I have come to the conclusion that emojis play a VITAL role in the workplace, especially when it comes to #EmployeeEngagement. I will now present my evidence https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👩‍⚖️" title="Woman judge" aria-label="Emoji: Woman judge">(A Thread) 1/x

@hertalis has been an emoji-friendly workplace since The Beginning.

(Some credit has to go to my daughter https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👧" title="Girl" aria-label="Emoji: Girl">, who until recently would flatly refuse to write actual words and communicated mainly through emojis. But that& #39;s a story for another day) 2/x

At work, we use Slack for internal comms, which helps us to keep emails https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="📩" title="Envelope with downwards arrow above" aria-label="Emoji: Envelope with downwards arrow above"> (and inboxes) freed up for more formal comms to clients etc.
BUT…
As anyone who uses Slack, Teams etc. will know, you can end up with A LOT of notificationshttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤯" title="Exploding head" aria-label="Emoji: Exploding head">3/x

So, we decided to get creativehttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💡" title="Electric light bulb" aria-label="Emoji: Electric light bulb">. When a new member of staff joins, they get to choose their own personal emoji. Mine is https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🦎" title="Lizard" aria-label="Emoji: Lizard"> because… well. 4/x

We use our personal emojis a LOT as reactions in @Slack to keep track of who’s done what – it helps keep distracting notifications down and we can see at a glance not only what’s been done, but who actioned it https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙌" title="Raising hands" aria-label="Emoji: Raising hands"> 5/x

Also (topically) - staying connected as a remote team isn& #39;t easy, especially when you work different hours to one another.

We quickly learned that emojis are *great* for fast, effective communicationhttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="💬" title="Speech balloon" aria-label="Emoji: Speech balloon">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🏁" title="Chequered flag" aria-label="Emoji: Chequered flag">

E.g. from time to time, a member of our team will ask “FRUIT BOWL?”https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤔" title="Thinking face" aria-label="Emoji: Thinking face"> 6/x

The *correct* response is a fruit-themed emoji of your choice. It’s basically our version of a RAG status. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="👇" title="Down pointing backhand index" aria-label="Emoji: Down pointing backhand index">

Bonus - if you’re having a really cruddy day https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⛈️" title="Thunder cloud and rain" aria-label="Emoji: Thunder cloud and rain">, you don’t have to agonise over the right words. You just do this: https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍓" title="Strawberry" aria-label="Emoji: Strawberry">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍓" title="Strawberry" aria-label="Emoji: Strawberry">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍓" title="Strawberry" aria-label="Emoji: Strawberry">
7/x

*An emoji is worth a thousand words*
I have a weird + beautiful thing going with one of the team just now. We send each other squid emojis. (Yeah, I don& #39;t know why squid either)https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤷‍♀️" title="Woman shrugging" aria-label="Emoji: Woman shrugging">

It& #39;s like a & #39;hey there& #39; and & #39;go girl!& #39; all in one. Basically, she knows I& #39;m thinking of her. 8/x

And – best of all, emojis are a great way to be playful.

I’ve started a random emoji swap each morning with @Melly_Hertalis. It started off quite tame, we just figured we’d get to know our emoji alphabet a bit better, but quickly got competitive... 9/x

If you stuck with me this far, well donehttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="⭐️" title="Medium star" aria-label="Emoji: Medium star">(!)

Clearly, this is all a bit lighthearted (it& #39;s Friday!) - please do take care of yourselves + one another, at work and at homehttps://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🙏" title="Folded hands" aria-label="Emoji: Folded hands">

If you want more (serious) info on #EmployeeEngagement try the good folk at @Engage4Success @CIPD 10/10