Mind Your Pings: Resetting Digital Etiquette for 2025
An opulent gold-draped dinner table set with fine china and crystal, including of course laptops, smartphones, and a smartwatch.
Picture this.
You’re halfway through your first cup of coffee, mind finally warming up, when ping—another all-team Slack blast that has nothing to do with you.
Your focus shatters.
By lunch, you’ve been tagged, CC’d, and FYI’d into oblivion.
You’re not alone. Studies peg 86% of workplace chaos back to tone-deaf messaging and inbox overwhelm.
The culprit isn’t just bad tools, it’s bad manners in the digital age.
It’s time to fix that.
One-size-fits-none communication is over
The days of mass pings and blanket emails are numbered.
“Managers must tailor communication to best suit their team’s individual preferences,” says HR expert Leena Rinne.
For Gen Z, that might mean more async updates and fewer “quick” calls.
For the Slack-weary, it’s fewer interruptions and clearer reasons for being looped in.
When leaders respect how people want to receive information, they protect focus time and boost trust.
AI etiquette: cool, until it isn’t
AI assistants in meetings can be handy note-takers, but they’re also uninvited guests if no one’s told they’re there.
Etiquette experts told Business Insider that if you bring in a meeting bot, you should announce it up front. And if anyone’s uncomfortable? “Shut it off,” they say, no debate (full article here).
Transparency isn’t just polite, it’s the foundation of psychological safety at work.
Time for a workplace etiquette reboot
“We’ve all let workplace habits slide… employers need to hit the RESET button on etiquette expectations,” says the Employers Association of the NorthEast in their July 2025 piece on digital manners.
The pandemic blurred lines, and what was “fine in a crisis” has calcified into daily bad habits.
Now’s the moment to refresh the rules.
Start with the basics: no texting in meetings, cameras optional by default, no guilt for muting notifications during deep work.
Clear expectations remove the guesswork.
Cross-gen collaboration is communication gold
Younger team members can teach veterans new digital tools and norms.
Seasoned pros can share the subtle cues of workplace diplomacy.
Flip the mentor script. Pair them up and let both sides level up.
That blend of digital fluency and people-savvy is how you create a shared mental model across the team.
The DIY etiquette sprint
You don’t need an all-hands retreat to fix your team’s manners.
Run a quick 30-minute session.
Define “always-on” boundaries.
Agree on which channels are for what.
Set generous response windows so no one feels like they have to sleep with their phone.
Then live by it.
It’s a simple way to boost team clarity and curb digital distraction before it turns into burnout.
Be the manager who resets the tone, because great teams aren’t born, they’re groomed with good manners (and a bit of cheek).
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