‘Wow!!! Thank you SO much. LOL…’
What do these three phrases have in common? They are all part of the Slack-splaining lexicon of excess exclamation marks, unnecessary capitalisation and informal acronyms the vast majority of us have adopted since we started working remotely and now rely
on instant messaging apps to communicate with colleagues throughout the workday.
That is according to
Loom, which recently published a study of three thousand knowledge workers in the UK and US about modern communication tools in the workplace. It found that 97% feel the need
to embellish digital communication to help convey their tone and ensure colleagues don’t read between the lines or misinterpret what they have said. This amounts to nineteen minutes each day rereading emails, and eighteen minutes resolving any kind of miscommunication
that may have occurred.
Culturally conditioned
This fear of being misinterpreted is nothing new, especially among female workers. According to a
2006 study, 73% of exclamation usage in emails comes from women, who have been culturally conditioned to believe that not appearing friendly or nice in written communication
may come off as rude.
Then there are the emojis in the workplace argument. While you might never dream of signing off a work email with a crying-laughing emoji, you have probably leaned on it more than once during online dialogue with a co-worker to cordially illustrate a number
of topics. These can include the delicate art of self-deprecation, a glaringly obvious mistake you have made, or even to end a conversation when you really need to get on with your work and cannot spend any more time going back and forth over something.
One school of thought points to those who use emojis appearing less competent, while another
study highlighted that for younger professionals, 53% rely on emojis to express their feelings better and view those who use emojis as more
approachable (43%) and kinder (35%).
Conversely, 29% of their older counterparts (45 years and older) found the use of emojis unprofessional and 22% shared that it made their colleagues come across as annoying or less genuine.
Misinterpretation fear
The irony is that Slack and other instant messaging (IM) apps were originally created to side-step excess communication, while simultaneously speeding up the process by offering an immediacy traditional email could not.
However, the Loom study also found 93% of respondents believe they must write several sentences to fully explain something for fear of it being misinterpreted, which ends up slowing them down in the long run. It also calculated that ineffective, excessive,
or embellished explanations are costing the US economy $128 billion (£107 billion).
The bottom line? If you feel like remote work is making you feel paranoid about more than your productivity, perhaps it is time to initiate an in-person meeting with your colleagues to blow away the communication cobwebs.
If things have gone one smiley face too far, it could be time to look for your next challenge — the
Finextra Job Board has hundreds of opportunities in forward-thinking companies like the three roles below.
Senior Business Analyst, BNY Mellon, Manchester
The Senior Business Analyst is responsible for the ongoing, independent oversight of moderately complex business continuity compliance activities
and recovery management governance. The successful candidate will also be tasked with the assessment of and monitoring and reporting on key indicators of business continuity and recovery preparedness.
You will also support the business lines managers to ensure the company is meeting both client and regulatory requirements related. See the full job
spec here.
Android Engineer, Starling Bank, Southampton
As an Android Engineer at Starling you will be tasked with helping and improving the bank’s Android app. Working closely with other Android engineers
with a variety of experience and training, you will be committing, reviewing, and shipping new code from the first week.
You will also be empowered to make decisions necessary for the platform and to provide insights to the team leads. If this sounds like the right job for
you, apply now.
Senior Technical Program Manager, Crypto Finance Engineering, Ripple, London
The
Senior Technical Program Manager, Crypto Finance Engineering at Ripple will be expected to manage multiple projects
focused on finance and compliance solutions. You will also be responsible for end-to-end planning and implementation of complex projects, and grow relationships between engineering, technical operations, information security, finance, legal, and compliance
to develop program milestones, track progress, and provide transparency to various stakeholders.
Find out more here.
If you’re looking for your next great role in finance or tech, visit the Finextra Job Board today.