Over the past 5 years, instant messaging as a means of communicating with co-workers (in my company) has increased significantly. We use Lync and it lets everyone know if you are available or busy, is more informal than e-mail, and provides quicker feedback (also includes video conferencing although I only use that once/month at most). With e-mail, I try to respond immediately if I can quickly answer but may wait as long as 24-48 hrs if it takes some research or further thought. With Lync, there have been times when I'm working on something at my desk that requires my full attention (or someone is in my office for a meeting) so I'll ignore the instant message for anywhere between 5-30 minutes. While messages are informally worded (compared to e-mail), it's also available in Outlook to pull up later for reference (similar to e-mail). Just wondering if anyone uses it often in the workplace or has any thoughts on the etiquette. I've read many e-mail etiquette suggestions over the years but not for instant messaging.
I'm not much help. I ignore, delay, or instantly respond based on what is best for me. I expect much the same from others. Some people want to be emailed, some want to be texted, some want to be called. I do whatever I want to do mostly, but I learn what works best with different people so as to make it easy on me. It is not etiquette at all, just a practice. I don't waste a lot of time worrying about helping other people with their communication issues. I don't even worry about my own. Don't overthink it, amigo. You will never attain Maximum Slack if you fret about things like this.
Email is the most often abused and misused form of communication in business IMO. It's allows for a passive aggressive form of interaction and it's also for lazy folks at times. Every company has it's own personality so to speak and how the person at the top communicates will usually set the standard. Things like IM'ing can save time and effort but I really think human beings are becoming far less capable and effective at actual face to face communication. It used to be that one could judge a man's character by shaking their hand and looking them square in the eye....today, not so much.
I don't use IM any more but I used to almost exclusively for business purposes. Whether I would answer right away depended on the importance or urgency of the message to me and who the message was from. I had regular commuications with people all over the world including Australia where there is a big time difference. I think the program had some kind of built in translator. I had been in touch with a Chinese guy about so software and we had IMed each other for a couple of weeks. One time for some reason he found out I didn't speak Chinese and was surprised. I hadn't known he didn't speak English either.
Politicians are great at shaking hands and looking people in the eye but often lack character. I agree with the overall point though and just getting into semantics.
Politicians are actors. I don't trust them either. I'll tell you what else annoys me about electronic communication like IM and texting.....the entire generation of younger folks know how to use the technology but seem to know nothing about the etiquette or "non-verbals" so to speak. There seems to be no sense of manners or appreciation for other's time. I rarely see a text from a teen that says please or thank you. My daughter will text me and before I can even read the sumbitch, she's texted again saying "HELLO?" Damn! But if a friend texts her, she replies when she feels like it. Typical teenager I suppose but I also have to point out that sometimes her comments come across as rude or bossy. They just don't get it.
I do sometimes. I don't like how much we have started using Lync and feel somewhat obligated to respond quickly, even if I'm in the middle of something (such as a very important post on Tigerfan).
