We don’t have any “official” policies specifically about instant messaging at my employer, but several of us in our work group use it frequently. At last week’s team meeting our manager brought up the topic, wanting to get folks’ thoughts about IM and our usage. Did we want it? Do we want something more formalized? Is there a reason not to use it? We had a group discussion and what surprised me was the three or four people in our group who were adamant that they did not want to use IM in any fashion. When pressed further, their complaint came down to this one (combined/paraphrased) concern:

It’s going to be really distracting! I’ll be working away and up will pop this window from someone wanting me to chat with them!

I looked at them and asked if it would be more distracting than me walking into their cubicle or calling them on the phone, but they didn’t really have an answer.

Instant messaging is just another form of communication. Within a work group, folks will develop informal practices and etiquette surrounding its usage, and ruling out a particular technology because of fear is a poor practice. The position I pushed, which seemed to be favored by many, was to allow folks to do what they want, and encourage the use of IM as a communication option, especially for folks working remotely. The team will find the best practices without official polices or procedures.

[tags]im, instantmessaging, communication[/tags]