After e-mail and the phone, WhatsApp is the most popular communication tool in the workplace. How do you deal with it as an employee? Professor of Occupational and Organisational Psychology Arnold Bakker comments in Dutch newspaper FD.
"If you use your smartphone for work purposes, there is a danger of work interfering with your private life," he says. That certainly applies to an app you also use privately. Although not everyone minds. "Some employees want to keep work and private life separate, others don't mind answering a message outside working hours." Behavioural rules about business apps are not always in place, and this raises questions. Is it okay to app a colleague or client in the evening? Can you in good conscience leave a business group app? And should you reply to a message immediately?
Asynchronous communication
The latter is certainly not necessary, says Bakker. Communication on WhatsApp is asynchronous, he explains: not immediately and not simultaneously. "Many people almost feel obliged to respond, because we use WhatsApp continuously. And if a colleague asks something, of course you want to help quickly. Especially if you like that colleague, or if you depend on each other in your work. But you can respond at a time that suits you."
He also recommends not looking at apps from work outside working hours, even if they are not about work-related matters. Read the entire article on FD.nl (in Dutch)
- Professor
- Related content
