How often does your company use DM for chat tools? Regarding transparent communication.
Hello! This is Saito. Today I would like to discuss about some of the chat tools.
Chat tools are becoming necessary for communication
Chat tools like ‘Slack’, ‘Chatwork’, and ‘Microsoft Teams’…etc. have been introduced in various companies, including companies that utilize remote work and flextime systems. But what about you? Are you using them? They are useful for both synchronous and asynchronous communication.
Today I would like to talk about chat tools. Let’s go one step beyond the point of, “they are useful!.” Now, I will start to write an article on the theme of “using chat tools openly.”
Do you use ‘DM’ function?
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There is generally a ‘DM’ function in every chat tool. It is used for a variety of purposes. It can be used for sending and receiving information that contains a lot of personal information or information that should be kept private…etc.
Not only DM, but there are also other services that allow you to set your channel public or private. In mgn, we use Slack as a communication tool. Depending on each project, we will set the channel public or private. All of our in-house social activities that exist within the company (channels related to music, games, alcohol…) were set to public.
So, how many private channels and DMs are used in your organization?
‘DM’ usage in mgn
When we use Slack, we can receive a weekly report. How many messages that flew in your workspace during the week? What percentage of each public and private channel or DM was used? There are all sorts of information.
For mgn, DM usage is roughly 2% to 5%. Even if there was a private channel, all of our team members were invited. Even when it is working with clients, all team members were invited. Basically, the person in charge of the project will handle the main communication. However, other team members were also invited to make it accessible for them to keep track of the status of the project. Especially, when it involves our channel for ‘internal communication’, if someone noticed a team member is left uninvited, we will “call the member right away!”.
The reason why we (mgn) communicate this way is because we believe that “openly sharing” is connected to “psychological safety” and also is one of the keys to running a business “smooth and efficient.”
The importance of transparency in communication, psychological safety, and information sharing
What is psychological safety?
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Psychological safety is referring to a state of being able to express one’s opinions and feelings in a safe and comfortable manner. If it is in a state where you feel the fear of being laughed at or denied, it can make you nervous and therefore difficult to speak up. When people are communicating about things they don’t know in places they don’t know, they might be worried that something will be said about them if they express their feelings. And that can sometimes lead to doubts and skepticism.
When communication is transparent and based on one common understanding that “majority of the information is open and everyone is sharing similar information,” it is rare to have times where we talk about something without a certain member. By communicating as a team with this in mind, a foundation is formed. A foundation where people feel ‘safe to speak up’ and that ‘it is okay for them to speak up’ as well.
Sufficient information sharing
First of all, if the communication is done through DMs and limited to private chats, not everyone will be informed. If you are not a member of a channel, even if you look it up in DMs, no result will appear.
For example, when you want to know about a particular administrative procedure, this will happen in a state of uncertainty.
Information will not be found in search
You are not comfortable asking in a place where it’s visible to everyone
Ask a colleague who’s close to you or someone who’s familiar with the topic.
This repetition leads to a situation where knowledge is not shared, and as a result, ‘the same exchange is repeated over and over again’. When we encounter a problem, we may not know who to ask, so we often end up asking the person we feel most comfortable talking to.
However, if the information is shared in a place where it’s visible to everyone, it will save time and effort when needed instead of having to repeat the same information all over again. In mgn, there are channels created for different purposes. There is a channel where you can casually ask about things you stumble upon or don’t understand in your work, a channel to apply to buy things with your expenses, a channel dedicated to accounting, and more. Since business related knowledge and administrative procedures were gathered in these channels, it is often easy to find answers when searching for them.
Though it is difficult to carried out right away, it is worth the challenge
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In terms of ensuring psychological safety, having an open and airy communication is important. It might be difficult to do right away. There are many areas where our company also sometimes are inadequate and face problems. Moreover, having private communications with only a small number of people, you can ask things like, “How’s that thing going?,” directly and fairly easy. However, in the case of transparent information, it is necessary to be prepared and explain the situation in advance. Thus, the consequences can involved in miscommunication.
Nevertheless, we choose a ‘transparent communication’ because we believe in a safe, secure, and a smooth information sharing environment that will enables us to continue moving further ahead. Anytime, anywhere, such as for those who have just joined the company, everyone can feel that it is “okay to express their opinions”, and everyone can have access to the information they need. I believe that by choosing this route, all members will be able to work together more and more smoothly and efficiently.
