Working @GitHub Support, programming for fun, working remotely, love cooking and food, and want to learn how to play the guitar.
Published on 2010-03-23
We are using instant messaging a lot (IM). Our team is working remotely and IM helps us communicate. I have realized that communicating using IM can be rather difficult sometimes. One of the reasons is the lack of visual contact. The two (or more) chatting parties cannot show their body language.
The body language is important in situations where there is confrontation, opposition and reaction. It is also very important even for simple and relaxed chats. When two people try to discuss a difficult subject, it is very easy to get the wrong signals reading plain text. It would be a whole better if people were chatting face to face or even using voice.
What plays a key role is whether a person is generally pleasant when you are around them in the same room. When people smile a lot and generally approach things in a positive way, they are likely to transmit the same feelings even when someone is chatting with them using plain text. What helps, is the image of that person in the mind of the other chatting party. It's the memories of the mood that person is in when interacting closely with the other party.
For example, when I chat with a person that is very distant and negative when I am around them, I get the same feeling when chatting with them using IM. It takes some effort to perceive what they type in a positive way even if they don't say something in a negative way.
Being pleasant, smiling and open to your colleagues is a key factor towards a better communication even using text messaging.