How to Seamlessly Migrate from Slack to Teams

Your choice of collaboration platforms can significantly impact your business productivity. Recently, one of our clients, a thriving enterprise in the financial services industry, faced the challenge of migrating from Slack to Microsoft Teams. The crux of the problem lay in the nuanced differences in terminology and functionality between the two platforms.

Making the Shift from Slack to Microsoft Teams

The employees, accustomed to the Slack environment, struggled to map their established routines onto Microsoft Teams. As with any shift in workplace technology, this migration was proving more complex than anticipated, stirring confusion and leading to inefficiencies.

In Slack, they were used to utilizing channels for specific, topic-based conversations, while direct messages served as the go-to for ad-hoc, one-on-one, or small group discussions. Microsoft Teams offers similar functionalities but uses different nomenclature: ‘channels’ for focused, ongoing discussions within a team, and ‘chats’ for more casual or small group conversations.

Developing a Structured Approach to Migration

The confusion was understandable and needed a clear, structured solution. This is where our team at Klarinet Solutions stepped in. We proposed a comprehensive approach for structuring Teams that reduced confusion and enhanced productivity:

  1. Create Teams by Department/Business Unit: To compartmentalize discussions and resources, each department or business unit was advised to have its own Team.
  2. Use Channels for Specific Topics or Projects Within a Team: For ongoing, topic-specific discussions, channels within each team were recommended.
  3. Leverage Shared Channels for Cross-functional Projects: Shared Channels, a new feature in Teams, allows for cross-team collaboration on specific topics without granting access to the entire team’s resources.
  4. Use Private Channels for Sensitive Topics: For confidential discussions, private channels within Teams provide a secure environment.
  5. Use Chats for Ad-hoc or Small Group Conversations: Informal conversations among a smaller group of people should happen in Chats in teams.

With this structure in place, the next step was to educate the team members. To ensure that the employees were familiar with Microsoft Teams’ features and terminologies, we conducted a series of training sessions.

Options for Migrating from Slack to Microsoft Teams

Adding to the educational process and ensuring a seamless transition, our experts at Klarinet Solutions can also assist in the direct migration from Slack to Teams. We offer three main migration options tailored to your unique business needs:

  1. Migrate a Slack Channel into a Microsoft Teams: This strategy involves transferring an entire Slack Channel into the General Channel of a new Microsoft Team.
  2. Merge Multiple Slack Channels into a Single Microsoft Team: In this scenario, each Slack Channel gets transferred into a specific Channel within a single Microsoft Team. This allows for consolidating several Slack Channels under one Microsoft Team umbrella.
  3. Merge Multiple Slack Channels into Private Channels within a Team: Similarly, several Slack Channels can be merged into the same Microsoft Team but each as a distinct Private Channel. This is particularly useful when handling sensitive or confidential topics.

Our migration process is comprehensive, ensuring the following elements are transferred from Slack to Teams:

  • Public and Private Channels
  • Members of Channels
  • Messages and Replies, including their Metadata (Created by, Timestamp)
  • @Mentions and Emojis
  • Files attached in the Channels

Klarinet Solutions is Here to Help!

With Klarinet Solutions, you can ensure a smooth and efficient migration process that retains important historical data and user experiences. We’re here to help your team make the switch without losing the conversations and content that matter. Get in touch today to see how we can help!