How to use emoji at work

Emoji have long been part of our lives. They're fun and handy: one or a few characters can convey emotions that would take ages to put into words. Here are some creative ways to use emoji in work chats.

How we use emoji

Message reactions

Reactions are the number one use for emoji in work chats (and beyond). Here's what some of our favorite reactions mean:

• 👀: "Watching this," "Interesting," "Let's keep an eye on it";
• ✅: most often used to mark a request as done;
• 🏝: it's vacation season, so we use this one and lots of similar emoji to wish a colleague a happy, long-awaited vacation;
• 🚀: we shipped an update and feel a little closer to the stars.

Chat avatars

A classic. You might not remember a chat's name, but you'll probably remember the emoji in front of it and find the chat in your list in no time.

Custom statuses

A handy Pachca feature that also makes the workweek more fun. Set a status next to your name to let colleagues know how long you'll be on vacation or what you're working on, crack a joke or start an office contest for the most original status 😉

Voting

Here's a simple way to make decisions together. Did you already know this one?

Asking for help

You can ask colleagues for help in a group chat. Whoever wants to help first reacts with 👀 ("I'll take a look"), then with ✅ ("OK, sending feedback now"), so you and everyone else can see whether someone has picked it up.

Reporting a bug

You tell the developers about a system error in the chat, and they react to your message with 🐞. That means they've logged the bug and will fix it.

Emoji as a team or employee symbol

You can also assign an emoji to each team or employee. Then, for example, on a message like "Who can take the report?" the 👯‍♀️ team or the 👻 employee reacts with their emoji, and everyone knows who's on it.

Emoji before a message

A good idea for chats with lots of important messages. Put ❗️❗️ on very important messages, ❗️ on less important ones and ❕ on general info. Or come up with your own system.

Chat moderation

Pick an emoji to send when colleagues start discussing things that are off-topic for the chat or discussion. How about 🌝?

To sum up: emoji really do speed up work communication. Giving feedback with them is easier than writing a reply, and they're easier to take in than text. Plus, there are lots of ways to use them 🙂