Eight Rules For Emojis In The Office To Keep Your Boss :)

Memes, gifs, emojis and more are changing the way we communicate with our coworkers. How do you decide when to throw in that smiley? When is it okay to send that fire meme?

Via startribune.com

My final year at college, I started receiving text messages. I remember telling a friend that I would never text; it felt rude not to pick up a phone and call a friend to make plans or share a story.

Fast forward about 15 years, and 95 percent of Americans have cell phone (77 percent have a smartphone). The average smartphone user in America is sending five text per every call, and spending 26 minutes a day texting compared to six minutes on voice calls. An analysis from Instant Census found that almost 90 percent of cellphones in the U.S. have unlimited texting.

I am now much more likely to respond to a text than I am to listen to a voice mail and respond in kind with a phone call. And this change in communication doesn’t just apply to our personal conversations – office communication has also seen a revolution in recent years. Social media and new tools like Slack have not only changed how we write to clients and coworkers, but it’s impacted the actual content of our messages as well. Not only is texting the norm, but this brave new world of communication includes abbreviations, emojis, GIFs, memes, images and more.

I love the vibrant discussion this cultivates and the quick written repartee I see from the millennials in our office. However, I’ve also noticed that not everyone understands how to navigate between more casual social media conversation and professional expectations with clients or journalists.

So I’ve drafted a sort of “all purpose” guide for the brave new world communication to aid those who may be socially savvy, but professionally naïve.

1. Follow the leader

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Take your cues from the same people you take direction from (that means clients and bosses). In most aspects, their definition of what is professional sets the bar for what is expected of you. If you receive a smiley, a thumbs up, or a “great job!” cat GIF, feel free to respond in kind. If you haven’t even seen an exclamation point yet, you should definitely hold off on sending that party balloon.

2. A meme is not a message

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No matter how perfect an image seems, write your message out. Being an effective professional means being an effective communicator. Emojis, GIFs and memes can be fun, light-hearted and relatable, but they can also be notoriously ambiguous. You can use them to lighten up your message, but they should never be trusted to convey it alone. Always be sure to say what you mean clearly with words.

3. No angry emojis

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A better rule is “no angry emails,” but it bears adapting for a world that continues to make it easier to fire off short and bitter clapback retort. Just as a pleasant emoji is unusually lighthearted, mean ones are often crueler and more intimidating than intended. If your message is of a serious nature, take time to think about what you want to say – and then I highly recommend saying it in person or over the phone. An emoji or GIF is never the right way to convey frustration, disappointment or anger.

4. Limit yourself

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Professionals have long struggled with the question of exclamation marks. Should you use them? How many is it okay to use? When can you use them? Emojis, memes and GIFs present a similar question to workplaces where they are welcome. Set a limit (again, consider following the lead of others) and establish some ground rules (e.g., never use them in the middle of a body of paragraph).

5. Keep it simple

Via hieroeducation.co.uk

The ancient Egyptians develop a hieroglyphic language that communicated entire stories through a pictorial alphabet. You are not an ancient Egyptian. One emoji in a message can be endearing, a string of them together looks puzzling at best and childish at worst. Don’t overdo it.

6. Know your meme

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When you use emojis, memes and GIFs, you run the risk of looking juvenile or silly, even when you use them accurately. So don’t risk using them inaccurately. Never use them unless you’re absolutely confident in what they mean and the reference the image may convey. It’s like that time I made a “Netflix and Chill” reference in a client brainstorm without understanding what it actually meant. It’s not a good feeling. You can’t go wrong with a smiley face or thumbs up, so when in doubt, keep it simple.

7. Play it safe

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Similarly, if you’re not sure how someone will respond to an emoji, don’t send it. Are you unsure whether a client will view it as unprofessional? Don’t send it. Are you worried the emoji might be misunderstood by your coworker? Don’t send it. Don’t send it.

8. Know your medium

Via tenor.com

While you might be able to use emojis in an email, that doesn’t mean you should. In part because your recipient might not be able to see them depending on the device they are using. An emoji in text is a lot more appropriate. Emojis in a casual office chat service like Slack are also more naturally acceptable. Be aware of how you are communicating, and whether an emoji will seem out of place in your medium.

vimeo.com / Via tenor.com

A 2017 study found that as many as “7 in 10 Americans (71%) use visual expressions such as emojis, stickers or GIFs when texting or using mobile messaging apps” Considering that, I expect to see even more of them around my office, but I also hope that those adopting trendier methods of communications keep in mind the best practice necessary to walk that careful line between being casual and being a professional.