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How to Use Shoutouts in Slack

Learn how to give and manage Shoutouts in Slack with the Culture Amp app. A simple way to recognize and appreciate your team!

Jared Ellis avatar
Written by Jared Ellis
Updated over 5 months ago

What can I learn from this page?

How to give and manage Shoutouts in Slack with the Culture Amp app. A simple way to recognize and appreciate your team!

Who is this guide for?

Employees

Recognizing and appreciating colleagues is easy with the Culture Amp app in Slack. Shoutouts are a great way to acknowledge the efforts of your team members. In this article, we’ll walk you through how to use Shoutouts in Slack and get started with Culture Amp.


How Shoutouts in Slack Works

When you add the Culture Amp app to a public Slack channel, you can give recognition by including the word "shoutout" in your message and tagging one or more colleagues. The app responds with an emoji and a short reply in the thread of your message. To view shoutouts given and received, navigate to the Shoutouts feed in Culture Amp.

Example of an emoji and short reply in a Slack thread

☝️ Example of an emoji and short reply to a Shoutout in the Slack thread

💡 Tip: Check out our guide on Automated Responses in Shoutouts to learn about automated replies.

Getting Started with Shoutouts in Slack is Simple

  1. Add the Culture Amp App: Add the Culture Amp app to a public channel in slack. Simply type "@cultureamp" in the channel and hit Send. You can also add the Culture Amp app to a channel by selecting Add an App from the Integrations tab in the channel's details.

    Example of adding the Culture Amp app to a public Slack channel.

  2. Give a Shoutout: To give a shoutout, include the word ‘shoutout’ in your message, like this: ‘shoutout @teammate for the awesome thing they did.’ You don’t need a slash command ("/") or the word "shoutout" at the start. Your company might have additional keywords for Shoutouts, such as mad props or kudos. You can also trigger a shoutout by adding a # in front of "shoutout," or including . or , after it.

    Example of a shoutout highlighting the key trigger word, colleague tag, and message.

  3. Add a Value to Your Shoutout: Highlight the specific value demonstrated by your colleague by selecting a value from the drop-down in the message thread. If your company has custom values for Shoutouts, include them by:

    • Adding the value’s emoji in your message

    • Reacting to the message with a value’s emoji

    • Selecting the value from the dropdown in the message thread

    Example of the "Add Value" drop-down in the shoutout message thread.

  4. Say Thanks! If you’re active in Slack when you receive a shoutout, you’ll see a message in the Slack channel where the shoutout was sent asking if you’d like to say thanks. This message is visible to only you. Saying thanks adds a short message to the app’s response letting the author know that you appreciate their shoutout!


Viewing Shoutouts in Slack

Find received shoutouts in Slack under Mentions & Reactions. You can also check all your shoutouts in the Shoutouts feed in Culture Amp under the Feedback menu. Your view depends on your role:

  • You: Shows your personal shoutouts.

  • Company: Displays shoutouts across the entire company.

  • Managers: See an extra Direct reports tab for shoutouts received by your team members.

Company Tab

The Company tab provides:

  • Shoutout Usage: Total number of shoutouts given and received company-wide.

  • Top Channels: Number of shoutouts per channel.

  • Values: Most shared company values tagged in shoutouts.

  • Leaderboard: Users who gave and received the most shoutouts.

  • Company Tab Filter: Filter shoutouts by all, given, or received.

Example of the Shoutouts feed in the Culture Amp platform.

☝️ Example of the Shoutouts feed in the Culture Amp platform.

Your feed

When you receive a shoutout, it will show up in Your feed on the Home page under the Recent section.

Example of a received shouout visible on the Your feed section on the platform home page

☝️ Example of a received shouout visible on the Your feed section on the platform home page

Direct Reports

People managers can access their team’s given and received shoutouts in the Direct reports tab of their Shoutouts feed. This tab is ideal for reviewing before a weekly 1-on-1 or during a performance review cycle. You can also access your direct report’s shoutouts from their profile during a performance review.

Now that you know how to use Shoutouts in Microsoft Teams, start recognizing your colleagues and building a culture of appreciation in your team!


FAQs

How can I view shoutouts for my indirect reports?

Shoutouts for indirect reports are visible in the Company tab. Use the People filter to locate indirect reports' shoutouts.


How do I delete shoutouts?

To remove a shoutout, select Unmark as shoutout from the drop-down in the message thread. Deleting the message will also remove the shoutout from Culture Amp

Can I give a shoutout in a private Slack channel?

No, shoutouts can only be given in public Slack channels. We plan to support private channel shoutouts in the future.

Can I give a shoutout to more than one person at a time?

Yes, you can give shoutouts to multiple individuals. Ensure that at least one colleague is tagged in your message for the shoutout to work. Shoutouts do not work for user groups in Slack.

Can I edit a previous Slack message to include the word "shoutout"?

Editing a previous Teams message won’t retroactively trigger a shoutout. The shoutout feature relies on specific triggers within the message.


📚 Key Resources


💬 Need help? Just reply with "Ask a Person" in a Support Conversation to speak with a Product Support Specialist.

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