Why Emoticons Belong in Business

I write this with cold fingers and numb ears. You see, I work from home. I'm a virtual employee of ADP and travel from time to time for meetings, but for the most part, day-in-day-out, I'm here in my home office with my two dogs. So over lunch, I had time to snow blow and I just finished plowing the driveway with the snowblower for, what feels like, the millionth time in the last month and a half due to the snow we've been getting in Cincinnati (Don't worry Boston, I'm not bragging).

Being a home shored employee for officially one year this month, I've come to some firm conclusions. Homeshoring has its benefits, but it also has its downsides. I love wearing yoga pants every day but I also really miss seeing my colleagues face to face. I miss out on the chats over coffee and popping into my boss's cube (he may not miss it haha).

The point is, you don't hear about their day unless you make it a point to "ping" them via company messenger or if you take a few moments from your ragged day to ask before a call starts. They don't learn your tone because they don't see you and you don't have the "casual" time between meetings and calls.

Humans are made to communicate via body language as much as, if not more than through verbal communication. When your colleagues can't see your face, can't see your body shift, then they can't read your tone.

This is why emoticons (and the casual haha - see what I did there?) matter.

Your virtual emotions matter in the conversation because it allows your colleagues to learn your communication style. Even when they can't see you in person. You have to get creative. Use your words and your pictures to convey a message. Not only will you seem less robotic (pun intended), but you will also begin to forge a relationship based on understanding.

Now I'm not saying this is meant to be included in your email to the CFO thanking them for their awesome speech (unless you have the gall). What I am saying is that this can be very useful to convey your humanness; that you can relate.

So next time you send that message with someone internally and what you want to say is, "Yep, got it." try "Yep, got it :)" and see how far it goes.

Looking forward to sharing more thoughts with you about homeshoring!