Embedded Files
You know the pain: Someone is offline and not responding. Or really busy and you don't want to make it worse by asking "are you less busy now?". In times of remote working, saying something about yourself also makes work more humane.
Would it not be good if we had a way of letting others know what is going on, without being distracting?
Status messages let you broadcast messages without spamming other people.
Setting a custom status message is easy
Setting a custom status message is easy
To set your status message, simply click your status indicator and select "Add a status". You can select one of the suggested statuses or write your own.
Status messages have an emoji (defaults to 💭) and an expiration period (maximum: 1 year).
Tip: Unless you use a status message for something time based ("Be back in 30 minutes"), go long on your messages. Try a day or a week if you just want to tell people what you're working on. Otherwise it'll be gone before you know it.
Custom messages make your Chat status more helpful
Custom messages make your Chat status more helpful
You know that Google Chat has three status settings for you to chose (see side bar!). It's important to know that the status message is independent of the Chat status. Even the ones that come with Chat (like "Vacationing") will not set you to "away" - they are simply a message.
That means you can use custom messages in two ways: Either relating to the status ("Do not disturb - in meetings until 3pm") or completely unrelated ("Happy Friday!").
Automatic - the Big 4's favorite green dot
Idle for 2-15 minutes
Away - person is away for a long time
Do not disturb - no new towels, thank you very much
Over to you
Over to you
Two asks for today (this blog is getting pushy). First: Set your own status message for today (or the rest of the week). Second, discuss on your team if you want to encourage setting status messages for giving people downtime or for signaling team mates how long your focus time will last, for example.
And third (got you there): if you are really extroverted, chat someone up and ask them about their status message. That's the virtual water cooler. That's humane collaboration software and the vision of collaboration equity delivered: It does not matter whether you're at home or in the office. This is the best workplace.
Now I better set my status. Go set yours! Thank you for reading.
Join 1800+ people who read these tips twice a week. Subscribe now!
Page updated
Report abuse