How Slack Can Help Everyone STOP Saying “You Guys”
Tami Reiss is the founder of The Product Leader Coach where she works with product leaders and teams to realize their potential by focusing on their strengths.
A year or so ago at a Justworks JustWomen event, I heard Kristy Wallace talk about how at Ellevate Network they have a Slackbot that responds anytime someone says “you guys” in a Slack channel. It is a small thing that nudges people in the direction to be mindful about their word choice and how it might be an indicator of unconscious bias and unintended feminine minimizing.
I decided recently to do the same at at my job. Here is the Slack instructions on how to do it yourself.
This post is not about the debate about whether or not you should stop saying “guys”… this is about how to do it yourself. I’ll leave that discussion to these publications:
Step 1… from the drop down click “Customize Slack”
Step 2… from Customize Your Workspace the tabs click “Slackbot”
Step 3… click “Add new response”
Step 4… add multiple trigger phrases and auto responses
did you mean “everyone” or “team”? https://www.vox.com/2015/6/11/8761227/you-guys-sexism-language
did you mean “you all” or “all of you”? https://www.theatlantic.com/family/archive/2018/08/guys-gender-neutral/568231/
Step 5… click “Save response”… EASY right?
Step 6… wait and see what happens… as I am right now :)
Hi! I’m Tami, the founder of The Product Leader Coach where I work with product leaders and teams to realize their potential by focusing on their strengths.
If you enjoyed this post, I am available for product leadership coaching or team training. Learn more about my services and upcoming children’s book.
