📅 Celebrate World Emoji Day in the Comments

🪄Magic Wand or 🔮 Crystal Ball: Choose one for the workplace — what would it be and why?

Happy World Emoji Day — July 17th!

The celebration originates from the first calendar emoji 📅 which displays the month and date. The expressive holiday was created by Jeremy Burge, founder of Emojipedia. 

According to Wikipedia, the emoji originated in Japan: 

“the word emoji comes from Japanese “e” (絵, “picture”) + “moji” (文字, “character”) — the resemblance to the English words “emotion” and “emoticon” is purely coincidental.”

Wikipedia @Wikipedia

#WorldEmojiDay is the annual, unofficial celebration of emojis on 17 July. 📅 The word emoji comes from Japanese “e” (絵, “picture”) + “moji” (文字, “character”) — the resemblance to the English words “emotion” and “emoticon” is purely coincidental. w.wiki/6HG

w.wikiEmoji - Wikipedia

Emojis have become a popular resource for expression in our digital and remote workplaces.

Even Harvard Business Review is reporting on the topic in “Using Emojis to Connect with Your Team” by Tomoko Yokoi and Jennifer Jordan. 

“Employees don’t check their emotions at the office door — or Zoom room. But it can be harder to read how your team is feeling when you’re working remotely or in a hybrid office. Managers can use emojis as a fun and easy way to connect with their team. 

They can offer deeper insight on how your team is feeling, help you build your own cognitive empathy, help you model appropriate emotions, and help reinforce your company culture. Emoji usage can be an intergenerational and cultural minefield, however, so if you are new to the practice, the authors suggest starting with simple emojis (for example, a thumbs up) rather than those that represent complex emotions.” 

But, there’s also emoji etiquette to take into consideration.

From Bloomberg News, Chris Stokel-Walker writes “Fist Bump or Punch? Emoji Mishaps Can Cause Confusion at Work. Using emoji at work can lead to mishaps with clients and colleagues because many disagree on emoji meanings, says survey of 9,400 hybrid workers,” bringing with it the good, bad and confusing moments. 

“Emoji have become a vital part of workplace communication, with 71% of American workers saying messages not peppered with the pictorial icons are incomplete in meaning. Globally, more than half of workers include emoji in messages sent to colleagues—though 30% refuse to do so with their boss….It’s also seen as more efficient by 54% of workers worldwide, with two-thirds of American respondents saying it speeds up communication.”

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To celebrate World Emoji Day, let’s discuss the magic of internal communications and emojis 🎉. 

🪄 Magic Wand or 🔮 Crystal Ball: If you could choose one superpower in the workplace, what would it be and why?

To start the conversation, here’s what a few communicators have to say:

🪄 Magic Wand

“I’d choose a magic wand, so that I could illuminate the path to growth for our employees. I’d want to make it easier for them to see what’s happening in the business so that they can feel empowered and a sense of ownership of their role in the big picture.” -Nicole Neal

“I would love a magic wand to wave to the team to stop what they are doing and pivot….which means don’t work on anything else but that urgent initiative so we can execute without distractions of other work that isn’t a high priority in that moment.” -Tiffin Jernstedt

🔮 Cyrstal Ball

“I could predict how people would react and perceive information so that it is as clear as possible when shared. I could organize culture-building initiatives that bring employees joy by knowing exactly what would make an impact without having to ask. I could instantly show appreciation to recognize employee achievements by sending their favorite reward. There are so many more internal communications wishes that a crystal ball would make possible!” -Julia Levy

🌱 Neither

“I don't really think we would want either. Our journey in life and work is making mistakes and learning from them, and also the learning that comes from taking calculated risks in making decisions. This is actually where the richest learning opportunities come from. If I had to choose, though, I can certainly think about times that I lost my cool, or was too reactive in the moment — where a magic wand to erase that behavior could have helped dampen unintended impact.” -Christine Tao

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Add your thoughts on this topic and your emojis in the comments 😇.

🪄 Magic Wand or 🔮 Crystal Ball: If you could choose one superpower in the workplace, what would it be and why?