Just like the traditional body language (or actual body language), the virtual body language is a way of communicating your thoughts or message to another person by virtual means, like email, texting or instant messaging (chat).
The message that you thought was clear and concise, may be interpreted by others quite differently.
And it is absolutely important in the work place where there is a lot of digital interfacing to deliver your message properly.
In virtual body language, two critical communication elements are removed: the sound of the voice and the physical body language.
Both exhibit "mood cues" that sends the feeling of the message, or what the deliverer is feeling.
Like the physical body language, learning how to control your virtual body language in your daily communications at work can be a great way to shift the control you have over specific work situations.
Here are the basics on establishing your baseline virtual body language.

1. Type.
   This may sound inane, but this commonly happens to people who are not used to typing, mostly the senior ones.
   In this age, almost all people are accustomed to typing, via computer keyboard or cellphone.
   When people struggle to respond via text, email or chat, they may send all sorts of wrong signals.
   Be comfortable with typing or texting, and preferably at a decent speed.
   Responding flowingly shows that you are involved in the conversation, and that you are giving the other person your attention.
   
2. Avoid "shortened" terms.
   Leave all the shorthand words to the pre-teens.
   Do not use "u" for "you", or "2day" for "today".
   It may seem faster to use shortened words (especially in twitter or in other social media platforms with limited characters to convey your message), but it comes across as sloppy, and removes a whole bunch of elements that you need to communicate effectively.
   Do not use complicated acronyms.
   It should not take you ten minutes to type the whole word or text.
   
3. Observe correct spelling, grammar and punctuation.
   Most people in chat and text can be incredibly forgiving when it comes to typographical errors.
   But it does not mean that you continue doing them.
   Spell check features of some chat programs, word processing software and smartphones can be very handy.
   
4. Avoid slang and jargons.
   Type as clearly as possible.
   Take a few minutes to re-read what you have typed before sending it.
   If something does not sound right in your head, read it aloud one or two times.
   If you are having difficulty understanding what you are trying to convey, then somebody else will probably have a hard time understanding it too.
   
5. Do not forget to punctuate.
   A missing comma, period or exclamation point may be forgivable, but those really convey so much.
   The punctuation marks convey feelings in a sentence.
   If you forgot to put a comma and a period in a very long paragraph, the other person will have difficulty separating your phrases, and may lead to miscommunication.
   Punctuation is one of the most important things when it comes to writing.
   Leaving it out is just asking for trouble.
   
6. Sarcasm of any forms (playful or serious) has no place in virtual communication.
   Sarcasm is emphasized by vocal cues.
   There are no vocal cues in virtual communication, except when you are in a voice or video chat.
   Sarcasm in chat, email or text will always be misinterpreted and will potentially offend the message receiver, even when you think that you are just being playful.