Smileys and Winks in Office

Recently I added a few of my thoughts to a conversation opened up by LinkedIn News Asia on the topic of using emojis in professional communication. I found the comments made therein rather intriguing; you can read more of it here. I thought I should put down my humble opinion on the matter from an etiquette point of view, though you will find my comments on LinkedIn more pragmatic.

Let’s start by getting our facts straight – all of us either work in a professional environment or wish to be a part of such an environment. Times have changed, flexible working hours have come in, casual clothing is not seen as taboo in office and everyone eventually makes friends with those they work with – and some are lucky enough to make great friends for life. Now you would probably wonder what the big deal is about using emojis! Well, here is the deal.

As comfortable as you may be with your office folk and happy as they may be with your work, in your role at work, you are expected to be professional. The company had great expectations of you, your capabilities and skills when the job was offered. They knew and hoped that you would be a true professional who would uphold the highest levels of business ethics and etiquette while discharging your day to day responsibilities.

I know I will sound like your Great Old Aunt Gertrude if I say that an emoji is going to make your credibility plummet – well, it may or may not. For as long as we are alive, there will be people who find fault and those who applaud us on, the use of emojis in professional corporate communication is not exactly necessary, which is why I feel we could do without it. Having said that, I acknowledge the power of a well thought of emoji and the personal feel you could bring in to your message.

Let’s now look at the etiquette behind this. Using an emoji could indicate that you have less control over your emotions, especially, if you use one to convey your displeasure or anger. It could also mean that you were at a loss for words and decided to take a short cut. In a well worded email (or even a poorly worded one for that matter), the inclusion of an emoji could make the overall quality drop as readers may feel a twinge of unprofessionalism or casualness creeping in. If your email or document is a game changer, it is best kept clean and devoid of anything that could raise an eyebrow.

This topic really reminds me of the dynamism of etiquette as a topic; maybe we are at too premature a stage to build etiquette rules for emoji usage. However, for now, from a full of etiquette point of view, we could probably gain mileage by omitting them in our official communiques.

Write to us at fullofetiquette@gmail.com to discuss this topic further and maybe even coin new etiquette for it.

Photo by Марьян Блан | @marjanblan on Unsplash