What are the Best Practices of Using Instant Messaging Applications in Your Company?
Tags: Business Management, Communication Skills, Slack, Business, Zoom

What are the Best Practices of Using Instant Messaging Applications in Your Company? Healthcarebusinessclub Jun 16·4 min read

Overview

The benefits of instant messaging tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams and Zoom are crystal clear.

But there is one problem, we are still figuring out how to communicate properly and professionally via instant messaging applications.

Therefore, organizations should start adopting best practices for instant messaging, such as the careful selection of which systems to use, and the optimum being the choice of systems that employees prefer; Establish basic rules for personal correspondence Respect work-life balance by setting standards on appropriate response times; Face-to-face communication is encouraged as well.

Using Instant Messaging Applications in Business

The names of popular Internet messaging systems are now used in verb form in workplaces around the world, just as we use the word “Google” when we want to search for information, or (I’ll Slack you), meaning that I will send you a message via “Slack”.

In fact, the Slack program has been effectively integrated into the day-to-day activities of large old companies and burgeoning startups, and Slack claims to have hosted more than 10 million daily users in 2019. The company has competitors as well, including Microsoft Teams and Zoom.

The benefits of those tools quickly became apparent. Researchers have noticed in the first decade of the third millennium the importance of instant messaging in reducing unnecessary phone calls and in reducing miscommunication.

In fact, instant messaging outperforms e-mail by providing an immediate and clearer solution to business issues that employees may sometimes be unaware of receiving in their incoming e-mail.

But there is one problem, and that is that we are still in the process of figuring out how to communicate correctly and professionally via instant messaging applications.

These systems may create communication silos in which teams using one platform fail to collaborate with departments that use another platform.

On the other hand, ease of communication may also result in distraction and a lack of formal interactions in the workplace.

Instant messaging may become a natural channel for sharing non-work-related information, including sometimes inappropriate details about workers’ personal lives.

Not surprisingly, instant messaging systems create legal problems for enterprises; It is also paradoxical to use instant messaging to discuss cases in judicial disputes.

Although it’s difficult to abandon these systems today, they are still a serious problem, which indicates that companies have not fully figured out how to develop the policies that guide and organize the instant messaging systems in the workplace correctly and how to implement those policies even.

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Instant Messaging Best Practices

In fact, employees are free to use and choose the instant messaging systems they prefer if the decision to use it is up to the first; In general, however, Slack and Microsoft Teams have become the basic platforms in most organizations; Some suggested best practices are included in this article.

1- Adopt the tools employees are currently using

The history of popular instant messaging dates back to the early 2000s, when Slack, in particular, had already been in use for years.

Therefore, rather than starting from scratch when using workplace instant messaging systems, they should use systems that employees already know and love.

In other words, you should specify the software that employees are currently using; Choosing a popular and appropriate program for your organization and modifying it to suit your needs; Establishing policies on appropriate use and archiving of data; Educating managers on usage and risk factors; Training of human resource representatives; And reprocessing processes and procedures regularly to improve them.

For example, many team members in a health tech startup may use Facebook Messenger as a means of social communication inside and outside the office, but that platform itself does not have to become a standard for official instant messaging within the company, but rather it can be integrated into a bigger messaging system.

2- Accept all instant messaging Applications, but set ground rules

Slack and Microsoft Teams can be a distraction, especially when used as an online repository for storing moving pictures, sharing jokes, and having discussions about sports and TV series stories.

These programs may also represent unintended outlets for bullying, abuse and harassment, such as when group messages are shared about a co-worker’s clothes, behaviors, or personal life, even though this colleague sits only two desks away.

On the other hand, there are benefits for employees who exchange messages on topics not related to work as well, as these digital interactions may create intimate friendships and reduce the likelihood of employees leaving work when they form friendships in the office, as harmony with colleagues showed an increase of participation by 700%.

To reap the social benefits of these tools and reduce the risk of employee distraction or reduced mental health, organizations must clearly define expectations from personal messages.

In other words, those expectations should be established and shared with existing employees immediately and presented to the new hires during their preparation period, making sure to follow them every once in a while.

HR teams should also be trained in complaints and concern handling protocols.

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What are the Best Practices of Using Instant Messaging Applications in Your Company?

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