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IM best-practices in the workplace
Brian McCaffrey | Sep 28 2007
What is IM used for in the workplace? My office mates and I figured out this week that we have an IM client on our corporate workstations. Novices to the world of corporate IM, we don't really know what it's used for. I've used IM clients at home, of course, but never at work and we're all at a bit of a loss on how this would be useful, if at all. A quick session of searching 43f reveals that most of the discussion up until this point has been about managing the distractions of IM and managing your coworkers' expectations of your responses. But I'm wondering, what's IM used for in business? So far in my office, people have started chat sessions with entire work teams present online and left the session open all day. Team members will post questions or comments or requests to review edits on shared documents. In one of our groups, the director has moved some of his communication to the chat room, with the expectation that his team members will read this message during the next hour or two. Is this a typical use? How about one-on-one chats with colleagues? Tell me what IM looks like at your workplace. 46 Comments
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 IM - The Good, The Bad and The Absolutely UglySubmitted by JamesC on September 29, 2007 - 6:14am.
I am a Messaging Consultant, having worked with different messaging systems I have seen IM come a long way and know it has a long way to go. IM in the workplace can be a boost to productivity and it can be the bane to the workplace as well. I have seen it abused and misused, I have seen it used for valid work communication and I have seen it as a distraction to workers. It really depends on each individual on how they use it. With regard to a corporate IM program many companies, educational institutions and government entities use it for a select few while the vast majority of other users rely on the public IM such as AIM, MSN, Yahoo and GMail to name just a few. Users need to recognize that many IM's do NOT have sufficient security to warrent using it for confidential information and I have seen many requests from lawyers, police and the FBI asking for the transcripts and archives of not only email but now IM conversations. Armed with the proper warrant they get what they want and sometimes more if the IM network servers are confiscated. Personally I have used it for quick conversations with fellow employees, finding out if they truly are there (some do change their status) and asking for information to be sent to me. The programs I have installed and used in a corporate setting are secure in that the information is sent encrypted, however, remember that many persons do not use a screen saver nor do they lock their computers, so information while sent encrypted is very visible to passer-bys or visitors to your office. Usually in educational settings corporate IM is NOT used by students, unless they are student workers. I regularly use GMail for talking to friends around the world by means of my headset, others use Skype or other programs. For catching up with friends quickly it can be great to have, but remember that your employer does not pay you for speaking to friends and relatives and doing so may cost you your job. It's like personal email, use only email programs at work that do not download a copy of the email to your work computer, if it is downloaded it is now the property of your company since it resides on their computer. Be careful, be watchful, and be aware of proper etiquette when using either IM or email. If your work offers an IM program, inquire as to the rules for use, ask if it is for confidential information use as well. Once you have found out what the guidelines are - adhere to them. » POSTED IN:
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