Maintain a professional tone and clarity in workplace messaging. Avoid excessive caps, emojis, and distractions. Respond promptly, proofread before replying, safeguard privacy to adhere to company guidelines.
Table of Contents
1. Be Careful with Your Tone
Many businesses use communication tools like WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, Slack, Facebook Messenger, Zoom and Skype. However, keep in mind that they are still designed for professional environments. Hence, it’s critical to keep things professional when using instant messaging.
Before hitting that send button, it’s good practice to consider how the recipient will perceive your message. You must avoid using full caps, exclamation points, or emojis that may make your communication not business-like.
Ensuring an appropriate tone will keep your communications courteous. This ultimately helps maintain a pleasant atmosphere in your workplace.
2. Keep Things Clear and Concise
When it comes to business communication, clear and concise messaging is paramount. You must always prioritize clarity to avoid any misinterpretation.
Prioritizing clarity means avoiding jargon or confusing language that might mislead your recipient. Instead, opt for brevity and simplicity, focusing on the message that you want to convey.
Doing this will allow your colleagues to comprehend what you want to relay and foster efficient and fruitful discussions, even if you’re only using instant messaging apps and not communicating face-to-face.
In the long run, this effective real-time messaging will improve your team’s productivity, ushering in better workflows and output.
3. Don’t Be Distracted
The use of IM comes with various responsibilities, including avoiding distractions that can cause communication breakdowns and even compromise your safety.
Avoid sending messages when driving, crossing a road, or doing anything that requires your full attention.
Moreover, keep an eye on your gadget’s alerts. Getting constant notifications can be disruptive and negatively affect your productivity. This is especially important if you’re doing remote work. While IM has become a powerful tool for communication, it must still be used appropriately.
When you need to concentrate, consider muting or limiting such notifications or setting your status to “Do not disturb.” And if you need to have a more in-depth conversation, consider making a phone call or using another appropriate method. The key is to prioritize focused interaction.
4. Ensure Proper Timing
As with any other matter in business and life, proper timing matters. Especially in workplace communication, you must be mindful of others’ schedules and respect their work-life balance. This is important in maintaining a harmonious work environment.
Avoid using instant messaging outside of work hours — unless it’s urgent and absolutely necessary. And if you’re to communicate beyond others’ work time, do so with much politeness. You might also want to explore other effective communication methods for non-urgent matters or more complex discussions (e.g., email or scheduling video calls).
Always remember that respecting everyone’s personal time and boundaries contributes to their well-being.
5. Check Your Grammar and Spelling
In today’s digital age, instant messaging is the most used form of communication. While it’s tempting to simply send messages, you must remember that how you communicate mirrors your professionalism and attention to detail.
So, make sure you use proper grammar and spelling and ensure your message is clear and error-free.
Take the time to proofread your messages before sending them out. Correct your mistakes because it’s a way to help your recipients understand your ideas more accurately.
6. Safeguard Privacy and Respect Confidentiality
When using any messaging platform, you have the responsibility to safeguard privacy. Though most apps offer convenience and better functionality, avoid sharing sensitive and confidential information over these tools because they’re not always secure enough to protect such information.
Exercise discretion and refrain from discussing confidential matters through instant messaging. The proper channel to use is more secure platforms, such as encrypted emails, to avoid breaches and being a victim of cyberattacks.
Also, as mentioned, you must respect others’ privacy and personal lives. Doing so will help build trust and cultivates a culture of professionalism.
7. Maintain Professionalism
There are various benefits of instant messaging. This is why many organizations use such tools to facilitate internal communication. However, keep things professional and use these platforms for work-related interactions.
Avoid using messaging platforms to talk about personal matters or engage in gossip. Note that focusing on professional topics can boost productivity, enhance teamwork, and increase profitability in the long run.
Remember: The tone you use in your messages can impact how others view you. Remain polite and establish yourself as a reliable colleague by maintaining professionalism in all communications.
8. Be Prompt When Responding
Giving an immediate response whenever needed is a cornerstone of effective communication.
With the advent of the Internet and instant messaging tools (including platforms that allow voice calls), everyone in the team can reply in real-time — unless there are technical issues or any other emergency.
Make it a habit to check messages and stay updated on incoming ones. Respond promptly, especially to time-sensitive inquiries.
Delayed responses can cause miscommunication and frustration. Worse, it can serve as a potential bottleneck for a certain project.
9. Observe Proper Etiquette in Group Chats
Group messaging platforms are designed to foster collaboration. However, as these are still professional spaces, you must observe proper etiquette.
To offer a positive experience for everyone, don’t send unnecessary messages or overload the Slack channel with unrelated content. Always check the purpose and relevance of your messages to contribute to the overall flow and productivity of the conversation.
The key is to respect the time and attention of other group chat members. Keep in mind that the key goals of using group instant messaging platforms are to make relevant information easily accessible, streamline decision-making, and strengthen your dynamics.
So, leverage the platform wisely and use it with respect and efficiency.
10. Know and Understand Your Audience
In the world of communication — whether you’re talking on instant messenger or holding a webinar or virtual meeting — knowing who you’re talking to is vital.
In crafting your message, always factor in your audience’s knowledge level and expectations. Learn to adapt and adjust your tone, level of detail, and manner of writing (or speaking).
When you tailor your communication to your audience, it enhances overall comprehension and fosters better connections.
There’s no one-size-fits-all approach to communicating. Always customize your message depending on who you talk to (boss, manager, subordinate, or intern) and the context.
11. Double-Check Before Hitting Send
To maintain effective communication, you must ensure accuracy and be careful with the tone of your messages. While responding as promptly as possible is vital, you must dedicate time to reviewing what you’re about o send. This will help you avoid potential misunderstandings.
And reviewing accuracy doesn’t just entail checking the grammar and spelling; you should also verify facts, figures, and essential details to prevent potential consequences.
Eliminate confusing statements and address any ambiguities (For instance, if you’re in a group chat and you’re delegating tasks, mention who is responsible for that).
When double-checking your message, try reading it aloud or in your mind to ensure that the tone remains respectful, professional, and fit for the context.
12. Observe Company Guidelines
Every business has a company policy to follow, which covers how employees must communicate. Such guidelines are designed to help you maintain professionalism and protect the security of company information.
Many communication guidelines also emphasize using appropriate language, so following them will help you avoid causing misunderstanding or confusion.
As an employee, you have the responsibility to contribute to enhancing workplace communication — may it be through instant messaging or otherwise.