Digital etiquette slowly emerging among office workers

Digital etiquette slowly emerging among office workers

UK office workers are confused as to how and when they should use digital communication tools according to a recent study.
Almost half of UK office workers would consider it rude if they hadn’t received a reply to an e-mail within a morning and 5% would consider it rude if they hadn’t received a response within five minutes of sending it (see below).

Despite this apparent importance of immediacy, many people still felt instant messaging (IM) and text messages (SMS) were simply not appropriate for certain aspects of office work.

When is digital communication inappropriate?

Digital Etiquette, a study carried out by electronic communication provider ntl:Telewest Business and research company TNS, found that less than one in ten respondents felt SMS and IM were appropriate for HR issues, financial discussions and liaising with senior management.

There also appears to be a lack of tolerance when using SMS and IM: Two out of every five people expect a response to an SMS within an hour before considering it rude, and almost a quarter of people expect a response within five minutes to an IM. But many people have not yet formed a judgment on how long it’s considered rude to wait for a reply, implying that digital etiquette is still being formulated and confusion is rife.

Use guidelines to avoid etiquette issues

Stephen Beynon, MD, ntl:Telewest Business, called for firms to lay down some dos and don’ts for modern communication channels: “The British are renowned for their manners, so it’s important that as and when these tools become more widely known, businesses give guidelines to their staff on how to use them efficiently. People should be embracing these new technologies, not worrying about how and when to use them.”

What's your digital communication type?

TNS surveyed over 1,400 office workers aged 16-64 across the UK on behalf of ntl:Telewest Business for the Digital Etiquette study. Three main digital communication types emerged from the study, which it categorized as follows:
1. OATs - Old Age Technologists - not necessarily old in age, but OATs have dated attitudes towards new communication technologies.
2. ESBOs (Easily Sociable Behavior Online) – completely at ease with IM and SMS in the office, ESBOs have whole-heartedly embraced modern office communication tools.
3. SToIC (Slow to Implement Change) - SToICs follow established etiquette rules so don’t stray from their accepted comfort zones like fax.

IM and SMS are most subject to misinterpretation, but other communications are less ambiguous

Digital communication facts

• IM and SMS are most subject to misinterpretation, but other communications are less ambiguous – 56% of people had never had misinterpreted a fax, and 46% had never misinterpreted a letter (see above).

• IM continues to be used primarily for gossip and socializing, a third of respondents said this was what they used IM for most.

• E-mail is the most highly regarded tool in the office: 78% of respondents claimed they couldn’t live without it in the workplace. It’s used for the widest range of tasks, from gossip and socializing to personnel, HR and financial discussions.

• Nearly a third of respondents said they still use fax and letter every single day, whilst less than one in five use SMS daily and only one in ten use IM every day.

• 61% of respondents admitted to considering a person’s seniority before sending an e-mail, changing the language of their message accordingly.

The digital communication gender divide

The study also found there’s a gender split in communication etiquette: On average, only 35% of women are happy to gossip over e-mail compared to 38% of men, while only 45% of women compared to 56% of men use work e-mail for socializing.

Overall, women are more timid with new digital communication and remain more comfortable with traditional routes like fax and letter; 34% of female office workers cannot live without letter writing while 30% cannot live without faxing. Women are also less addicted to phones, leaning towards relying on paper trails at work. While 27% of male office workers cannot live without their phones, only 20% of women are phone addicts.

The indication, the study concludes, is that etiquette offers women a tried-and-tested code of conduct they prefer to stick by, while men are mavericks using new methods of communication that haven’t yet been clearly defined by etiquette.

source: Internal Comms Hub