We have created a Q&A Slack channel for all CCTO staff to be able to ask questions visibly and seamlessly about COVID-19 and our work related to it. This will reduce emails and help keep everyone updated in real time. The questions will be monitored by the admin and leadership teams, and you will receive an answer (or acknowledgement if we need to find the answer) within 48 hours. Here is a link with information about Slack, which is a free service for all Stanford employees: https://slack.com/help/articles/115004071768-What-is-Slack-.
Many of you have not used Slack before and will need to log in to Slack for the first time. Instructions for logging in are here: https://stanford.service-now.com/it_services?id=kb_article&sys_id=6d51b1f4db3c9b004a8f75d88c9619fe.
- When setting up your account and it asks “Who do you work with?”, choose “Search for a specific workspace” at the bottom and search for “School of Medicine”. Choose this.
- You can download the Slack app on your computer/phone, or you can access Slack through a web browser—it’s personal preference. You can also choose how you receive notifications for new messages that come through this channel in the “Notifications Preferences” area by clicking the circle with an “i” in it at the top of the Slack app/page. Additionally, you will automatically get added to two SOM channels upon signing in.
To add the School of Medicine Workspace if not added upon setup:
- Click on this link: https://stanford.enterprise.slack.com/signin/find-workspaces
- Search for “School of Medicine” in the search bar
- It will ask if you’d like to request access to this workspace – choose yes
- Access will be provided shortly once approved by SOM administrators
- When signing into Slack, make sure you’re within the School of Medicine workspace, not the SoM Slack Demo.
Instructions for Joining the Channel
- Once you’re logged into
Slack, you’ll need to add the CCTO channel by:
- Choosing the “+ Add a channel” option on the right-hand side of your screen (under Channels)
- Search for our channel: cancerclinicaltrialsoffice_covid-19
- Click on the channel when it populates
- Click the green “Join Channel” button
Slack Channel Workflow
- Upon joining the channel, you
will trigger a Workflow called “CCTO COVID-19_Work Related Questions,” which
tracks and allows for easy download of questions. It also keeps questions
within their own “thread” so that different questions and answers aren’t mixed
together.
- The question form will automatically open via your “Slackbot” (under the Direct Messages area)
- You can ask a question by pressing the “Click to Ask” button
- After you ask your question, another prompt with button will be available for any additional questions. Follow the same process of pressing the “Click to Ask” button.
- Avoid typing questions
directly into the Slack message/chat area—this will make it harder for us to
keep track of questions and could possibly lengthen response time.
- You are communicating within a Workflow, so please only reply within your question’s thread, rather than in the Slack message/chat area. This keeps communications organized and easy to read for everyone.
Question Guidelines
- You may ask any CCTO-related COVID-19 questions OR any general questions related to CCTO work.
- Before you ask any questions, review the attached CCTO COVID-19 Requirement/Guidelines document (current as of 2020.03.15) to avoid asking questions already outlined.
- Before you ask any questions, check all previous questions and answers in the Slack channel to make sure you’re not duplicating.
- This public channel is
visible to all Stanford employees currently using Slack.
- DO NOT INCLUDE ANYTHING WITH PHI or PII IN THE CHANNEL
- If you have questions you wish to keep private, please email ccto-admin@stanford.edu directly
- You are not necessarily
communicating with one another, but within a Workflow visible to everyone.
Reply in the same thread if you have a follow up question to an answer.
- Avoid courtesy communications such as “thanks for the info,” and “me too”.
How to Search within our Slack Channel
If you are looking for something specific within our channel, you can search for key words and/or topics by:
- Clicking the “Search” area in Slack
- Before or after the word/phrase you are searching for, type “in:cancerclinicaltrialsoffice_covid-19”to search solely within our slack channel (otherwise it will search the entirety of slack)