It has been nearly two years since a majority of the workforce is working from home. Collaborative tools like Slack and Zoom have become quintessential in helping teams work together. Now Slack has added a slew of features, including Huddles, Recordings and Slack Atlas.

Slack Huddles

With Slack Huddles, you can audio chat with your coworkers. The feature is intended for “lightweight conversation” with your team. Anyone can start Huddles with a single click in any Channel. Any team member can drop in and drop out of the conversation just like one would do in a physical office. This feature aims to recreate the magic of watercooler conversations. Huddles are also helpful when you want to brainstorm complex ideas without the stress of being on camera. Slack lets you share screen so that you can work together on a proposal or a presentation.

Before, you might have dropped by a coworker’s desk to hash out an idea, or caught up with a colleague in the hallway to debrief after a big meeting. Those casual conversations, which aren’t burdened by formality or timeboxed to 30-minute increments, not only build team camaraderie but often evolve into an idea of something greater.- Slack

Slack Recordings

Scheduling a meeting for a large team is a difficult task. You will have to find a time that suits everyone. Slack intends to solve this issue with a new feature that lets you create videos, voice and screen recordings in Slack. The company calls it an alternative to “stand-ups” or a full-fledged meeting. Another advantage is that anyone can watch videos and read-through transcripts. Both the huddles and recordings feature will be accompanied by live captioning. Recently Slack added a Scheduling feature which can now be used with the recordings feature.

Slack Atlas

Slack also introduces Atlas, a feature that helps you connect with colleagues and other verticals of the organization. It helps in understanding company structure and can be integrated with third-party solutions like Workday.

Slack Atlas enhances profiles with rich, dynamic information — including your company’s org structure, employee start dates, and custom fields. And it seamlessly integrates with popular solutions like Workday, meaning profile data automatically populates and is always up to date.

Slack Huddles is rolling out to paid team members, while recordings with live captioning will be available for all teams. Lastly, the Slack Atlas will be available only for Business+ and Enterprise Grid plans.