Integration: Connecting Trakstar Perform and Slack

The Perform app in Slack will allow your organization to send actionable notifications and reminders to users, similar to email notifications.   Watch the video below for a quick overview, then read the full article to set it up for your team!

Getting Started

Please note that the email addresses used in Slack must match the email addresses within your Perform account.

To enable the Slack connection, a Perform admin or integrations admin who is also a Slack admin must first enable the connection via Settings > Notifications.

User Role: Integrations Admin

We know that not all Slack admins will have an admin role in Perform, so we've enabled a unique role that can be turned on for any user within Perform.  This grants your Slack admin the ability to authorize integrations within Perform without granting them additional permissions or access in your Perform instance.

This can be turned on via their User Profile.  You can select which integrations an Integrations Admin will have permission to access here as well - click Permissions next to the Integrations Admin check box.  In this case, ensure that Slack is selected.

By default, all admins have the integration admin permissions, so nothing additional needs to be enabled.

Need to learn more about the user roles in Perform? Check out this article.

Enabling the Slack Integration within Perform

The Slack admin (who is also a Perform admin or granted the Integration Admin permissions) can enable this integration within Perform via the Settings > Notifications page from the left navigation bar.  From there, navigate Slack Settings, and click on +Enable Slack Integration.

The user will be redirected to Slack to accept the permissions and finalize the integration.  

Once the Slack integration has been enabled, you will see the user who made this connection under Configured on the Email & Slack Settings page.

Turning on Slack Notifications

Now that your Slack integration is connected, any admin can choose if you want to turn these notifications on via the Use Slack notifications drop-down menu.  This does not need to be the same user that set up the integration.

By default, the Slack notifications will be turned off - you will need to take action after enabling the integration to turn them on.

Managing Notifications & Reminders

You can change the time the reminders will be sent out from the Slack or Email notifications section.  This will be the same for both email and slack reminders.

If you scroll down on the Notifications page, you'll see the option to toggle on or off many notifications and reminders in the system.  You can choose which ones will be enabled for Slack and which ones will be enabled for email.

Notifications vs. Reminders

Perform has both notifications and reminders within the system.  

• Notifications alert a user of an event - such as letting a manager know an employee has written a note. 
• Reminders advise a user of a task, usually relative to the due date - such as a manager being reminded when an employee has a past due review.

Both alerts will be sent to users via email or Slack according to your organization's preferences.

Important: Notification alerts will be sent when the action happens (for example, when a note is taken), while reminder alerts will be sent at the time specified in your Email & Slack settings. 

You can view the status of these notifications as they are being disseminated via Reports > Notification Log.  The log has details on each notification, along with its status (Not Sent, Sent, or In Progress).

Slack Notifications in Action

Slack notifications are delivered via a dedicated app within your organization's Slack instance.  It will display under the Apps menu.  

The subject will be delivered as the main message.  The user can then click on the reply to view the content of the message - including a direct link to take action, if applicable.

Slack notifications are an account-wide setting and cannot be turned off at the user level.  Users can right-click on the app and select Mute conversation if they choose to.  Notifications will still be delivered, but the user will no longer receive alerts.

Troubleshooting

If an employee is not getting the perform app in Slack, ensure their Slack email matches their Perform email. 

Email and Slack notifications share the time they are queued to be sent. Depending on the queue length, these messages may not be sent instantly at that exact time.