Dive Brief:

• More than 40% of employees use instant messaging to at work, according to ReportLinker, a professional search engine, released the results of an online survey. ReportLiner polled 513 Internet users.
• The top four messaging platforms reported were Skype (29%), Facebook Messenger (22%), Lync (19%) and Slack (5%). Email remains the communication tool of choice for half of the respondents. Among the reasons cited for using instant messaging were efficiency, team collaboration, higher productivity and email reduction. 
• The most frequently cited drawback to using instant messaging was that users felt pressured to answer immediately (24%). Additionally, over half (57%) of respondents said they had no guarantee that conversations on work chats would remain private.

Dive Insight:

Instant messaging at work is fast replacing face-to-face chats around the water cooler. The trend is due in some part to the rise of telecommuting, which necessitates the use of instantaneous means for contacting employees. But some aren't in agreement about how best to communicate at work. One 2016 study indicated that a majority of workers would choose text messaging over work chat apps when asked which technology they would prefer to replace email.

Although 45% of respondents in ReportLinker's poll said instant messaging made them more productive, productivity is absolutely a concern for employers; are the conversation in these apps really related to work? Such concerns have spawned software solutions that can monitor workplace chats to determine employees' feelings and emotions at work — not just the content of their messages.

In other research, younger employees have been especially adamant about their right to electronic privacy as it pertains to the devices they use in the workplace. This raises the much larger, fundamental question: When is looking at employees' electronic information and communication right, even if employers have the legal right to monitor? That's a topic HR leaders and IT departments should be collaborating on as enterprise communication tools proliferate.

And proliferate they will: Tech giants are vying to create the next, best workplace communication tool. Now, it's all about up-and-comers like Slack battling against giants like Microsoft and Facebook. Microsoft's proliferation and duration in the market contributes to their long-term dominance, but it's not guaranteed it will maintain its dominance with new tools on the market.