Leadership By Numbers

Category Management
David Goldes has ten great tips for managing IM.

• I will keep it casual. Instant messages are not replacements for serious, face-to-face communications. Don't use instant messages to be confrontational. For example, IMs are not the place to break up with a paramour, criticize a colleague, or reprimand an employee.
• I will respect the fact that there are other forms of communication other than IM.
• I will not bother others to ask about the whereabouts of other people, unless it is urgent.
  
• I will not send stupid links via IM that waste everyone's time.
• I will try to indicate my complete presence information to the extent possible.
  
• I will knock before entering and ask if that person can chat.
  
• I will be brief. Don't substitute IMs for a telephone call or e-mail.
  
• I will not message someone repeatedly when they don't respond.
  
• I will set my availability status to change automatically when I am inactive for more than 10 minutes.
• I will try to abide by the above.

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OK, I have my own little addition to IM etiquette.

I don't like it when I have too much to type, and the other side is just waiting for me to finish my paragraph. So, I usually include breaks that are marked with ellipses to mark that I am continuing my thought. In this way, my paragraph is broken into smaller segments, each one marked with a trailing . . . followed by the next segment, until I'm finished.

I just think it makes it much more readable.