Simple Tips To Brush Up Your Skills On Messenger From Facebook

Here’s some ideas to brush up on your messaging etiquette for Messenger from Facebook. Try using these simple tips and tricks for instant messaging with your friends. 

Forget about those butter fingers 

When you and the team were in the office, casual conversations and work chats were easy to have in the halls. Today, it’s not so easy to pop over to someone’s desk to ask a question so teams have had to adapt. 

Group chats can easily feel as comfortable and friendly as a casual conversation in the office. While it is nice to breakdown those communication barriers and get to know your teammates, it is important to remember that everything is still on the record, not to mention in writing, in a workplace group chat. 

Once you send a message everyone will be able to see it, including those who are added to the chat later on. Like you would an email, don’t forget to review before hitting send! 

Sometimes, all it takes is a slip of a finger and your half-drafted message is out there for the world to see.

Luckily, Messenger has some simple safeguards in place to ensure your colleagues don’t end up accidentally receive a message that was meant for someone else. 

You can easily delete an accidental message sent by holding down on the message and selecting remove. 

Change the colour of your group chats to help you better differentiate from personal and professional chats. In your group chat, select the information icon on the top right. You can even create a personalised name for your work chat that reflects your project team and is easily identifiable. 

Word count is paramount 

Online communication has never been more vital skill than it is today. It is important to get it right so you can remain efficient and get back to your tasks, without having to sift through a mountain of messages. 

Stick to a few short sentences and keep things consolidated into one message. While it is easy to shoot off a stream of thoughts, not only will your input look rushed, but your colleagues won’t want to return to 20 unread messages from the one person. Be considerate and draft up a thought-out message once. 

On the flip side, if you have been a victim of spam and want to make a point about a particular message but don’t want your colleagues to have to scroll for days, direct replies will be a handy hack for you. 

Simply swipe right on the message you want to reply to and type away. You can also hit “reply” to GIFs, videos, emojis, texts and photo messages and see the full original message in your thread. 

Tag, you’re IT!

With face to face office conversations moving online, there’s going to be a multitude of emails and messages to filter through and read each day. But a simple trick can help you and your colleagues know when their attention is needed urgently. 

This one’s for your colleague who “replies all” to an email chain. Messenger allows you to easily tag individual team members who the message is directed to. In turn, they’ll receive a notification to respond, and likewise your other colleagues will know that their attention isn’t needed. 

Know when to switch off from work 

Working from home means the boundaries between work and home are blurred, but everyone deserves a chance to switch off. A group chat should mean that you are communicating quickly and efficiently, rather than communicating all the time. 

When you’re ready to call it day and switch off, don’t be afraid to mute notifications and the messages from the thread will silently appear in your inbox without disturbing you. You can also set a time frame for the mute period; the thread will automatically unmute when the set time is over.