WhatsApp usage etiquette for work communication

July 17, 2018 3:09 AM

I have WhatsApp installed on my phone and primarily use it for communicating with friends and family. Recently, a series of business contacts/customers (up to VP levels!) have found me on WhatsApp and seem to think it is appropriate to use this medium to communicate and request information that I feel should only be transmitted via Work Email. This makes me uncomfortable. How can I get them to email me instead?
posted by netsirk to Technology (17 answers total)

Best answer: I think the only thing you can do is just politely tell them what your boundaries are. When they message you on WhatsApp, reply with something along the lines of, "Hi, good to hear from you! I don't really use WhatsApp for work-related communication though; this account is really for friends-and-family stuff only. Could you please send your message to my email account at [e-mail]? Thanks so much, sorry for any confusion!" And then politely stick to your guns if they press further with an, "I'm sorry but I really can't talk about this here, please email me instead. Thanks!" Do not try to make them go away by giving them the information they're asking for, as this will just tell them that your boundary isn't real. Stay polite and cheerful, but stonewall them completely. Then when they do email you, respond promptly and professionally, as if nothing unusual had happened at all, in order to reward the desired behavior and move past the awkwardness as quickly as possible.
posted by Anticipation Of A New Lover's Arrival, The at 3:37 AM on July 17, 2018 [15 favorites]

Where are your colleagues from? I also think of WhatsApp as a non work platform but was surprised to find out that in some countries/industries outside the US, it's the standard channel for business communication- among other things it''s considered more secure and encryptable. You can of course set your own boundaries but it might help to figure out if it's a cultural mismatch as well.
posted by heyforfour at 4:00 AM on July 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

“I prefer to keep business communications to company-accessible systems — in case anything happens to me, my deputy / coworker / someone can pick right up and continue providing our excellent service.”
posted by Etrigan at 4:06 AM on July 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

Response by poster: heyforfour - the business contacts/customers in this case are primarily from Taiwan, a few are from China (based in Shanghai).
posted by netsirk at 4:11 AM on July 17, 2018

Don't they need your phone number to contact you on WhatsApp? I see it as improved text messaging, so they may assume by that giving them the number that is either a business phone or one you use for business.

My limited experience of china is that phone based chat is really common there, including for business although wechat more than WhatsApp. I'm sure they'll be fine with email if you express a preference.
posted by JonB at 4:14 AM on July 17, 2018

the business contacts/customers in this case are primarily from Taiwan, a few are from China (based in Shanghai).

In Asian countries, China especially, WeChat is hugely popular and used for EVERYTHING! It would be very normal for them to communicate with colleagues via WeChat, so I think they are assuming that Whatsapp is the North Amercian/European equivalent.
posted by PosterGirlwithNoPoster at 4:38 AM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Any time you want another party to change communication channels, you reply to them from the preferred channel. So if they’re messaging you on WhatsApp, reply via email includomg an explanation that you don’t use WhatsApp for work.
posted by annathea at 4:45 AM on July 17, 2018 [8 favorites]

Email is absolutely still a thing, and you can direct them to your email address and block them on What's App.
posted by masquesoporfavor at 6:31 AM on July 17, 2018 [17 favorites]

Email isn't really a thing anymore. It's fine for highly formal announcements and meeting requests, but insisting on email-only communication is very strange in 2018, particularly when dealing with international people.

This is absolutely not my experience, and i work with a large variety of client organizations -- from enormous multinationals to small startups.

Email is also the "official" channel provided by most employers. There are many reasons for companies to prefer or even mandate that corporate communication occur there and not on whatever the app-of-the-week is.
posted by uberchet at 6:31 AM on July 17, 2018 [17 favorites]

Yep, tell them you need email because rules state work chat should all be on a company server.
posted by Mistress at 6:51 AM on July 17, 2018 [5 favorites]

Regardless of the location of your customers, if you are a U.S. publicly traded company, then you must make sure that your messaging apps and record retention policies are compliant with Sarbanes-Oxley laws.
posted by JackFlash at 7:32 AM on July 17, 2018 [4 favorites]

Yeah, it's perfectly reasonable to say that, for data protection reasons, you need to keep everything to work approved channels and leave it at that.

"Hi XXX, thank you for your WhatsApp message. I am responding by email in order to ensure compliance with my data protection responsibilities. Please direct any queries to this inbox and I will get back to you as a matter of priority." Or similar, ought to do it.
posted by howfar at 8:17 AM on July 17, 2018

Nthing to reply by email to politely say that you personally only use WhatsApp for friends and family.
posted by desuetude at 8:21 AM on July 17, 2018

Email isn't really a thing anymore. It's fine for highly formal announcements and meeting requests, but insisting on email-only communication is very strange in 2018, particularly when dealing with international people.

I work for a global non-profit with dozens of leads and thousands of volunteers/community members around the world. I disagree with this statement.

WhatsApp is popular in our community because it is a (mostly) encrypted service, and many people around the world live with government snooping and the threat of state violence.

However, WhatsApp in our community is typically used for informal communication. I don't use it because the volume of messages is to great.

As a team we use Slack (team members in places like mainland China use VPNs, if they can) and email. I do have new contacts pinging me on Skype and WhatsApp and Signal. Even Facebook Messenger.

In this scenario of working with a global network of contacts, I have found it is *really* difficult to switch new contacts to my preferred communications channel, which is email.

So I am typically flexible for the first bit and, once I've developed a relationship, switch them over.

But email is acceptable, definitely.
posted by JamesBay at 9:33 AM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

Ok, in Africa/Asia, WhatsApp and other chat programs are increasingly acceptable for work functions. But everyone here is waaaay overthinking the response. Wait at least a few minutes after the message comes in. If they’re junior, say, “Hey, sorry. I don’t check my WhatsApp very often. Can you please resend this to my email [e-mail]? Thanks!” If they’re more senior, “Hey, sorry. I don’t check my WhatsApp very often. I’ll start working on your request right away. In the future, feel free to reach out to me at [e-mail].”
posted by whitewall at 9:46 AM on July 17, 2018 [1 favorite]

I am 1000% against using WhatsApp with clients. Be direct.

"Hello, client name. I do not use WhatsApp for work. Please resend your message to my work email to get in touch with me. Thank you! I will respond to your email during business hours."
posted by Hermione Granger at 12:24 PM on July 17, 2018 [2 favorites]

If a customer contacted me on my personal WhatsApp account (or whatever the app of the week is) for a work related question and I replied from my personal account on that app, our InfoSec and DataSec teams would eat me alive, spit out my bones, and then arrange my broken and partially digested remains in a tasteful display in the break room as a warning to future generations.

In other words, I'm with those who are suggesting to acknowledge the message via e-mail, and never respond to the WhatsApp message. If you respond via the app, even just to say to move it to e-mail, you've set the precedent that it's OK to contact you this way and it will never stop.
posted by ralan at 2:06 PM on July 17, 2018 [7 favorites]