Eric Butow - Digital Etiquette For Dummies

One challenge of communicating with people online is the ability — or lack thereof — to centralize messages. That’s why businesses are as interested in online team communication software as kids are to sugary treats. Such software keeps communication in one place so that employees can log in with their account, find the information they need, and stay connected with others. Managers can track their employees’ work and progress more easily. And many apps have live audio and video meetings integrated into them.

You may have heard about some of these apps: Microsoft Teams, Slack, and Basecamp have all been in the media. You may also know names like Telegram, Trello, and ClickUp. Many of them have mobile apps, too, so people can stay connected wherever they go.

If you’re in the market for team communication software for your business, where do you start? We suggest the Capterra website ( www.capterra.com/team-communication-software ) which you can use to search for team communication software.

You may get googly-eyed when you see that the number of apps in the list as of this writing is 297, but that’s why we recommend Capterra as a good place to start. The idea is not to panic. You can click on the View the Capterra Shortlist option in each product entry in the list to view a grid with the top 25 products to see how they compare. If you have more specific needs, you can talk to one of Capterra’s experts by phone for free so that they can create a personalized list of software for you.

No matter whether you decide to use just an email app and Zoom or a centralized message app to communicate with your team, you need to know which medium to use for your message. After all, you have plenty of media to choose from, including phones for voice communication, email, text via phones or online chat apps, and even face-to-face communication remotely using Zoom or the aforementioned team communication software.

What’s more, you have different audiences that you have to communicate with. Some people like communication orally by phone or in an online video meeting, but some prefer to have text in email or on their phone.

Breathe slowly, because we’re here to give you the tips you need to make the right decision about which communication method is best for your situation.

Start by asking what the message is about. For example:

Is your information time-sensitive?

Is the information you want to convey general or specific?

Is your information sensitive in any way — that is, should only specific individuals view the information?

Do you need to communicate with one person, a group, or the entire company?

Who is the person or group of people you’re talking with? Your message will vary depending on whether you’re talking to an employee or talking to your boss.

Does the message require a response?

The type of message you’re sending can affect how you deliver your message.

If your company culture is about using face-to-face communication in the workplace, you should use it for every communication, if at all possible. But if your team is used to getting messages in all sorts of formats, keep doing that. Consistency is key, no matter whether you’re working in the office or remotely.

Speaking of receiving messages in different formats, you need to know what your audience wants to receive. Sometimes that’s easy, if you have a culture that knows what it’s getting, such as a weekly meeting on your shared communication platform. But if you have a culture where different people have different preferences, you may feel that you need a top hat, cape, and wand to make it all work.

For example, some people want to connect using email or text because they check that method most often and find meetings — online or in-person — mostly a waste of time that distracts from their work. Others need to see people’s faces.

On a small team, you can try to manage everyone’s preferences as much as possible. If you find that you need to have a communication policy companywide, this is a great opportunity for you (or someone you delegate) to do that. Yes, you can give some autonomy to departments and small teams, but when it comes to things like communication mediums to use, that should be a company decision.

Now it’s time for another "what’s more" — you may want to have some messages sent in as wide a format as possible. For example, if you have a state of the company report for the year just ended, it’s better to have an in-person meeting, if it’s available.

If it’s not, a video is the next best thing because people can see your face. A video meeting may have too many people in it for the app to handle, so a recorded video distributed on shared communication or even on a private YouTube channel may be the best option.

You should consider having a live video instead of a recorded one if your technology permits it. Though a live video means there’s a better chance of having bloopers, the same is true of a live event, anyway. And a live video means you can take questions afterward, so you have an opportunity to create a deeper connection with your employees.

Chapter 3

IN THIS CHAPTER

Seeing how etiquette varies for different audiences

Setting common rules for everyone

Teaching students to be professional

Reminding teachers to be mindful

Having kids learn the rules

You know when you meet someone face-to-face that the other person’s age tells you how you should communicate with them. If you’re talking with your peers at work, you speak with them differently than you would with friends when you’re on the town.

The height of the COVID-19 pandemic laser-focused attention on what it meant to mind your manners because there were far fewer people to talk with in person — and you didn’t want to stick around for too long, anyway.

Alas and alack, viruses change over time, and everyone is still trying to figure out how to paint that nasty SARS-CoV-2 virus into a corner. As much as we hope the virus is stuck in that corner by the time you read this book, online communication is still the order of the day for people in many age groups.

The strain of the pandemic has frayed manners in person, but maybe because people are more used to talking online these days, they may feel that manners are optional because the folks they’re addressing can’t see them — or else said people can just turn away by turning off their web cameras, so no one in a video meeting sees them.