11 Chat Etiquette All Professionals Should Follow

Professional chat etiquettes

Here are 11 chat etiquette all professionals should follow:

• Never use short forms on professional chats, for example, avoid using "Ur" in place of "Your" and "hru" instead of  " How are you?".

• Avoid sounding rude by following simple chat rules, for example, if someone pings you with a "Hi" or "Hello" then respond in a similar gesture by saying "Hi" or "Hello", avoid replying by saying "Yes?".

• Never discuss personal matters on professional chat platforms. Personal matters are best discussed outside of official chat platforms.

• Always mind your p's and q's, that is, mind your manners and soft skills. "Thank You" and "Please" are extremely useful.

• Watch out for the use of emoticons. While smiles and Thumbs Up are fine, it is important to be cautioned about the use of other non professional emoticons.

• Be sure to know if your chat history is being stored somewhere. Most official platforms have a feature available to save chat history either on the client end or on the server end. Be double sure of how it works for your organization.

• Be prepared to rephrase and elaborate your point of view. This is absolutely required to make sure that you have rightly understood the point being discussed and that the other person on the chat has acknowledged the same.

• In group chats: Always address people with their names. This simple thing is important for people to understand who is talking to whom and who owns the action item.

• In group chats: Make sure that you are clear in your messaging, for example, if there is a transition from one person to another person then make sure that the group chat moderator is notified of the transition. Such transitions generally happen in production support or operations where people work in 24*7 environment and provide coverage in a shift model.

• Chat with caution when you have multiple chat windows open at the same time. Avoid making basic mistakes like posting a message to a wrong window or to a incorrect group chat. Such errors result in unnecessary chaos.

• Screen sharing is one of the most widely used feature across official chat platforms. While this is very useful there is a inherent need for the users to be careful while sharing their screens with other users inside or outside the organization. Whenever this is done it is necessary to follow information security guidelines of the organization.

You may also want to read 23 Email Etiquette Rules Every Professional Should Follow