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Instant messaging (IM), long viewed as the preferred communication medium of chatty teenagers, is moving into the business world with a more serious purpose. Recognizing that the tool is fast, easy, and offers a high-touch, real-time personal connection, businesses are starting to use IM internally (among employees) and externally (with clients and partners). But like many communication tools, IM's capacity to undermine as well as improve communication can hurt the unwary.
At Jennifer J. Johnson's virtual public relations consulting firm, Johnson & Company, employees are required to use AOL Time Warner's ICQ, one of the many IM services. (Others include MSN Messenger Service, Yahoo Messenger, AOL Instant Messenger, and AIM for Macintosh). "It helps us multitask," says Johnson. "The other day I was on the phone with a client who wanted to know the current status of their billing," she says. "So while I talked to her about something else, I sent a message to our accountant and got the information back right away."
The phrase "right away" describes IM in a nutshell. Messages pop up on recipients' screens the very moment they are sent and, unlike e-mail, recipients can't elect to view messages later. There is some leeway, however: users can specify their status—available, unavailable but online, or do not disturb—and hope that other users take heed. Johnson asks her associates to think carefully about their requests of one another. She says, "It's kind of like permission marketing; this is permission communication." In other words, it only works when users respect the parameters.
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| Apart from facilitating internal communications, IM can leave a significant mark on an organization's bottom line. | |
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| —Jennifer McFarland |
Johnson also says IM is a great culture-building mechanism—especially for global organizations, virtual companies, or those working closely with partners or customers. "I use it to say good morning to people, ask them about something personal or professional," says the principal and senior marketing strategist.
The invisible foot
Perhaps the most significant use of IM at Johnson & Company is the "virtual kick under the table," used during conference calls. "If someone's taking the meeting in a direction that we don't have time for," says Johnson, or if someone should pursue a line of questioning with a client, "I can have a private, simultaneous dialog with that person." It's quick, effective, and graceful.
Shirley Dreifus, CEO of New York City-based Strategic Communications Group, agrees that IM is probably most effective when used with conference calls or Web-based presentations—or both. In group venues, she says, people rarely confess that they don't understand something. "But they can easily IM another participant or the person running the meeting and ask for clarification immediately," Dreifus says. "The person running the meeting can weave the explanation back in for anyone who may not have gotten it."
Apart from facilitating internal communications, IM can leave a significant mark on an organization's bottom line. In 1999, for example, Lands' End instituted a real-time IM system called Lands' End Live to help the Dodgeville, Wisc.-based merchant deliver personal service online. Customers post queries and receive immediate responses from company representatives. Those reps, in addition to providing information, can send would-be customers to a specific product's Web page. Lands' End says the service helped boost their Internet sales from $61 million in 1998, to $138 million in 1999 (when Lands' End Live was inaugurated), to $218 million in 2000.
Instant trouble
Now, the hazards. In March, hackers got into the computer belonging to Sam Jain, CEO of the Costa Mesa, Calif.-based Internet company eFront. Logs of damaging messages between Jain and his executives ended up on the Web, delivering the final blow to the already floundering dot-com.
"It's very easy to say things on IM or e-mail that you may not have said if you picked up the phone," Dreifus cautions. What's more, she believes that "if you use it as a substitute for face-to-face communication, it will become de-motivating." Dreifus counsels her clients to rely on IM for group purposes, such as conference calls, and to tread lightly when it comes to interpersonal use. Others, like Jennifer Johnson, disagree and embrace instant messaging in nearly all of its forms. The answer, perhaps, is to handle this double-edged sword prudently, recognizing its perils while taking advantage of its efficiencies.