Slack is rolling out a few new features for profiles, including ways to help folks avoid the embarrassment and unpleasantness of mispronouncing a colleague’s name. Starting today, users can add an audio clip of them stating their name. You can include the phonetic pronunciation on your profile too.
Profiles have been redesigned to make them more streamlined with three key sections. One is for contact details, and another is focused on letting colleagues know which people you work with most often. There’s also an expanded “about me” section, where you can include details such as your start date, what your job entails and your personal interests.
Another feature that the Salesforce-owned service is rolling out is Hover Cards. When you hover your cursor over a colleague’s name, a card containing a condensed version of their profile will appear. You bring up their full profile by clicking on it. The cards will also help you start a Huddle, call or direct message thread with that person more quickly.
These features should all help colleagues get to know each other better. They could improve communication on Slack too.