WorkingOn Blog Workplace Chat: Communication Doesn't Have to Mean Disruption

Collaboration at work is one of the most important values a successful team can embrace. I'd like to show you how to keep collaboration from getting in the way of productivity by setting up Best Practices for all of the tools your team is using.You've seen well-meaning managers and helpful teammates who try to make themselves as available as possible to their team. They respond to email as it comes in, they are always available via chat, and they allow their day to be enveloped in meeting after meeting: all with the intent to receive as much input as possible and nurture this "culture of collaboration".But at the end of the workday, people who spend their days "collaborating" in this way usually go home, open their laptops again, and start getting the real work done.[Check out: You Don't Need Meetings to Collaborate with your Team]Is this what Collaboration looks like?I once walked into the office of a COO and watched while endless mini G-chat popups appeared and cluttered her screen. She was so accessible, and so intent on creating a "default to collaboration" culture, that she found herself answering questions via one siloed conversation after another.And, of course, this meant she also had to answer the same questions over and over again since the entire team wasn't privy to the quick answers she sent to each individual employee.Private messages are the equivalent of getting up from your desk, going into a private vestibule with one employee, and discussing something important to your company's directives. And then repeating that with different coworkers, and the same coworkers, again and again.I told her about Slack that very day, and within a week her team was onboarded.But within just a month or so, this organization of roughly a dozen employees had surpassed Slack's 10,000 message limit on the free plan, and they had to make a decision about how to better use the tool or whether to start paying for the service.It turned out that 6,000 of those 10,000 messages were private messages. That's right: the team had brought their previous bad habits to this new, more robust tool that the whole world is raving about.I asked about this in one of my communities. Why do people still feel interrupted at work, even while using tools that were meant to create a better type of communication? "You can't design good habits for people," was one opinion shared. "I believe you can design good habits for people, but I'm biased," countered another. "It's easy to blame the user for not trying hard enough," challenges Nir Eyal. "But what blame rests with the designer?"Why hasn't Slack solved all our problems?Workplace communication tools are experiencing an enormous surge in popularity, and at the same time, this has caused a bit of a backlash: If I'm always available, when can I get any work done?Whether it's HipChat, Slack, G-Chat, or any other form of IRC and instant messaging, workplace chat tools facilitate quick answers and instant gratification. But it's possible that getting instant input like this is doing more harm than good to the morale of your teammates and to overall company culture.So what happened? The marketing for these products promises team unity and all gears of a well-oiled machine happily cranking away. Instead, we find ourselves blaming the tool for our bad habits:We have FOMO: Someone might say something we don't want to miss, or a serendipitous and playful giphy war might break out.We begin to believe that each message, each ping, and each request must be answered instantaneously.We assume if we posted it to the chat channel, everyone has seen it and we're all on the same page.We aren't careful to share thoughtful responses: We just start typing and share unsolicited brain dumps.We don't bother with the search function: It's easier to just ask someone to re-upload a file.We don't really even read what our peers are writing."The need for round-the-clock connection not only makes people more impatient, it also robs them of time for quiet reflection or deeper, more critical thinking." -Ron Alsop, "Instant Gratification & Its Dark Side"Your team has to agree on Best Practices for every tool.We have the ability to choose among hundreds of project management, communication, productivity, and collaboration tools. One by one, these tools each serve to solve a problem or challenge: organizing work, tracking progress, sharing information.Often these tools help us support remote work and flexible schedules: those working in opposite time zones or out of the office can get just as much workplace intelligence as if they were sitting across from the team at a communal table. So, it's important to review the reasons you've chosen the tool you're using and arrive at a set of Best Practices so that the tool doesn't become the enemy and the team can achieve its goals.1. Acceptable tagging practicesWhether or not each of your team members has set up their own notification preferences (see #3 in this section), it's important to agree on the ways you'll be summoning each other to your chat room or channel.Example 1: Probably unnecessary taggingSarita: So, we will be packaging that entire list and sending it to the colo?Ben: Yes, I spoke with @jennifer and she agreed that is the plan.Sarita: OK, works for me! So, when do you arrive?Ben: I'll be there at 4 PM. Let's grab a coffee really quick!Ben was simply mentioning Jennifer, so it probably wasn't very helpful to actually use the @ command and tag her. Now, when Jennifer stops what she is doing and visits this conversation, she will find that it was swiftly handled and it has moved on... And she didn't need to check it out at all! That's disruptive, and now it's going to take Jennifer some adjustments to get back to what she was doing.Example 2: Probably necessary taggingSarita: I don't think we ever figured out exactly what needs to be sent to the colo. @ben did you get a chance to work through the priorities?Ben: Ah, you're right. We met about it, but we didn't end up getting to that. @jennifer were you able to finish the list on the items that need to go to colo?Information is needed in order to move forward, so in this case, both Ben and Jennifer are able to open the conversation and figure out exactly why they were tagged and what is being asked of them.UPDATED: Example 3: Tagging for asynchronous conversation followupJen: What are some ways we can deliver more resources and education to our community?Sarita: I've been chatting with some people who would be great co-hosts for a webinar!Thomas: That's a great idea, Sarita. I'd love to do an internal hackathon to create some sort of open-source project as well.Six hours go by, and many conversations occur in betweenBen: Hey @thomas count me in for that hackathon! I've been thinking about that too!Asynchronous communication means that you can still take part in collaboration even if you're not present for a serendipitous conversation. You might copy and paste the original message that you're referring to, tag the folks who were a part of that conversation, or simply go back and add a reaction to the message that stands out to you the most.Bonus tagging feature: By group.Your chat app may have particular features that allow you to address a specific group of teammates. In this case, Ben could have asked the @data team for this information so that anyone could have answered, rather than waiting for Jennifer to make her way to the conversation.[Check out: Introducing User Groups on Slack]Whether you're tagging by group, room, "all", or "here", it's important to share Best Practices conversations with your whole team so that you can arrive at the best way to communicate online.When they can answer is always another matter, which leads us to:2. Expectation of responsesAvailability requirements should be discussed at hiring and during one-on-ones. They may differ from role to role or even from issue to issue. Chat about these things. Be open about your expectations.Equally, the written communication skills that your team possesses should be important when you are using web tools to facilitate collaboration. Chat often about how to respect each other's time and how to ask for input - or better yet, ask for a time when input will be available.Decide when it's important to be available to your team by discussing questions like this:Are there certain features and products that require an SOS-type response?Have I provided my team with a list of who to ping based on the SOS scenario?If I don't respond to this request, am I willing to take accountability for the delay?If you decide to tag a coworker, consider adding a level of urgency to the mention. This way, they can briefly glance at the ping but immediately assess whether it can wait. Starting your request with @thomas [when you get a chance] or @colette [as soon as possible] or @julia [by the end of the day] could really go a long way in minimizing disruption for your coworkers.Help your team respect each other's time by discussing questions like this:Who is required to make a decision on this?Is this information available in our stored data?Have I spent 15 minutes trying to locate this answer through notes available?Does the current time in this person's time zone fall in their regular work hours?Who will be affected if I don't receive an answer within the next 30 minutes?3. Manage your own notificationsYour coworkers might use central messaging as a place to brainstorm an idea, plan an event, or even nerd out about Star Wars. The conversations that might otherwise take place on a normal workday at a traditional office should be encouraged to take place on your team chat tool.So, set up rooms and channels with accurate descriptions and appropriate team members. There should definitely be a space for random thoughts and personal updates like the ones that might take place in a break room (such as Star Wars chatter and how Justine is coming along in her triathlon training).And m