A number of my colleagues and friends swear by instant messaging as the real-time collaboration tool of the the 21st century.  I feel like such a curmudgeon, but I disagree.

Oddly enough, I came to this opinion because I'm extremely punctual and a very fast (though not 100% accurate) typist.

What this means is that I'm at the mercy of those who are late and slow.

This is not an intolerable problem in a live chat with one other person, but it's a serious one if more than two individuals are trying to collaborate through this medium.  It automatically penalizes and wastes the time of those who are on time and up to speed.  That's a practice that cannot but undermine collaboration.

Just to be fair, I'll mention two ways in which live chat can be an excellent adjunct to communication:
  • You can use it to ascertain whether a colleague is free to entertain a visit or phone call.  In other words, live chat can be used to set up a more effective medium of communication
  • You can use it as an adjunct to a conference call, if you need a back-channel in which to confer with a colleague about substantive or strategic issues. (And sometimes a log of these comments is a great help.)
So use it if you must, but please forgive me for whining if you invite me to participate in instant messaging.