We’re entering into week three of lockdown. For some it’s almost been a month depending on when your company said to work from home, and boy oh boy, have the group chats exploded!
While we’re all adapting to new ways of keeping in touch, mimicking conversations we would have had in the office, it is vital to draw the lines where needed and recalibrate our ways of working and communicating.
Here are some guidelines to share with your team and put into practice now, and beyond lockdown. Not only for WhatsApp groups but take these points into your Skype, Webex and Zoom meetings too, because like my grandma always said: “Manners cost nothing.”
- Relevant content only: all content must relate to the purpose of the group. Avoid unrelated current affairs, memes, social issues, advertising or political posts.
- Only respond if necessary: the volume of messages on WhatsApp can be overwhelming. Don’t respond unless it’s required/adds value.
- Keep it legal: Don’t post anything that is defamatory, pornographic, racist, insulting, untrue (especially fake news), threatening or invades someone’s privacy.
- Fake news: If it’s not from a valid, official, Tier 1, triple-checked news source… Do 👏Not 👏Send.
- Take it offline: long conversations, especially if only involving a few members of the group, are to be taken off the group.
- Removal from the Group: the Group Administrator reserve the right to remove any group member who do not adhere to these guidelines.
Source: The Digital Law by Emma Sadleir.
Images credit: Allie Smith & Andrea Piacquadio
