Professional Chat Etiquette

Instant messaging has become a vital part and a role player in the IT sector. The days are long gone when we used to open Yahoo messenger or a MSN Messenger to talk to our friends in a net cafe. We have found the ease of "pinging" our friend who is next to us than to turn to him and say "Hi dude!". It is not pathetic, but its the nature of the work that has made us adopt "typing of data an easy method than to dictate it!". With this kind of workplaces becoming Professional Chat rooms, there is every need to define the standards of chatting in a professional environment. Because people in corporate world are no college going and have earned respect over the years and expect a decent and complete words than chat jargon and short cuts. Lets see some sample Cases
Case 1 : New employee right from college joins a company, sees his boss online and wishes him!
Employee : Hey Boss! Howdy!
Boss : $#@#$%^&*&^(

Moral : Be polite and use correct language with the superiors

Case 2 : Employee suddenly chats with manager in his usual tone to his colleagues
Employee : Hi Andy! Did ya get my sent N pic, You must have lkd it?
Manager: What the hell you are talking!
(Obviously Customer didn't receive what Employee sent, but interpreted it "Hi Andy! Did you get my sent Nude Picture, You must have licked it!" where the employee actually meant "Hi Andy, did you get my sent Niagara picture, you must have liked it!") The variance is too huge

Moral : Don't use abbreviations in a professional chat, it could lead to even firing from job

Case 3: Employee gets a new opportunity to talk to the customer regarding some more details required for a work request the customer sent
Employee :
Hi Mike,
I realize that the request you sent is not complete. Send me other details immediately. Otherwise, I can't complete the work in time!
Thanks
John

Customer : in his copy to Manager
Hi Rob,
I see one of your resources John is not very impressed with the work we got, Can we get a replacement for him in the next one week?
Sincerely
Mike

Moral : Employee is fired! Use courteous language with your superiors or customers.


After looking at the above three cases, we remember many others when we were embarrassed with such chats, if you really are sensitive to people's way of talking. Let me list for you a few things which one must adhere to while doing a Professional Chat.

1. Use proper language with all the employees, unless the other person is too intimate to you, or you have known him for long time.
2. Don't use abbreviations or Chat jargon (ASAP, BRB, LOL, C U will be alright to some extent but not entirely). Use complete words or till they convey the right meaning. For example, to say "appointment", you can say "apptmt" and not "aptmt" which is "apartment". Never use abbreviations with superiors. They least expect it from you.
3. Show courtesy in every request you make and every "No" you say. If some body requests you something, and you are unable to do it, never say "No, I can't do it", rather say "I am sorry, I feel I may not be able to". The former shows your incapability and your headstrong attitude, while the latter shows your amicability and respectful attitude.
4. When trying to message others for more than a minute, ask them , if they have time for you. Other person has not added already your calendar entry for you for 30 minutes when you start talking to him/her
5. When you need help from others, be polite and humble. Do not demand help.
6. Be enthusiastic when the other person chats with you. That creates an impression of your liveliness.
7. Treat your new subordinates as your new friends and be polite to them. They might not be aware of your rules and regulations. Make them aware of first, before commenting their ways of talking.
8. Don't be rude any time. You can put your thoughts humorously than in a rude fashion.
9. While pasting web links. Brief the other person what it is before hand. He is not free to just click on whatever you send. He might be in a happy mood about his new born baby; You send him the link of "100 people dead in a plane crash".. Does it make sense to him?
10. Use Thanks/Sorry when you are at fault. Don't let your ego rule the situation. When ego rules, You may have to search another place to work.

Well the list goes on! But these principles would definitely work out best for you in your corporate ladder. All the best!