Workplace banter or boundary breach? The line between friendly and inappropriate

702's Bongani Bingwa is joined by Dr Sanele Gamede - career consultant and lecturer at the Department of Communication and Media at UJ.

Listen below:

How do you greet your colleagues in the morning?

“Hi Thandi, you're looking sharp today”?

Or do you slip in a cheeky “Hey big girl!” with a wink and an emoji?

Now imagine if your boss, your senior at work, took such an approach, often, and in meetings and via digital communication. Is he or she crossing a professional boundary?

There can be a fine line between workplace banter and harassment, as has emerged in the Judge Selby Mbenenge tribunal.

The Judge President is facing allegations of sexual harassment and the tribunal heard that he often called female staff "big girls" or "children" and regularly commented on their looks.

So what should the rules be when communicating with our colleagues in the workplace?

"The communication should remain professional, but that doesn't mean we can't have a sense of humour."

- Dr Sanele Gamede, Career Consultant/Lecturer at the Department of Communication and Media - University of Johannesburg

But what IS professional, counters Bingwa?

"Read the room, know the people you are sharing these emojis, these comments with. Having a WhatsApp group with 25-year-olds is different to having a group with 55-year-olds."

- Dr Sanele Gamede, Career Consultant/Lecturer at the Department of Communication and Media - University of Johannesburg

Gumede says that when it comes to digital communication, different people will interpret things differently.

"I wouldn't advise someone to share a kiss [emoji] in a WhatsApp group at work."

- Dr Sanele Gamede, Career Consultant/Lecturer at the Department of Communication and Media - University of Johannesburg

Scroll up to the audio player to listen to the discussion.