The COVID-19 pandemic changed a lot of ways business was done. Remote working, where possible, was chief among them. While messaging apps like Slack had long existed before March 2020, the services really rocketed afterwards and its important for breweries to have guidelines for using these apps.
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Being able to instantly communicate with anyone inside the company without a phone call, email, or a dreaded video call is great for productivity. Questions can be answered quickly and the business train stays on the tracks.
But there are things to keep in mind and etiquette to follow when using a service like Slack. While they might seem basic or just full of common sense, a refresher for employees and new hires should be part of any onboarding or training sessions with regular check ins.
Having a messaging policy as part of an employee handbook is smart.
Be Professional
Messaging channels on Teams, Slack, or other services are company business. While brewing is a fun industry that occasionally veers into irreverence, keeping things professional on the channels is important.
Having separate channels set up for different facets of the business is important to keep information siloed and easily searchable and tasks and messages clear. Know the channels and keep the conversation trained on that topic.
A general channel is a good place to share memes, observations, or other non-work related items but remember to keep those posts polite and somewhat professional. Co-workers might not all share the same sense of humor and posting too much can be a general distraction from the work day.
Gossip, complaints, and less-than-constructive chatter can also be a distraction and also serves as a digital fingerprint that can be used in disciplinary proceedings, should those ever arise.
Set Boundaries
The idea of having communication available 24/7 is appealing to some workers. Working remotely on sales jobs or at home can mean conducting business outside of normal hours. Just because that works for some employees does not mean it works for others.
Setting snooze hours is good for mental health and prevents employees or colleagues from feeling they need to respond to a message at 10pm. Having a company policy on acceptable hours for communication helps set boundaries. Sticking to those boundaries also shows a respect towards others personal time.
Be Mindful
Because of the immediate nature of messaging a question or comment there is also an expectation that a response will be just as quick. Being mindful that co-workers might be in meetings, working on a project, or have even stepped away from a computer or device is important.
Peppering with quick follow ups or demanding fast answers is not professional and should be avoided. With how connected everyone is electronically giving people a break from constant dings and whirs of notification sounds is kind now and again.