6. Choose the right tone when instant messaging at work
The other day I was discussing a work issue with my colleague in an instant messenger. I was being to the point, nothing personal. But somehow she got offended and started ignoring me. It took me a while to figure out where things had gone wrong. Another colleague I was chatting with said: “Don’t get emotional at me.” I spent the rest of the day contemplating how one can tell if I am being emotional based on one short conversation? I reread my message several times, but still couldn’t see anything ‘emotional’ about it. So I asked my colleague who is very empathic. He said: “Of course you shouldn’t write things like this. You basically had a go at her, no surprise she got offended”.
Many important business decisions are made in work group chats. The ability to negotiate in an instant messenger is a vital skill for a manager. Being clear and to the point isn’t enough. Just like in real communication, using emotions in messaging is crucial. But it’s easy to get carried away with them and end up chatting like a teenager. There are no accepted rules of instant messaging etiquette, and email etiquette doesn’t really work with IM. So all you can do is train your intuition, watch people’s reactions, and learn from them.
Tales of a Product Owner: concentrated wisdom about project management, team creation and UX. New tale every Tuesday and Thursday!
