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I apologize if this has already been posted, but does anyone else find it distracting (and annoying) when peers message you on Teams? I get it when my manager does because she needs something at that moment, but a coworker? Is email not an effective way to communicate vs you need an answer RIGHT NOW! I even tried setting myself to 'busy' and people still messaged me and one even called me shortly after sending an email. I'm very good at responding to emails same-day, but if I don't read and respond within seconds then IM is their next approach. I'm busy and find these interruptions distracting.
We use slack, and I vastly prefer it to email. I'm actually annoyed if colleagues email rather than DM in Slack. There are times when I don't want to be bothered by the notifications, so I turn them off until I can give them my full attention, and you can set your status to show when you're available and when you're not.
I prefer Teams to email, it's more like talking to each other the way we did in the office. Email is only for issues that need a paper trail for later reference.
I prefer email because what I do requires a paper trail. If I'm messaged, I don't respond to it, but then email the person from whom I received the message.
Our emails are clogged and we don't need or want another one for something that can be answered via IM. So for us, there are bunches of things where IM is much more amenable. For example, IM is better for a brief "discussion" rather than sending (and waiting for) 5 email messages.
But they both have their place, as do phone calls, in person meetings, chatting with web cameras, etc. Maybe the people IMing you aren't using the technology for the right purpose.
I'm not a huge IM fan as certain colleagues will pepper you over and over again all day, every day with IMs. I like it if it's being used sparingly and only when you truly need something quickly. If someone gets too IM-happy, I generally will slow-roll my response for 30-60 minutes to let them know that I don't deem their question as valuable enough to interrupt my focus.
I'm not a huge IM fan as certain colleagues will pepper you over and over again all day, every day with IMs. I like it if it's being used sparingly and only when you truly need something quickly. If someone gets too IM-happy, I generally will slow-roll my response for 30-60 minutes to let them know that I don't deem their question as valuable enough to interrupt my focus.
Yup, I agree with Florida. And will add that if I run into an IM happy person, I will tell them something like "I'm not great with IM's, email me next time". Or something like that. And that's if I want to be nice, I have no qualms about telling people that the IM they sent is more appropriate over email. But that's just me...the message can be conveyed gently or more straight forward and my intent is not to be a jerk so however the person takes it is how they take it.
I am another that strongly dislikes IMs because they can be distracting and rightly or wrongly people expect a very quick answer to them. And a lot of people don't know what is appropriate in that w=format and what isn't. I have disabled it in the system at my work. One co-worker in particular who had a habit of IMing questions he could answer himself with a tiny bit of effort is now thinking about what is appropriate to just push to me and what he should be taking a minute to see if he can get the answer himself.
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