Instant Messaging at Work

One of the things my team is responsible for is collaboration between employees in our division. As part of our rollout of SharePoint 2.0, we’re encouraging employees to use Windows Messenger. Those already using Instant Messaging get why it’s a good thing. Increasingly, I’m able to get things done using Messenger at my desk or in meetings, rather than using email. In fact, I’m monitoring incoming email less and less, and relying on IM more and more.

Those that have been using IM for a while know there’s a separate set of rules for instant messaging. And it’s pretty easy to spot those that are new to it by the way they use it. So how should IM be used in businesses?

David S. Marshak, Sr. VP and Sr. Consultant, Patricia Seybold Group recently addressed this exact topic, in an article called Instant Messaging at Work: Key Policies and Practices for Leveraging IM in Business.

“More and more businesses are beginning to see the use of instant messaging (IM) as an interesting—if not compelling—way to make their organizations more responsive and effective. By using IM, particularly its presence-awareness features, companies can significantly reduce the time it takes to deal with customer issues, sometimes resolving them in real time. Effective use of IM can also eliminate much of the internal churning (emails, voice mails, walks past someone’s office) it takes for one employee to get information and assistance from another. And for many companies, IM provides a direct mode of communications with their customers—a mode that enables far closer relationships than we’ve seen since electronic communications became the norm.”

David recommends that companies establish policies in several areas: Expectations of privacy and responsiveness; Logging in; Availability; and Courtesy and Respect. I’ll summarize many of his thoughts (I’ve starred those), and add a few of my own.

1. Load the client when you’re online and working. Collaborative software doesn’t work if everyone doesn’t use it.*
2. Use the Status features of your client: Available, Busy, In a Meeting, On the Phone, etc.* David’s got some great tips on this topic.
3. If “available,” reply promptly (David recommends 2-10 minutes, depending on your business). *
4. It’s okay to say “I’ll reply later” or “Sorry, not now.” *
5. If you leave a message, and someone becomes “busy” without responding, and you get your question answered, reply “never mind”*
6. If you have more than a simple request (“is the document you sent final?”), “knock” by saying “got a minute?” or something similar.*
7. Don’t use IM to replace email. If you need to include more than a line of text, use email.
8. Don’t use email to replace IM. If it’s a quick question (“ready for lunch?”), don’t clog up their Inbox.
9. Don’t be too chatty. If a conversation is taking more than a few responses back and forth, pick up the phone.
10. Don’t be afraid to end the conversation if you got your answer. “Instant” messaging should be quick in and quick out.
11. It’s good to end the conversation with “bye” or “cya” or whatever you choose.*
12. If someone’s typing (you can usually see they are with a status indicator), wait for their response before changing the conversation.*
13. You might choose to turn off “notify when someone comes online” unless there’s a need. As the technology gets widely adopted, you may get a bunch of these, and if everyone’s online, you won’t need to see their status until you need to IM them.
14. I have separate clients for work (Windows Messenger) and personal (MSN Messenger). I have both running at work (though when really busy I’ll only have work client running), but on weekends, I only load my personal client.

I’m sure there’s a lot more to this, and if you have tips, let me know!

In the meantime, you can IM me at johnporcaro@hotmail.com (or my work email if you’re using Windows Messenger behind the Microsoft firewall).

Comments

[Dylan Greene]

15. Spelling doesn't count. Don't make the person wait 10 minutes while you make sure every last word is spelled right.

[Dylan Greene]

16. IM *something* before sending a bad joke, sarcastic comment, or anything else that could get you or the person you are IM'ing in trouble. The first thing you send will appear on their screen in the bottom right corner, even if they are set to busy or giving a powerpoint presentation.

[Adam Field]

Same here..

I use MSN for friends IM and WM5 for when Im on corpnet.

The IM functionality built into STSv2 workspaces is cool and has to be seen to be believed!

Most of our company work from home so IM is essential to maintain that virtual office environment and for those times when you just HAVE to talk to someone, we now have Skype :)

[Adam Field]

RE #16

Not always Dylan..

some of us turn off those 'toast' messages :)

The only thing my toast shows is when people change their status

[Dylan Greene]

17. Solitaire Showdown (in the strangely titled Launch Site menu) is *very* addictive. If possible, never play Solitaire Showdown.

[Amanda.Murphy]

Name Changes - Try and keep at least the first part of your name the same so your contacts can find you easily. Not a prob in a corp environment since that can be controlled but a real pain if one week you are Joe Smith and the following week you are Bozo Pumplewinkle, and the following you are Captain Zappyzoo. You get the point. =-)

It defeats the point of an instant message if I need to spend several minutes scanning my contacts to find a name.

[Andy]

Great tips - people here change their name to brighten up the day - a good name to use is a whole load of alt255's :-)

[Danielle]

I must admit that my one, and frankly only beef, with MSN IM is the fact I can never personalize my away message. Which of course forces me to change my profile name to things such as “In building 34 hiding from boss” and “Gossiping with office mate” and “Clogging my rat-bastard-cheating-x-bf's inbox with spam - DND.” So although I’m a yahoo user for creative writing reasons I love the new the layout of MSN IM. Which allows me a personal visual style. IE: profile picture option and the webcam integrated into the chat.

[steven]

old, and not that well written, but anyway... http://steven.vorefamily.net/stories/2002/01/05/electronicMessaging.html

(a former heavy-user of our internal IRC system, now an IM'er.)

(btw, John, your comment widget keeps trying to hide under your right-column blogroll.)

[Adrienne]

These are great tips. I use instant messaging to speak with my husband who is stationed in IRAQ. We use the Mil. AKO site..it doesn't support the use of a camera...that is it's only shortcoming.

[Nataly Jackson]

I like the idea of being able to communicate via IM at work. Not only as a service to the customers, but using to speak with my co-workers. I feel that it will help productivity; I don't know how many times I have gone to another co-workers desk to ask them a question and they not be there, or I get sidetracked on the way!

[pjc0326]

These are great tips. I'm glad to know spelling does not count. That explains why some things are the way the are and some people don't even capitalize the beginning of a sentence. I guess that doesn't count either.
Peggy

[Lori Long]

Instant message is a great tool to work within the office. I work at a college and this area is large. To be able to contact another employee and get a quick respond is a great asset to me when I need a question answer. The instant message is quick and to the point when you want something done.

[Gina]

This sounds like something our office needs to try.

[steve marlowe]

I think it is important to keep the content brief and to be very careful using humor. It is easy for people to misunderstand your intent.

[Patricia B. Clark]

I enjoy utilizing IM everyday at work and home. It’s very convenient, fun and you don’t have to worry about remembering someone address.

[Ann Hudson]

I wish the company I worked for had IM. It is so quick and easy.