Abstract

Studies have shown that informal communication builds relationships among staff members and volunteers, and face-to-face interaction is the primary way people communicate informally. But with offsite volunteers these exchanges are oftentimes not possible. Although Instant Messaging (IM) cannot replace human connections, it can add an element of immediacy that might otherwise not be possible. Jayne Cravens of the United Nations Volunteers Program submitted this effective practice in June 2003.

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Issue

For offsite volunteers, the opportunity for building effective working relationships through face-to-face interactions is often rare. Instant Messaging (IM) offers the possibility of informal communication when working offsite.

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Action

Instant Messaging (IM), a real time text only exchange between two people via the Internet, is similar in some ways to what people experience during face-to-face interactions. A central use of IM is to support quick questions and clarifications about ongoing work tasks, for swift and efficient clarifications. IM allows more rapid exchange than is possible with e-mail, without being as intrusive as a telephone call.

• There are various IM programs available, most of them free, and most of them offering the same features:
  • A customized address book or list of friends that shows who is available for IM and who isn't.
  • An easy way for users to inform others if they are online and available for IM, online but not available for IM, or not online at all.
  • The ability for people engaged in an IM conversation to know when the other person is typing a message.
  • Icons or "emoticons" that express laughter, sadness, fear, confusion, silliness, and a variety of other emotions. These can serve as a substitute for the expressions in a face-to-face conversation.
• After choosing and installing an IM service on your computer, identify a small group of people for your IM friends list or address book. Ask a few of your more tech-savvy volunteers or colleagues if they would be willing to add you to their friends list, and vice versa. Ask a few close friends and family as well. You will need to tell them what IM service you are using and what your IM screen name is.
• You can probably expect, when you first start using IM, to receive a lot of messages from the people on your friends list because you are the new kid on the block, and your being on IM will be novel and even exciting for these people. Interest will probably drop quickly, once the novelty wears off, and IM will become quite easy to maintain.Use IM with this small circle of people over the next several weeks, and gauge your use of IM during this time. Learn to set your preferences to show that you are unavailable for IM, as necessary.
• Compare how you communicate via IM versus e-mail or the phone. You may initially do more personal chatting than professional talk, but that is a great way to learn to use the various features and, ultimately, see the potential professional value in synchronous communications.
• There are important things to remember when engaging in an IM conversation:
  • Not everyone types at the same rate. If someone types slower than you, give him or her time to respond in full before you send another IM message.
  • It is okay to tell someone you can't IM now, or even to ignore an inquiry via IM; if you don't have time to chat, most people will not be offended.
  • IM is not a place to discuss sensitive issues that require confidentiality, such as personnel or financial issues.
  • Complex issues are not easily discussed via IM, nor are misunderstandings. Those are best discussed face-to-face, if possible, or via phone.

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Context

Consider the following when choosing an IM service:

• Do you already have an email account with Yahoo, Hotmail (Microsoft) or AOL? This can make setting up an account on a company's IM service easier, and will make the service easy to integrate into your e-mail use.
• Will you be conversing with people who are on various types of computers and using various types of operating systems? If so, you will need an IM service that functions well on all these various platforms.
• What are most of your volunteers already using? Ask your volunteers what IM services they may already be using, and why.

Officially, IM services are not cross-platform; you can't use the AOL Instant Messenger to communicate with someone using Microsoft Messenger, for instance. However, there are products that allow cross-platform IM.

You may want to pick one IM service to be the official one to use with your organization's volunteers, to make sure that everyone is using the same tools and is seeing the same features. If you choose a service that some volunteers aren't using, it should not be a problem for them to add it to their computers in addition to whatever other IM program they are using.

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Outcome

• IM, because of its perceived informality, feels more social to most people than e-mail.
  
• IM is expressive, and allows for connections in a more meaningful way.
  
• Informal exchanges via IM add personality to electronic exchanges, a human touch that can be sorely needed when physical meetings aren't possible.

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Evidence

The e-volunteering staff at the UN Volunteers program in Bonn, Germany is responsible for two initiatives: managing the online volunteering service through NetAid, and managing UNITeS, a global initiative that places and supports Information and Communication Technology (ICT) volunteers in developing countries all over the world. Staff involved with these initiatives have found IM to be a valuable tool in working with offsite volunteers.

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Source Documents

Related Practices

• Using a blog to manage information and promote communication

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Related sites

United Nations Information Technology Services (UNITeS)

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