First impressions about group chats at work
I remember the first day in the office. The first thing after greeting and welcoming was that our HR added me to all group chats. At first, it seemed overwhelming. I mean, there were separate group chats for everything: for the whole team, for my copywriting project, for an Instagram project, even for food ordering. The thing is that I become awkward when there is a need to communicate with more than 1 person at a time. However, while working I understand that even for me, chat groups are a relief. Every time I get the message, I find out more about the company, about their traditions and rules. When you read people’s messages, the jokes they send and the videos they share, you get the idea of their personality. I understand everything faster because I can just reach anyone via Telegram and get the answer in no time.
@jackson, how long will it take to make 4 pictures for the article?
@jane, 1-2 hours and they are ready.
@jackson, send them to the group so that everyone could say if they like it. It’s for their portfolio.
@jane, sure!
Done!
Reasons to use team chat software
The group chat app is an easy-to-reach meeting room. Workers can get there in no time by unlocking the phone and clicking on the messenger icon. Group chat on work is not just another possibility today. It is a must considering all the advantages it gives:
- give questions and get instant answers;
- share company’s news, updates, and issues;
- all team members participate in a decision-making process at once;
- a better organization – different groups for different projects and teams;
- plan parties, birthdays, events;
- collaborate with remote workers;
- discuss things not related to the job, hence improve the atmosphere in the company (we are not robots, remember?)
These advantages are the reasons to implement the tradition of using chats for enhancing the work. However, group chat includes a lot of people at once, which can be overwhelming, like it was in the beginning for me.
The main problems people have while using working chats
- For some people writing in a chat with many people is overwhelming. Yes, introverts exist. No, they don’t pretend to be tired of constant human-interaction;
- PM writing critiques in a chat is not pleasant. It feels even worse than the usual negative remark because you know that other people are reading it, too;
- Instant message – instant destruction. If you forget to mute, say goodbye to your productivity;
- Some important docs and messages can be lost, if the messenger has no convenient storage and search;
- Data is at risk. Facebook data leak proved that our info is vulnerable.
Messengers are implementing new features that resolve these problems. Here’s what you should look for when choosing a chat software.
Features for a team collaboration tool
- security;
- muted notifications;
- convenient files search;
- search for messages by keywords;
- voice and video calls;
- online conference tool available;
- tagging and referring to a co-worker by @;
- ability to save important messages (with a like or a star);
- synchronization with other productivity-boosting apps (Trello, Google Docs);
- availability of group chats as well as private conversations;
- plugins for groups participation (polls, message reactions);
- stickers, gifs, memes to enlive the group.
