Meet Propsy: A minimal, uncomplicated app for giving kudos in Slack!
What makes Propsy unique? It helps you discover what makes your team tick, with metrics you can act upon.
Celebrate every victory
Celebrate your team’s greatest moments, right as they unfold. Give kudos, not fluff! Just add Propsy to your workspace, give your first /props, and watch a new ritual form.
Discover what makes your teams tick
Love data? So do we! Propsy tracks all activity in your workspace, measures your teams’ well-being, and breaks it down for you with simple, actionable metrics.
Build happier, more glued teams
Give your teammates more opportunities to bond, without getting in their way. Propsy sparks curiosity, encourages meaningful connection, and helps you build happier, more engaged teams.
Ready to get started?
Propsy is 100% free — no accounts, no free trials, no ads!
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How does Propsy work?
Propsy gives everyone in your workspace access to the /props command, which can be used to give props to anyone in your organization:
/props @jask "Kudos for helping me squash that pesky bug!"The app allows you to specify a Catch-all channel to publish all props given in your workspace. You can also set a dedicated Publish channel for all props exchanged between members of the same user group.
2. How does Propsy analyze the activity in my workspace?
Propsy analyzes the kudos given in your workspace on a Team basis. To create and manage Teams, Propsy relies on user groups. To add a Team to Propsy:
- Go to the app’s Home tab.
- Locate the Teams section.
- Click the Add Team button.
- Choose a User group and, optionally, specify a Publish channel.
- Click the Add button.
Once you have done this:
- The props exchanged between members of this Team will be published in the specified Publish channel.
- Propsy will produce monthly and quarterly reports based on this Team’s activity, and post them in its Publish channel.
3. What does Propsy measure? How can I use the data it generates?
Propsy generates monthly and quarterly reports that include a mix of People and Team metrics:
People Metrics
Props Received
The number of props received by each Team member. As always, keep in mind that more does not equal better.
Props Diversity
It’s one thing to be praised by someone; it’s another to be praised by everyone. This is where Props Diversity comes in: It is a measure of “props quality”. Team members who are appreciated more uniformly by their peers will score higher (0-100%).
Impact
A measure of each member’s contribution to the Team, expressed as a percentage. Calculated using a combination of multiple metrics. A 100% score is optimal, but heroes may score even higher. Remember: Healthy teams encourage teamwork, rather than acts of heroism.
Team Metrics
Props Given
The total number of props given by all members of the Team.
Props Distribution
A vital measure of Team health. A high score indicates that everyone on the Team has received an equal share of praise for their efforts (0-100%).
Props Diversity
Bonded teammates make healthy teams. A high score here means that everyone’s efforts are appreciated uniformly by their peers (0-100%).
These reports can help you gain deeper insights into your teams’ dynamics. Use them to:
- Add more spark to your retrospectives.
- Add an extra dimension to your performance reviews.
- Develop and validate new organizational initiatives and processes.
Keep in mind that these insights will be useful only if your peers embrace and use the app. This should happen organically: Never force its use upon your teams, or use the app as a direct measure of individual/team performance.
4. What if I don’t need any of these fancy analytics?
No problem! Everyone in your workspace can use the /props command to give kudos in Slack — even if you don’t add any Teams to Propsy. To make all props given in your workspace public, remember to:
- Go to Propsy’s Home tab.
- Locate the Options section.
- Choose a Catch-all channel.
If you don’t set up any Teams, and don’t set a Catch-all channel, then all props in your workspace will be sent in private.
5. Awesome! But why is it free?
Propsy came into being out of a need to make our own fully distributed work environment at SomewhereWarm a bit more lively; and to give us even more opportunities for meaningful connection. It quickly fulfilled its purpose, so we decided to make it available to the world in the spirit of giving back. If you care about building a learning organization, Propsy will give you yet another way to feel the “vibe” of your teams, and perhaps even measure their well-being.
Adding Propsy to your workspace and giving props is — and always will be — free. Currently, you can add Teams and analyze their activity for free (up to 20 members). Reporting features will be limited to paid plans in the future: Building and maintaining Propsy does not come cheap and, eventually, we want to be able to do both sustainably.