Office group Chats can be daunting. Here are ways that your team can start using group chats effectively in the workplace. 

Here at Dead Drop, we are major proponents of effective and open communication. This is why we armed our business to business collaboration software with fantastic messaging features. This is why we have written in great detail about communication in the workplace. We have written about fantastic tools that teams can use for making video calls. We have likewise written extensively about the history of emails and the perils that plague it until today. In addition to the history, we also expounded at length why offices should consider banning email in the workplace. 

Today, we focus on group chats. We will cover its pros and cons and end with tips on using group chats effectively. If your office chooses to forgo the use of email, one option to consider for making quick conversations are chat programs. Sure there’s the telephone or actually walking up to a co-worker’s desk to speak with them but there are times when these aren’t always the best options.

Consider the myriad situations when making a call or making the trip to another person’s desk may not be ideal. One example is when you are simply too busy to pick up the phone. There are days when all you have time for is a quick message typed from an electronic device. Another example is when you need to fire off a message to more than one person. You can make a conference call using a telephone but the number of participants would be limited. On days when you need to reach everyone in your team at the same time, a telephone call will simply not do. You can choose the printed memo route, sure, but this is often a waste of resources. Besides, when you need the whole floor to read your message in real time, a printed memo can be pretty useless.

Then there are times when you’re too preoccupied with work to actually step outside the 1-meter radius around your desk. And sometimes the person you need to speak with is not in their station. 

Thankfully, we have the office group chat.

Group Chat and Its Uses

1. For getting quick answers

Kelli Smith, The Muse: 

If you need an answer fast or have news your team needs to know now, this is the first place you should turn. 

Group chats are fantastic in a corporate setting for many reasons. Applied to the situations above, a group chat is useful for when you are pressed for time or when you need to reach a large number of people simultaneously. When there are issues that need to be resolved quickly, using group chat is recommended. Maybe you forgot the time that everyone is supposed to meet for the weekend company golf meet. Group chat is where you can verify the schedule.

2. For emergencies

For times when red alerts are needed to be deployed, group chats can prove useful as well. Let’s say your email server is having issues or there are parts of a project that need to be dealt with right away. A quick SOS sent via group chat can lead to a more immediate response.

3. For connecting remote teams

Group chats are also perfect for teams that are not co-located. In today’s modern corporate landscape, it is not rare for teams to be located in different parts of the world. Obviously, a printed paper memo will not work for remote teams. Telephone calls aren’t always the way to go when you’re handling remote teams, too; phone calls can lead to astronomical costs.

4. For making connections

Additionally, group chats promote a sense of belongingness amongst team members. By virtue of membership and participation in a chat channel, co-workers will feel that they are one big, happy family. This sense of belongingness is particularly beneficial for employees working remotely.

Ka Wa Cheung, We Are Mammoth: 

…chatting through fingers has a way of dissolving shyness

5. For establishing culture

Lastly, group chats encourage team members to have fun. Using group chats, everyone can participate in lighthearted conversations about movies, music, family life, and just about anything under the sun. A group chat can be a channel for exchanging funny photos, GIFs, or videos. Not only are group chats great for your team to connect and establish friendships, it’s also a tool that helps culture form.

The Drawbacks of Group Chats

If you do decide to stop using email, we don’t recommend using group chat as the main and sole replacement. Why? Because it has downsides, of course.

Ann Diab, WorkingOn:

Workplace communication tools are experiencing an enormous surge in popularity, and at the same time, this has caused a bit of a backlash: If I’m always available, when can I get any work done?

Whether it’s HipChat, Slack, G-Chat, or any other form of IRC and instant messaging, workplace chat tools facilitate quick answers and instant gratification. But it’s possible that getting instant input like this is doing more harm than good to the morale of your teammates and to overall company culture.

1. Chats spiral out of control

The real-time aspect of group chats can be a reliability in the workplace. Sure group chats are great for quick discussions and even quicker resolutions but conversations can easily spiral out of control. Because of the number of participants and the casual atmosphere, one question about a team project can lead to a lively discussion about something completely unrelated.

