★ Chat Etiquette

The group chat should be a place where we can go to escape the general commotion of life and should be positive and upbeat. It should also be very professional.

Have you ever worked at a job where everyone constantly talked about how they hate the job or manager? And yet they still come to work every day, as if they like complaining in such a way? It is not considered healthy behavior to complain about something you have no intention on fixing. To help avoid this and keep the culture at E13 positive if you have a complaint about the workplace or coworkers, managers, or owners, tell a manager/owner, not a coworker. This allows the company to become aware of the potential issue and take appropriate action to mitigate the problem. Nothing destroys company culture faster than complaining co-workers that won't do anything to fix their complaints. Sharing complaints about coworkers, managers, or owners with anyone besides managers and owners is gossip and is forbidden.

Emojis, gifs, and images are encouraged if they follow the same standards. They often help to portray appropriate emotion and add to the fun of the chat.

E13 chat groups are exclusively for coordinating E13 related items: scheduling, game mastering questions, resetting questions, etc. Your speech at E13 should also be focused on work. Political views, social views, and other generally controversial topics are among the many inappropriate topics for work group chats and conversations.

If you would like to discuss a disagreement or question you have with company policy or procedure, do so by messaging the Head Game Master or an Owner, or by speaking to them in person.

There may be times when it is appropriate to say something some would consider negative, but are actually just personal life circumstances that we need to be aware of. One case would be if someone lets us know they are ill. It isn't appropriate to make jokes or be too upbeat about that. It is appropriate to add your support and hope they get better. Being positive is still an option while still being supportive and understanding. Even though a circumstance is unfortunate, all of the communication about and surrounding it can be positive.

Positivity is hope. It is anything that helps lift someone up or help them take steps forward. Words that help people to contemplate and also that build trust. Positivity is viewing the circumstances of life in a way that helps make people's story have a good ending. Help people step toward their dreams. This is very difficult because we almost exclusively have negative interactions in our media and personal lives. It is human nature to be negative. We have to fight that part of us so we can be part of the solution, not the problem.

Negativity is when hope is diminished, conflict is incited, or the value of another person is degraded. Negativity is when something was said with the intent to hurt. Sometimes this negativity is obvious, other times it is subtle. Name calling is an obvious negative, where saying something that is heavily context dependently hurtful is harder to catch.

Curses and swearing are definitely a no-no. Any derogatory comments, passive aggressive comments, put-downs, or individual criticism are not allowed in work group chats. Any group improvements should be phrased in group chats using "we" instead of "you" or a name. If you feel you need to use "you" or a name, then it should be in a personal chat message or personal conversation between you and the person you are referring to.

Personal chats and conversations are the only appropriate method to discuss ways an individual can improve (aka, discuss criticisms).

If you feel that someone is being particularly rude, unprofessional, or does not conform to these standards generally in any way, please notify the Head Game Master or an Owner. If you believe an Owner is not conforming to these standards, it will be telling for you about whether you really want to work for this person based on their response to being told they are not conforming to company standards. A good response from anyone would be, "Thank you for telling me. What exactly was it I said that made you think that?... [possible explanation] This is what I meant, how could I have said it in a way that would follow company standards more closely?" Then you can help them learn to work even better with people through their words. You should consider using such a response when told you have something you could improve on.

A note on offense

While it is each of our responsibility to try hard to develop positive speech, we will slip up. These slip ups, whether blatant and common, or unintended and rare, are an indication that we all have a lot in common as human beings. In order to help all our relationships be well, some understanding of this must be accepted (aka, develop some thick skin). Your entire life people will say things you disagree with, things that make you hurt inside; things that prick you. Taking personal offense to someone's words is the same as being negative. Funny that it is in our nature to be negative, and also to be offended, the one validating the other in a sort of circular dependency. The only way to live without the pain of the poison of offense is to be positive; supportive of the person's choice to change if they ever decide so to do, and accepting them as they are if they don't (possibly even feeling sorry they choose to live negatively). If someone is saying something that is offending you, remember you've said things you regret and didn't mean before. Be open to them changing instead of alienating from them by becoming negative. They will come around and become an understanding human. If they don't, they won't be working at E13 very long. Know there isn't anything you can say to someone to make them change (their mind, their ideas, their behavior) unless they are already willing to change of their own accord.