Naming Slack huddles
Dec 22, 2023 · 2 min readI’m pair programming more and more nowadays. One thing that features heavily in pair programming is a Slack huddle. My main recommendation is to name the Slack huddle.
Slack is a very useful tool to use when pair programming. For me, it’s simply the ability to draw on each others screen. Trying to describe the many buttons, areas of an IDE, or where to change a line of code is painful. Being able to draw on the screen is not.
So, why are we naming the Slack huddles then?
For me, it comes down to these things:
- By clearly naming what the huddle is about, you’re setting the intent and purpose of the chat.
- This communicates to the rest of the team what the call is about, as they may want to join in.
- It removes the uncertainty about whether others are allowed to join. For me, if it’s public, feel free to join and chip in. However, if there is no name on what is being discussed, it’s a very awkward situation.
- By naming the huddle it becomes a record in the channel of what has been discussed.
Another habit I’ve got into is sharing links, context, decisions, and outcomes in the Huddle thread. This all becomes referenceable content for others in the team.
Happy huddling folks.