How to Build Custom Slack Workflows for Teams

Want to save time and keep your team focused? Slack workflows help automate repetitive tasks like onboarding, support requests, and approvals. With tools like Question Base, you can even integrate AI to answer questions and manage knowledge directly within Slack.

Key Steps to Get Started:

• Identify tasks: Automate predictable, repetitive processes like FAQs or meeting scheduling.
• Plan your workflow: Define triggers, gather necessary data, and map out actions.
• Use Workflow Builder: Set up triggers, add actions, and test before launching.
• Add AI tools: Use Question Base to pull answers from Notion, Google Docs, and more.

Quick Benefits:

• Save time by automating manual tasks.
• Centralize team knowledge for instant access.
• Reduce repetitive questions with AI-powered answers.

Get started by enabling Workflow Builder in Slack and installing Question Base for smarter, faster workflows.

Getting Started with Slack Workflows

Required Slack Settings and Permissions

Before diving into creating workflows, double-check that Workflow Builder is enabled in your Slack workspace and that you have the necessary permissions.

Here’s what you’ll need:

• Permission to create workflows
• Workflow Builder access in your workspace
• Access to the channels where your workflow will operate

Tasks You Can Automate

Automate tasks that are repetitive and follow a predictable pattern. These tasks shouldn’t require complex decision-making. Common examples include:

• New hire onboarding
• Routing support requests
• Approving document access
• Scheduling meetings
• Sharing knowledge or FAQs

For instance, Petsy used Question Base to centralize answers to frequent questions. This allowed staff to skip waiting on managers and get immediate answers to common queries.

Once you’ve identified tasks to automate, break them down into clear steps before building your workflow.

Planning Your Workflow Steps

Take a moment to map out your current process and identify any inefficiencies. Break it into the following components:

1. Trigger events: What starts the workflow?
2. Required information: What data needs to be gathered?
3. Action sequence: What steps need to happen, and in what order?
4. Response handling: How will the workflow deal with different outcomes?

A great example is Ticketbutler, which streamlined their lookup process. By mapping their workflow, they reduced search times from 5–10 minutes to just a few seconds.

Workflow Builder | No-code automation for everyone in Slack

Building Your First Workflow

Once you've mapped out your workflow, it's time to bring it to life using Slack's Workflow Builder.

Opening Workflow Builder

To get started, click the lightning bolt icon in your message box. From the menu that appears, select "Workflow Builder."

Setting Up Triggers and Actions

Here’s how to set up your workflow step by step:

• Choose a trigger: Pick the trigger type that suits your workflow. Options include:
  • Shortcut: A manual action by a user.
  • Scheduled Date: A time-based trigger.
  • Form: A trigger based on form submissions.
• Configure trigger settings: Assign a name, set channel access, and define a schedule (if applicable).
• Add action blocks: Build your workflow by adding the following:
  • Messages or forms to gather input.
  • Notifications for specific channels.
  • Connections to external apps.
  • Steps for collecting data.
• Set variables and conditions: Adjust each action's settings to ensure they align with your workflow goals.
• Link actions together: Use the "+" button to connect each action in the proper sequence.

Testing and Launching

Before making your workflow live, use the "Test" button to ensure every step functions correctly. Once everything checks out, click "Publish" to activate it.

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Adding AI Features to Workflows

Once your workflow is tested and live, you can incorporate AI to streamline team knowledge management. By adding AI-powered tools, you can make capturing and retrieving information effortless.

Question Base Knowledge Detection

To get started, install Question Base from the Slack App Marketplace. Then, invite the app to your desired Slack channels by typing /invite @questionbase. Question Base automatically identifies questions and key details within your team’s chats.

"Since we started using Question Base we don't spend time looking up procedures in manuals; QB returns relevant answers in seconds or lets us add new ones for next time." - Maria Jensen, UX Lead & Scrum Master at Ticketbutler

Connecting to Other Tools

You can link Question Base to popular documentation platforms for a seamless experience. Sync your knowledge base with Notion, link files from Google Drive, access wiki pages via Confluence, or index documents stored in Dropbox.

To set up integrations, go to Question Base settings in Slack, navigate to the Integrations tab, select your desired tool, and grant the necessary permissions.

With these integrations, AI can enhance your workflows in various ways, such as:

Use Cases

Automated Question Handling

"We implemented Question Base to eliminate repetitive questions and to collate answers and information in one place for a growing team. Question Base has exceeded our expectations - it's easy to use, intuitive and a massive time saver." - Monica Limanto, CEO at Petsy

Knowledge Documentation
Turn team conversations into searchable FAQs. You can also refine and save new answers for future use.

For unlimited answers and advanced integrations, consider upgrading to the Pro plan at $5/user/month.

Tips and Problem Solving

Improve Workflows with Team Input

Once your AI-powered workflows are up and running, use team input to make them better. Tools like Question Base can automatically pull key insights from Slack conversations, helping you keep your FAQs relevant. Schedule regular reviews to ensure your workflows stay accurate and meet your team’s changing needs.

Keeping your knowledge base up-to-date prevents outdated answers and ensures your automations run smoothly. As Willem Bens, Manager of Sales North EMEA at DoIT International, puts it:

"Having an extra person answering questions in Slack."

From here, address common workflow challenges to keep things running seamlessly.

Conclusion

Key Advantages

Custom Slack workflows take care of repetitive tasks and streamline information sharing. This allows teams to concentrate on more important work while maintaining clear and consistent communication.

How Question Base Helps

Question Base simplifies turning conversations into organized documentation by automatically identifying and structuring important information.

Getting Started

You can install Question Base directly from the Slack App Marketplace. To get started, invite it to your channels using /invite @questionbase. The free plan covers unlimited channels and up to 50 saved answers. For more, the Pro plan costs $5 per user each month (or $4 per user with annual billing) and includes unlimited answers and integrations. Begin creating custom workflows today to simplify tasks and preserve your team's knowledge with ease.

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• Knowledge Management Tools: Slack Integration Guide
• User Feedback in Slack: Building Smarter Knowledge Bases
• How AI Improves Slack Productivity
• 5 Ways AI Reduces Slack Overload