Chat is used by 84% of the Swedish population, according to the latest survey by the Internet Foundation of Sweden (ISS). Most people still communicate via email, as many as 97 percent, but chat is hot on their heels and at work there are several advantages to chatting away with colleagues.
A fast and efficient communication tool
In Sweden, chat has long been a part of both work and leisure. At work, a handy chat tool can help you from drowning in a sea of emails. Chat makes it easy and convenient to contact colleagues and helps lower the threshold for communication between coworkers. It is an effective tool for creating internal social networks within the company regardless of where colleagues are in the world.
– Chat challenges traditional hierarchies and is used more in a spontaneous way without an elaborated purpose, regardless of title. This can affect the work environment and make it more democratic. Emails feel more exclusive and don’t encourage dialog to the same extent,” says Sofie Eliasson, team leader and developer at Telavox.
Half the population uses chat daily in Sweden 2020
Half of all people in Sweden chat every day in 2020. Among young people, almost all use chat or instant messaging and 57% of all working people in Sweden chat daily.
– One reason why chats are finding their way into more and more companies is that many young people who grew up with MSN and ICQ chats have entered companies. They are used to communicating quickly and informally. To attract younger generations, you should therefore have tools that meet their expectations,” says Sofie.
Big time gains
The chat also helps to speed up communication, allowing you to have a dialog and get faster answers to questions.
– Instead of emailing back and forth, chatting saves a lot of time. It also helps to reduce misunderstandings because you can easily ask follow-up questions,” says Sofie.
When it comes to security, chat is also preferable. Emails can easily get to the wrong person.
– Sending an email to the wrong person has almost happened to everyone and it can have major consequences if it ends up in the wrong hands. With a chat tool, you reduce the risk significantly,” says Sofie.
{{cta(‘8e763886-68c1-4376-90d2-694abdba4c42’)}}
Chat could possibly beat email
2017 saw an explosion in the use of instant messaging and chat, according to the ISS report of the same year. Since 2014, the daily use of chat has almost tripled. Sofie predicts that internal chats in workplaces will also increasingly replace emails.
– We see from our customers that chat is slowly but surely increasing and that more and more people understand the benefits of chatting with colleagues for both knowledge exchange, questions and lunch plans, says Sofie.
Looking at chat from a global perspective, we can see that 2.5 billion people used chat at least once a month in 2019. This figure is expected to rise to three billion people by 2022. So while chat in Sweden – and the rest of the world – may not replace email completely, it will definitely be there in tandem with email.
Tip: In addition to using a chat to communicate internally, a live chat on the website is an effective way to increase leads, sales and customer satisfaction!
