sciencedaily.com — Employers seeking to decrease interruptions may want to have their workers use instant messaging software. Research shows that when IMs are used as a substitute for other, more disruptive forms of communication such as phone, email, and face-to-face conversations, they lead to more conversations on the computer, but briefer & more productive ones.
Jun 4, 2008 View in Crawl 4
punkkid345Jun 4, 2008
We use Lotus Sametime. It sucks. But it's internal only.
whisperedlieJun 4, 2008
yeah we use it heavily at work. it does wonders for reducing interruptions from face-to-face communication (or shouting over desks, ugh) and also phone calls.unfortunately, here are two beefs:1) coworkers seem to have a hard time telling the difference between the Google search box on their browser and my IM window. please stop sending me IMs asking questions that you can just look up on Google. I guarantee you that's what i'll do to answer your question anyways.2) my boss IMs NON-STOP. "hey, what are you doing" "what are you working on" "how's it going" blah blah blah. SHUT IT!
oohkumarJun 5, 2008
I first used IM to stay in contact with my programming team while we worked on a project. The interesting thing about it was that my team members worked in the cubicles next to me. We hardly said a word to each other all day. In the end I decided to work from home and keep in touch via the same method - saved me a commute. I don't have a problem with the isolation because that's how it was at the office anyway.I now work full-time from home and communicate with a team of programmers located all over the country using IM.
greytfriendJun 5, 2008
Thanks for all of the thoughtful responses. I was nervous this would be one of those times the diggers go nuts on someone. I get it much more now, especially the part about not having quick items clogging up your inbox. Thanks, Diggers!
phoqueJun 5, 2008
IM is really annoying when you are working. I am starting to prefer Email for everything again. Its just so convenient that you can decide when you will read other peoples messages and not to have a "bing" interrupt you every couple minutes.
naplesrealtorJun 5, 2008
I'm still torn about IM...I did it for awhile but it became more of a time waster for me than anything. Text messaging helps me save time and communicate when I'm in a spot where I normally can't...who knew that was going to be useful one day???
kershekSep 10, 2008
With Communicator 2007, Office Communications Server 2007, and Outlook, you can have conversations automatically get saved in a folder in Outlook.