Having said that, IM and chat have been gaining in popularity for some time and many people are probably already using it outside of the office. To say that e-mail has been misused in the absence of an alternative such as IM and chat isn’t exactly fair.

Chances are that once IM and chat makes its debut in your organization, users will adopt it relatively quickly for those brief and immediate real-time communications needs.

When rolling out the new service, make sure there is ample communication and guidance on its proper usage, and give some examples of where it may be better suited than e-mail such as in meetings and those ‘quick questions’.