2. People feel left out

In the opposite side of the spectrum for belongingness, group chats are also notorious for making some people feel like they are missing out. Let’s say you weren’t in your work station when a certain topic was brought up. You had something to say about the topic but participants have already moved on to another topic when you returned to your desk. This will likely make you feel that you don’t have a say or a voice in the office.

3. Chatrooms are distracting

This feeling of missing out can lead to a behaviour that also happens to be one downside of group chats. Because you don’t want to miss out on the discussions, you keep your eye on the channels. This means that your attention is diverted when at work. Instead of focusing on your tasks, you find yourself following conversations between your officemates. Talk about loss in productivity!

Other ways that group chats affect work are the way it inspires knee-jerk reactions. Participants are also subjected to short 1-liners that promote disjointed thinking.

And because everyone is included in the channels, the danger of implied consensus is always present. Even if only a few chimed in agreement with a particular topic, group chats make it seem like everyone agreed. Even if only a few people saw the message that was relayed, groups chats make it seem like every single team member received the information.

Using Group Chats Effectively 

But just like any business tool that comes with its own pros and cons, there are ways to make group chats more efficient. The thing to keep in mind is that in order to work smarter, your team should learn to make tools work for you and not the other way around.

1. Define Outcomes

Mamie Kanfer Stewart, Meeteor: 

One reason online chats become overwhelming is that there are so many moving pieces but no clearly defined outcomes. Start a chat conversation by stating clearly what outcome you need and by when.

One of the easier ways to start using group chats effectively is to define outcomes from the get-go. When you open a chat channel, state right away what you expect from the team members and when you expect their input. For example, you can ask for feedback on the suggested venues for the office-wide retreat and that you need said feedback by the end of the work day.

Stating a timeframe for when you need the participants to give you feedback is important. As much as possible, don’t say that you need the information ASAP. An ASAP culture is one of the adverse results of using group chat and you would want to avoid that. Giving the participants at least a couple of hours to get back to you via the chat channel is more ideal.

2. Don’t use it for important announcements

Another way to start using group chats effectively is to stop using it for important announcements. Chats are for quick and casual questions. Maybe you need it to say that there are issues with the internet connection. Or you use the chat channels to remind everyone that an important client will drop by the office that day. However, for important announcements that carry long explanations, using group chat is not the way to go. A different communication tool that will allow for more thorough messaging and will not overflow with hundreds of succeeding replies is highly recommended.

3. Don’t expect everyone to participate all day

As previously stated, chat channels can be a big distraction for employees. You can use chat rooms for quick questions or conversations but you should not expect everyone to be online all day long. If you need an urgent resolution to a problem, don’t use group chat. You can’t expect the person who can give you the right answer to be monitoring the chat channel at all times. They have other things to keep them busy, too. If you need to contact a particular officemate, it’s best to chat with them directly.

4. Know when to stop chats and meet face-to-face

There are some office issues that start as quick group chat exchanges and then evolve into something more complicated. When chat conversations start moving this route, the best thing to do is to call for an actual meeting. This way, a potentially critical issue will not be buried in inane one-liners within the chat channels.

Closing

Just like any tool used in business, group chats aren’t the end-all and be-all of messaging applications. It brings something to the table but it has its downsides, too. Just like email. Just like actual meetings.

The trick to making group chats work for you and your team is to be aware of its pros and cons. This way, you will be able to take full advantage of the communication tool. To summarize, group chats are fantastic for quick announcements and conversations. They are useful for making connections and establishing friendships. Group chats are considerably essential for building culture in the workplace.

On the other hand, group chats are notorious for promoting an ASAP culture. They can make workers feel left out. They divert attention, too. But knowing both the benefits and disadvantages of group chats is the first step to using them more effectively. Any manager worth their salt will be aware of both pros and cons of group chats. They will be able to guide their team properly on how to make the best out of the communication tool. As we have stated here, group chats can be made more effective if teams use it by giving actionable requests and by knowing when to move the conversations from chat to another messaging platform. Group chats can also be useful for rounding up the agenda for face-to-face meetings.

Additionally, keep in mind that when it comes to serious discussions and better collaboration, veer away from group chats. A collaboration tool like Dead Drop is the better option. Sign up for a free trial of Dead Drop HERE.