This article describes the Screening team's rules and guidelines for internal communication – meaning how we communicate with each other via email, Slack, and other channels. The Screening team is committed to fostering an environment of collaboration, openness, and balance. 

USING OUTLOOK

• Outlook is iMentor’s email Platform and used for process updates and announcements. You can also log emails with applicants right to Salesforce.
• Emails should generally be responded to within 24-48 hours.
• Please use email if you are writing to someone who is out of the office.
• The weekly email digest iMandatory is required reading for all staff. iMandatory includes need-to-know updates from other teams.

USING SLACK

• Slack is iMentor’s primary mode of internal messaging. Staff are expected to be signed into Slack during the day and respond within 24 hours or less.
• Slack serves as a collaboration tool and eliminates inbox clutter. If you’re working on a brainstorm or have a quick update/question, please use Slack.
• Slack chat rooms are specified by user groups or topics.
• The @here function on Slack sends a notification to all members of a channel who are online. Only @here if you need everyone on the team to look at that message asap. @channel sends a notification to all members of the channel, whether they are online or not. All members of the team are responsible for reading.
• Slack also serves as a rapport and community building tool. Subscribe to popular channels like #tbt or #pawpatrol to learn more about your colleagues (and their pets)!
• When having a dialogue on a single topic, please respond in the ongoing thread function. If you find a thread is getting quite long, please consider moving it to zoom to deter confusion. If the back and forth looks like it's now between two people, please move the conversation to direct messaging if the full team does not need to be aware.
• If you're about to Slack someone, check their calendar first to ensure they're not in a meeting. Please introduce the message by saying "Do you have time for a question?"
• **Please do not over-use Slack. It's a super useful and fun tool! But can be distracting, so please mind your time.

For the Screening team, we have the following Slack channels:

• #team-screening: For quick team updates and requests
• #screening-managers: Volunteer Screening Manager channel for cross-region collaborating and quick updates
• Regional screening & recruitment collaborative channels: For brief discussions about orientation, applications, and local engagement updates.  
• #salesforce-screening: A separate space for Tech Solutions and screening to collaborate on shared needs.

COMMUNICATION NORMS FOR OUR TEAM

• All Screening team members should be signed into and monitoring Slack and email throughout the workday. 
• Do not use slack or email while you are in mentor interviews or meetings.  
• For either platform, if you don't know the answer it's ok to say, “I don’t have an answer right now, but I will get back to you by X."       
• If you have questions about a challenging applicant or a flag, please chat in person or via zoom to avoid things lingering in writing. Contact your manager and ask when they might have 5 minutes to chat, or note it for your next 1:1.
• Team collaboration is important, as is self-serving. Always ask rather than assume, but remember to check the Learning Center and our screening resources on Box to see if an answer lives there first.

Where to go for support:

• If you have questions about team communication and guidelines, talk to your manager.
• Check out our Slack support channels such as #support-salesforce and #support-outlook.
• For more information, see Learning Center articles such as iMentor Slack guidance and norms and iMentor Internal Communications Philosophy & Norms.