Use The Right Tool For Your Message
With so many tools available for team communication, it can be hard to know which one is best for each situation. Determine when to use Slack, Loom, or Confluence to deliver your message.
PREP TIME
0m
Run TIME
5m
Persons
1+
5-second summary
- Consider the pros and prime use cases for each app.
- Determine the best app to use to communicate your message.
- Use a combination of apps for even more impact.
WHAT YOU WILL NEED
- Team communication tool, like Slack
- Digital collaboration tool, like Confluence
- Video communication tool, like Loom
PLAY resources
How to know when to use Slack, Loom, or Confluence
Determine when to use Slack, Loom, or Confluence to best communicate your message.
What are Slack, Loom, and Confluence?
These are all apps used for team communication and collaboration. Slack is mostly for instant messaging. Loom is a video communication tool. And Confluence is a collaborative workspace.
While this Play centers around Slack, Loom, and Confluence, the same principles can be applied whenever you decide which tool to use to deliver your message.
Why run this Play?
With so many tools available for team communication, it can be hard to know which one is best for each situation. Using this Play to determine the right tool for your message:
- Keeps work moving while reducing meetings
- Shares information in smarter ways that connect better with your audience
- Gives people more control over their calendars, freeing up more focus time
When should you run this Play?
Whenever you’re trying to determine whether Slack, Loom, or Confluence is the right tool for your message! After running this Play a few times, it will likely become a habit that you can repeat without much thought.
4 benefits of choosing the right tool for your message
- Communicate smarter: 56% of workers say the only way to get the information they need is to ask someone or schedule a meeting. Intentional async-first practices—like sharing quick updates in Slack, documentation in Confluence or feedback via Loom—reduce this dependency, making information accessible to everyone, regardless of time zone.
- Reclaim time for real work: Meetings are the #1 barrier to productivity, with 78% of workers saying it’s hard to get their work done on top of attending all their meetings. Sharing information in more asynchronous ways frees up time for meaningful progress.
- Accelerate progress: Difficulty finding information is the #1 barrier to moving fast. Using the right tool for your message makes knowledge accessible, helping everyone stay focused on shared goals and outcomes. Teams that make information self-serve are 4.9x more likely to be effective and 4.4x more likely to be productive.
- Harness async teamwork: Collaboration tools that give everyone a voice can fuel more creativity than meetings alone. Research shows asynchronous brainstorming can lead to more equitable participation and better results, especially for distributed teams.
1. Define the purpose of your message
Est. time: 1 MIN
What are you trying to communicate?
- A quick question, idea, or update
- A request for feedback
- Sharing a nuanced explanation, decision, or feedback
- A strategy, analysis, point of view, framework, or documentation
- Demos
- Team status updates
2. Consider the pros of each app
Est. time: 2 MIN
Slack, Loom, and Confluence all support team communication and collaboration in slightly different ways.
| App | Best times |
| Loom |
|
| Slack |
|
| Confluence |
|
3. Pick the right app for the job
Est. time: 2 min
Use the table below when deciding which app is best for your message.
| Use cases | Status | Why this tool |
|---|---|---|
| Quick question, idea, or update | Status Slack | Why this tool Fast and informal |
| Quick feedback | Status Slack or Confluence | Why this tool Fast communication, with links to Confluence pages for more details and collaborative comments |
| Sharing a nuanced explanation, decision, or feedback | Status | Why this tool Adds context, tone, and depth + skip the meetings and long threads |
| A strategy, analysis, point of view, framework, or documentation | Status Confluence | Why this tool Great for asynchronous feedback and/or document for future reference |
| Demos | Status Loom | Why this tool Show and tell, get reactions and feedback |
| Team status updates | Status Slack or Loom (ideally connected to a project management tool like Jira or Trello) | Why this tool Share regularly, avoid recurring meetings |
Tip: Let Rovo help craft your message
Struggling to find the right words? Use the Comms Crafter Rovo Agent to write a message using your company’s or personal voice and tone.
4. Consider a combo
Est. time: 2 min
All of these apps are helpful individually and even better when used together!
| Use case | Before | After |
|---|---|---|
| Confluence + Loom | Before You create a looooong Confluence page with lots of details that may be hard for readers to absorb. | After You add a Loom video at the top with an executive summary and details on what you want the audience to know or do. |
| Loom + Slack | Before You send a long Slack message:“I just wanted to share some thoughts on the demo we had earlier today about the new product feature. Overall, I think it was okay, but there are a few things that I think could be improved. First of all, some of the features that were demonstrated seemed a bit confusing and I think it would be helpful if we could have more detailed explanations or maybe even some additional training sessions.” | After You send a clear and concise Slack message, then include a Loom video as an option for the reader to “go deeper.” Some folks will get what they need from your words, while others will want the more nuanced information in the video. |
| Confluence page with embedded Loom video, shared via Slack | Before You host a meeting where you walk attendees through the idea and then ask for advice. | After You build a clear Confluence page that includes a video, and send a Slack message asking for asynchronous feedback:“Hi folks. I put together a new AI framework that I’d love feedback on. The framework will be used to guide future product feature decisions. Check out this Confluence page, which also includes a Loom video walkthrough. Please leave comments on this page by the end of the week so I can get everyone’s thoughts. If I don’t hear from you, I’ll assume you’re on board. Thanks!” |
Tip: Record a great Loom
Take your Looms to the next level with these tips for planning, structuring, recording, and editing.
Tip: Optimize your Confluence page
Use the Clutter-Free Confluence Play to keep your Confluence pages clear, open, updated, and unique.
Follow-up
See who’s viewed
If you’re waiting on someone specific to review your message or trying to determine how well your message worked, you can use Loom and Confluence analytics to see views, the number of times certain people have visited the page or video, and other useful insights.
Still have questions?
Start a conversation with other Atlassian Team Playbook users, get support, or provide feedback.
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