Build a skills directory your team will use

Start with questions your team already asks

Look at a small set of recent help requests in your workspace. Note the subjects people ask about and the words they use. Those terms are a better starting point than a large taxonomy nobody has agreed to maintain.

Choose recognizable skill names. Postgres, accessibility testing, and customer interviews tell an asker more than technology, design, or strategy. Use a broad category only when it helps someone browse toward a more specific topic.

Describe the help, as well as the skill

Ask each member to add a few subjects they're comfortable helping with. Pair a skill with a short description of the help they can offer. Someone may be comfortable reviewing a query without wanting to own a database migration.

Keep examples small. A project, a short explanation, or an endorsement gives another person a reason to ask. Self-reported skills are useful, but they should remain distinguishable from a record of work or help.

Give members control of their profiles

People change teams, learn new tools, and stop using old ones. Give members a clear way to edit skills and correct outdated information. A new project or a team move is a useful moment to review a profile.

Don't turn being listed into an obligation to answer every request. Let people decline or redirect a question. If the same person keeps getting asked, invite other members to add related skills and make their experience easier to find.

• Use skill names your team recognizes.
• Make profile edits easy to find.
• Keep personal details relevant to asking for help.
• Check that members know who can see their profiles.

Connect the directory to questions in Slack

WhoCan gives members a web profile for skills and records context from help requests and endorsements. Members of the same Slack workspace can browse those profiles, while the bot can ask potential helpers when someone confirms a search.

After installing WhoCan, invite members to add their skills and try a real question. Review what happened: did the asker choose a useful skill, did someone accept, and did the introduction help? A growing list of skills is only useful when people can use it to find help.