Alistair: I am a big fan of self-emojiing. And Alistair makes fun of me because I mostly do it in DMs to him when I think I'm being really funny and then I will laugh at my own. In a DM to him. There is something that feels like meta in a good way. It's not the same as just putting the emoji in line and being like, I'm making a joke here. We're all aware of what's going on here. "I truly cannot stop myself," he says.
Emojis might seem like all fun and gamesâbut they can also speak a thousand words about a companyâs culture. If theyâre used, how theyâre used, who uses them, whose posts always gets peppered with dozens of fire or rocket ship reactionsâthatâs all pretty juicy (and potentially spicy) information about an organizationâs sense of camaraderie, connection, trust, agreementsâŚyou name it.
In this episode of Brave New Work, Aaron Dignan and Rodney Evans unpack the power of those little icons at work and ask questions like:
- What role do emojis play in remote work?
- How can emojis help asynchronous teams increase efficiency and decrease friction?
- What can our emoji habits reveal about unspoken workplace agreements and behaviors?
- How do teams build bespoke emoji libraries and languages?
- Why can sending your boss an emoji feel like a risky move?
- How can emojis contribute to more equitable workplaces?
- Is there a secret emoji council and whereâs our invite?
Slack x Duolingoâs research on emoji use at work: https://slack.com/blog/collaboration/emoji-use-at-work
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