Texting a colleague generally depends on how casual your relationship is, what you’re texting the person about and what this person’s seniority level is. Texting is fairly personal. Indeed, our phones have become an extension of our personalities to some degree, and texting a form of direct messaging. The problem with texting, however, is that it can lose context. Consider the following rules of etiquette.
Texting your boss
Texting your boss has become increasingly necessary, especially when an issue is urgent or needs to be resolved quickly. When you do text, you should be communicating simple messages such as meeting times and places. Or text when the message requires an immediate response or requests a coffee meeting. Never text bad news about a contract, an important decisions (“Quitting. Sorry!”) or a message that includes abbreviations. Everything should be kept professional. Of course, you should always respond to any inquiries the boss texts to you.
Texting your team
In general, you should be cautious when texting team members. These messages may depend on age, gender, personal relationship and even hours. Everything you write might be relayed to other team members and to leadership. Screenshots can be taken of everything you write and passed on, then taken out of context. When in doubt, be professional.
Texting your prospect
This is a hotly debated topic in the sales community. Texting your prospect is dependent on the type of rapport you have, whether this individual has given permission and where in the sales process you are. Never cold-call through text messaging. Many people believe that text messaging is still a personal communication that requires urgent attention, and that texting people you’re soliciting business from when you don’t know them is considered gauche.
Texting networking colleagues
For the most part, networking colleagues whom you’re exchanging business information with can be fair game. Starting with email is traditional, typically. But people who are networking may be excited about helping each another with business development. So this relationship often escalates to texting fairly quickly. Once again, your texting relationship depends on gender and age. Younger members of the same sex are more likely to find it appropriate.
