17 Golden Rules Of Texting In Personal And Professional Scenarios

It goes unsaid that texting hides your feelings, unless of course, you have the strength and the time to articulate sentences to give out exactly what you feel to the opposite person, which by the way, spoils the whole essence of Instant Messaging (IM). However, not all of us understand this, and no matter what our intention is, because of our texting style, we come across as rude and weird to the other person.

And so, the following is a quick guide on ideal ways to text, in both professional and personal scenarios.

1. Especially in case of professional conversations, begin the conversation with a ‘Hi’ or ‘Hello’, before progressing

Start a conversation properly no matter how impersonal or professional it maybe. Only after the greetings are made, ask them if they are okay to chat at the time, and then progress discussing tasks.

 

2. If it is a colleague, be sure that you know the person before sending them an IM

The career coach and author of the book “The Essentials Of Business Etiquette,” Barbara Pachter highlights this as one of the important rules. Knowing the person means that you should be introduced to them in person before sending an IM to them. Knowing a person on social media and dropping an IM in their inbox will make you appear strange.

 

3. When they IM you, don’t call in response. IM back!

If they wanted to call you they wouldn’t have sent you an IM in the first place, but would have called you straight away. But if the text reads ‘Call me,’ that’s a different story of course.

 

4. How soon someone replies is totally dependent on the situation and their schedule

If the other person is busy or travelling and you are aware of it, don’t open fire because it is obvious that they won’t be able to reply on time. Especially if you aren’t fond of replying right away, it is nonsense to expect the same from the other person.

 

5. Never IM anything negative

IM is a casual medium of conversation and should be used for the same purpose. Conveying a bad news or scolding someone via an IM isn’t an ideal way to converse, highlights Barbara Patcher.

 

6. Text on office groups only when it is absolutely needed

Unless it is a group of your friends, in which case, it is fine. However, if it is a group of colleagues, keep your texts limited to sharing critical information.

 

7. Send neither thesis nor single alphabets

Especially in professional conversations, it is ideal that you limit your conversation to a few words unless of course the situation demands otherwise. But what’s most annoying is the practice of sending out ‘K’ and ‘Hmm’.

 

8. Don’t leave the conversation hanging

For example- All those people who would start with a ‘Hi’ and leave the conversation right after without even a ‘Bye’ Why start a conversation when you don’t want to be a part of it?

 

9. The LOLs- Don’t overuse them

People do this often. They don’t find a thought funny, still they would use LOL. Even the other person is well aware of the fact that what they said wasn’t meant to be LOLed. So, don’t overuse it. For example- “I have eaten a single bread slice since morning LOL” isn’t funny.

This reminds me,

 

10. Never use abbreviations that aren’t in public knowledge

It neither makes sense nor shows you off as a genius when you use self-created abbreviations, for example- LHL (Let’s Have Lunch) with people who know nothing of it. Be sensible.

 

11. Don’t text your life stories to people you barely know

It is jarring for the person on the other end of the line to read vomited emotions from a person they didn’t know until a few days ago.

 

12. And don’t show off that you are ‘typing…’

Okay, so you don’t have the time to reply right away, but that doesn’t mean you will enter the cursor in the text bar and leave it that way. The other person could be expecting your message from a long time, and the status ‘typing…’ will just make them more furious.

 

13. Don’t announce the change of venue or meeting time through an IM

Another one from Barbara Patcher, this one is important. If for whatsoever reasons, there comes across a change in time and venue at the last moment and you have the responsibility of reporting it further, don’t do it via IM. Call the person out of respect because there are high chances they would miss seeing the ping before leaving for the place decided earlier.

 

14. Avoid using periods in texts

According to a study, using periods in Instant Messages make you come across as less sincere.

 

15. DON’T USE CAPS

No matter what emotion you carry behind a certain text, never use caps unless you want to be rude.

 

16.  Common but important one- Double-check the recipient’s name before pressing ‘Send’

• Also, repeatedly check for auto-correct to save any sort of embarrassment.
• Use emoticons intelligently. There’s no need to prefix a wink at the end of every text.

And the final crucial one,

 

17. Say goodbye, don’t just vanish

There are certain people who don’t like to be formal one bit, even in IMs. However, speaking of etiquettes in professional scenarios, not starting the conversation with a regular greeting and not ending it with a regular ‘Thanks,’ Thank You,’ or ‘Bye’ is kind of frowned upon.

How many of these texting rules have you been breaking so far?

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