Instant messaging: Tool, toy or menace?

In Dilbert's world, creator Scott Adams defines a "camper" as someone who stops by a worker's cube or office and just won't leave.

In Steve Cain's world, a camper is someone who logs on to a company's instant messaging (IM) application and just won't log off. He sits online, messaging people as they come and go, begging attention -- and becomes a distraction.

"You just get far too much messaging going on," says Cain, an application services manager with Ericsson who's charge of a half-dozen remote workers.

Such can be the bane of instant messaging. Used smartly, it allows team members to send and receive messages in near real-time -- faster than traditional e-mail and less distracting than using a telephone. But used poorly, IM can become host to chat-room-like banter, lost productivity -- and annoyance from workers who feel compelled to respond to each and every message that passes by.

"These systems are a solution in search of a problem," says telework consultant Gil Gordon, whose clients have been asking about the usefulness of IM. "They're useful only when the value of the interruption is higher than the value of the work being interrupted, and if the need for an instant response is strong enough to make e-mail unsatisfactory."

But Cain knows the benefits of IM for linking remote workgroups -- first hand. In his previous job as an IBM consultant, Cain and his disparate team used IM to link disparate work groups. Workers in multiple locations can share quick-hit information -- especially if they're working on an application installation and phoning or e-mailing a co-worker would be too cumbersome or take too long.

Now, he awaits Ericsson's own IM tool, iPulse IM, which works with PCs, mobile phones and PDAs. The company plans to sell iPulse to resellers as well as roll it out to all employees, which prompted Cain to outline some IM best practices. Among them are:

• Don't use IM to replace e-mail. IM should be used as a short message service for quick queries that require equally quick-hit responses.

• Don't use IM to request or order projects from a worker or workgroup. Even with the IM's Audit Trail function turned on, any significant job request should be done through a more formal channel, like e-mail. "It's easy for a request to get lost," Cain says.
• Learn IM-etiquette. Senders must learn to ask if they're intruding; recipients must learn to say "Yes" or "Stop" to a barrage of inquiries.
• Don't cloak or mask your presence. If you're on, be visible. If the service has alerts or icons denoting your availability ("Busy" or "Do Not Disturb" mode or "Online" or "Available" mode), use them. Smart co-workers will respect your status.
• Avoid the "Big Brother" syndrome. A worker's presence online often is perceived as a way for a manager to track a worker's activity. Besides, just because a worker isn't on IM doesn't mean he or she is (or isn't) working.
• Just say no. If a constant barrage of messages comes your way, learn to determine which require your attention -- and which can wait. Whether you tell people you'll get back to them, or you don't answer until you've completed what you've beenn concentrating on, avoiding the slippery slope of IM can help keep you focused.

As with teleworking in general, best use of the new tools of the workplace takes learning, says Barbara Boyle, iPulse marketing manager with Ericsson. Workers will learn that they can send a quick query, "Want to do lunch?" and the recipient can simply reply -- without opening a floodgate of chat.

"With iPulse, we tell people 'You control your own communications. You just have to learn how it's done.'" she says.