Chat status

If you are like me, you are still searching for the right balance when it comes to Chat. It is getting more attractive and more essential every week, but I need to spend my energy focussed on other things - that cannot get done without being connected to colleagues (and being helpful to them).

One underused tool is Chat's status. I see very few people use "Do not disturb", for example. Let's talk about how they can give you room when you need it, without feeling guilty.

This is the green dot - it means you are online. Everybody likes to see your green dot.

You can set this status yourself (when coming back from away or DND). Normally, it happens automatically when you sign on.

The yellow dot means someone has not been at their computer. This is set after 2 minutes of idleness.

White means: Away. This gets set after 15 minutes of inactivity. You can also set it yourself (there is no maximum period).

White does not mean "offline", as nobody is ever really offline in Chat. You can set yourself to "away" and still chat with people, for example.

Red means "please don't send messages". This can only be set manually, so you should respect it when you see it. It always has an expiration period (24 hours is the maximum).

DND is the only status that has actual functionality: It will stop any notifications. (Remember Chat's two tiers of messages: All messages, and the ones you want to be notified about.)