Slack's upcoming 'canvas' feature will make it easier for teams to share resources
Canvas will come out next year, but Slack has started rolling out the new-and-improved huddles.
Slack has introduced a new feature called "canvas," which it describes as a "surface" where teams can "curate, organize and share mission-critical resources." When it launches next year, Canvas could replace external apps or programs teams use to collate and share information and ideas, such as Google Docs, company Wikis or Notion.
Users can create a new canvas by choosing the option in the drop-down menu beside their Slack team's name. They can embed files in it, along with links, channel lists, videos, workflows, tasks to complete and other resources — anything useful team members might need, so they don't have to waste precious time hunting for information.
The company envisions canvas as something teams could use to organize marketing campaigns, to share executive briefings with everyone and to onboard new hires. Users can create canvases without having to use code, and they can keep editing existing templates instead of creating new ones again and again. Here's an example of what a canvas could look like:
Slack has also started rolling out the new and updated huddles with features it promised back in June. Huddles provides an audio chat capability for teams within Slack, but this update gives users the option to switch on video, as well. Opting for a video huddle will open a separate window, and users will have the ability to blur their backgrounds like they can in other video conferencing apps such as Zoom. And yes, they can use emoji reactions in video huddles.
In addition, the revamped huddle allows more than one person to share their screen at the same time. In a session where multiple people are sharing screens, they can use live cursors and the ability to draw on the shared screens as a visual aid. Any information shared during a huddle, including links, files and notes, will automatically get saved in a thread in the channel or the DM where it was launched. These threads can be pinned for easy access and will even be searchable. If they're posted in channels instead of in DMs, even users who aren't part of the huddle will be able to see them. It could take a while for everyone to get access to these features, but Slack says they'll make their way to all users over the coming weeks.
