t forget anything.
If you use other project management tools, such as Trello or Asana, Workast imports your to-dos directly into Slack. By having everything in one place, everyone’s more productive instead of tab jumping to stay on track.
6. Best for Team Morale: Doozy
Pricing: Free with premium options
Hate having separate Slack bots for birthdays, anniversaries, and other celebrations? Doozy handles everything in one bot. Productivity bots for Slack often focus on tasks, but boosting morale through recognition of accomplishments and special days also boosts productivity.
In addition to celebrations and recognition, Doozy also helps team members get to know each other. Participate in trivia competitions. Set up fun introductions. Take Slack from just work conversations to something more engaging that encourages your team to actually talk to each other.
If you’re a remote worker and want to network outside of your Slack team, try these free Slack workspaces.
7. Best for Gathering Information: Simple Poll
Pricing: Free with premium options
Does it feel like you don’t really know your team? Get valuable feedback, learn more about what your team wants, figure out problem areas, and much more with Simple Poll. Create single and multi-question polls/surveys in just a few minutes, and even repost throughout the day so that no one misses it.
Of course, this Slack bot isn’t limited to just serious questions. Feel free to get creative and have some fun, too. Try a weekly AMA (ask me anything) with management or experts in your industry. Host a trivia competition. Or, ask members to send ideas for future polls.
Frequently Asked Questions
What's the difference between Slack bots and apps?
While you often see bots and apps used interchangeably, an app refers to an entire set of features, while bot refers just to the messaging component that users interact with.
Can I use multiple bots in my Slack workspace?
Absolutely. However, the free version of Slack is limited to only 10 integrations and apps. Plus, some productivity bots for Slack may require a premium version of Slack, so check before using the bot.
It’s also worth considering whether Slack is right for your team. See how Slack and Teams compare to see whether Teams is better for your needs.
How can I be even more productive in Slack?
Slack bots aren’t the only way to boost productivity. Master these Slack commands to quickly set a status, send DMs, and much more.
Image credit: Unsplash. All screenshots by Crystal Crowder.
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