Comments on: Workplace Instant Messaging Etiquette

By: Trisherino

Trisherino — Wed, 15 Jul 2009 06:41:50 +0000

I think it’s really only a problem for slow typists. It is pretty annoying to get a “hi” and then have to watch the window for 20-30 seconds waiting for the important bit to turn up. Here’s my 3 step plan for getting the message out faster:

1. Learn to touch type for goodness’ sake.
2. Capitalization is for sissies, it just slows you down.
3. Press “enter” liberally.

By: Jon

Jon — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 07:46:45 +0000

whinge whinge whinge.

By: Rhys

Rhys — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 20:07:02 +0000

Perhaps I came off a bit anti-social in my post. There are a few important points that I clearly missed. I remember typing some of these things out, but I was never really happy with the wording (and they felt out of place) so I omitted them. Here they are now for your enjoyment and my vindication.

These rules only really apply to a small subset of IM use. Specifically rule 1 applies to the scenario where someone is asking something of you. It definitely does not apply to casual conversations with friends/coworkers or even an IM meeting.

I’m also not suggesting that we throw out all niceties (which is why I’m still quite happy for the first message to include some sort of greeting). What I would like to see is the overhead of these often 1 question, 1 answer conversations being as low as possible. If someone wants a test review a lower overhead means that I’m reviewing their work quicker, getting to the real heart of what we want to be doing.

IM status goes part-way into giving people an idea of whether you are available or not, but it is too black and white for my needs. I want to be available for conversations and rank their priority on a case by case basis. An essentially empty message makes it hard to determine the priority.

So please, don’t take these rules as an indication I don’t want to deal with your IMs, but rather pointing out a small deficiency in the way we are working.

By: Joseph Cooney

Joseph Cooney — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 10:35:24 +0000

4. Don’t be affraid to negotiate up – Like how sites do key exchange using public key crypto, but then negotiate up to shared key: this is kind of a follow on to #3, but if as a result of a conversation that started on IM you realize you need to have a much longer or more involved conversation don’t try to keep going with IM.

5. Don’t expect a response immediately – IM is asynchronous. Don’t block waiting for an async call. If you need a synchronous response use a different transport (facemail, voice). Don’t get uppity if you don’t get a response in a “timely” manner.

By: Will

Will — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 02:04:52 +0000

I hardly use IM anymore. I used to use it heaps back in the ICQ days, but for me now it’s just a constant distraction that I do not need. People can email or tweet me (or in an office, come and talk to me) which I find less distracting when I’m trying to work. For my work contacts I much prefer a quick skype call, than a long, drawn out chat.

It is useful in an office for quickly sending config info & files though (e.g. svn configs…) that’s about it…

By: OJ

OJ — Sun, 05 Jul 2009 21:58:06 +0000

Hi, (I couldn’t resist)

IM is a medium that people use for many different things. Sometimes I use it to catch up with people because I have no other way of doing so. Sometimes I use it for work-related questions and interactions. It varies.. a lot.

If your post is referring to the case where people are contacting you for work-related queries only, then I only partially agree. If you’re referring to any messages you receive while you’re at work then I almost totally disagree. To say “get to the point or I’m going to get pissed off” is a sure fire way of cutting yourself off from potential contact.

The way I see it is, if you’re signed in with an “available” status, then you’re saying “I’m happy to talk to you if you want”. If you’re not happy to, then sign out or change your status. While online, you’re under no obligation to respond to people if you don’t want to. That’s the beauty of it. If you’re busy, you don’t have to say “Leave me alone I’m busy.”, people understand and appreciate that no response means “I’m busy”.

So I guess what I’m trying to say is be accepting of people’s attempts to make contact. It’s better they start with “Hi Rhys” than not starting at all!