In a remote work world, we’re all learning new things. From managing distractions at home to switching our brains away from work in the evening, working from home brings different challenges. As I’ve adapted to working remotely with a team, I’ve been surprised to realize that emojis are an effective communication tool. Here are my favorite emojis to use when you need more depth in your team communication.
Note: Some of these only work if you have a messaging tool like Slack or Discord that allows for emoji reactions.
⚡️ Share a Lightning Tip
If you want to give your team a helpful tip, prepend your message with the lightning bolt. This is an easy visual marker, and it could help somebody looking for that tip again in the future. I like to add a bit of bold text here as well, like ⚡️Lightning Tip or ⚡️PSA.
1️⃣ Ask for Advice
Ask for advice using specific questions and emoji helpers. Distill your question and problem into precise language, and list a few specific, numbered options/solutions. All your coworkers have to do is add a number reaction to answer your question.
👍 Acknowledge a Reminder
Since there aren’t read receipts on many messaging platforms (like Slack), it can be hard to know who has seen which messages. Be a proactive teammate by acknowledging messages with a simple thumbs-up.
✅ Indicate a Task Is Done
After you’ve completed a task that was requested in a message, add a checkmark emoji to let your coworkers know you’ve completed your task. This might save your team lead from having to check some external tool repeatedly to see who has or hasn’t completed their tasks yet.
✋ Volunteer for a Task
If somebody on your team asks for help or needs to delegate a task, a simple raised hand says, “I can take care of that. Shoot me a message with more details.”
As you and your team look to make the most of working from home, consider introducing some of these emojis for quick and effective team communication. If you have a favorite emoji communication tool on your team, I’d love to hear about it. Leave me a comment below!