JS Tip 307: IMing (Instant Messaging) Two. Too. Also.

Tips from Jefferson Smith Training and Consulting

** From the Writing Workshops: IMing (Instant Messaging) Two. Two. Also.

Last week, we discussed guidelines for instant messaging.

We asked if you had suggestions.

You did.

Beautifully.

Thank you.

Three suggestions:

Be careful. Pam Kerber of Wells Fargo suggests we always remember these communications are discoverable. They can be subpoenaed for court. Never write something you wouldn’t want to see in tomorrow’s New York Times. Or The National Enquirer.

Use IM as a back channel. Jan Gates of Zions Bancorp suggests using IM as a second means to communicate on one side of a conference call. Instead of talking (and being overheard), send an instant message. A reminder. Some background information. Suggestions for the conversation.

Use visual cues if you’re using humor. Doug Durrant at IMFT suggests emoticons (:-))*, acronyms (LOL), and laughter (hahahahaha) to clarify humor. We agree. Humor is difficult to interpret without the visual cues.

We live in a brave new world. (Aldous Huxley used the phrase Brave New World as a book title in 1931. He took it from Shakespeare’s Tempest, written in 1611.) The new has always been with us. The new will always be with us. We’ll always have new technologies to sort out and learn from.

Again, thank you.

We love this stuff.

*Either those are parentheses or the guy is bald and has a double chin.

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tips@jeffsmith.comFebruary 20, 2015