Hi.

1.3k points · 233 comments · view on lemmy.world

233 Comments

Pincer@sh.itjust.works · 187 pts · 209d (15 replies)
shadshack@feddit.online · 35 pts · 209d

I set that as my status in Teams along with a little message "Please don't just say hi. I might not see your follow up" and checked the box to make it show on chats. It's definitely helped. Also got someone to complain that I was ignoring them, but they just said "hi" and nothing else so my boss sided with me that they were wasting my time without actually asking a question.

phr@discuss.tchncs.de · 33 pts · 209d (8 replies)

i second that. but in phone calls from colleages i hate the "hey, got a moment?" too. i wouldn't have answered otherwise, or i might have told you i would call you back in a few minutes within my first line?

SpaceNoodle@lemmy.world · 28 pts · 209d (1 reply)

"Not anymore." Click.

VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 24 pts · 209d

I used to work in a office where everyone has a phone on their desk, and the only person who used it was management. Everyone else used the internal slack.

Then one year during a feedback session, someone asked how much the phones cost per month, and a bunch of management defended their use of it. While all the employees called it wasteful spending. Then they tried to call our personal number, and that led to talks of unionizing.

And that's how we got rid of phones. No union though unfortunately.

subterfuge@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 209d (2 replies)

“Is now a good time?” before a sales pitch

BillyClark@piefed.social · 3 pts · 209d

“Is now a good time?”

"I was just watching an ad and thinking how much I wished the ad and I could have a conversation. Because I just don't spend enough time with advertisements. If only they were interactively read off of a script that responded awkwardly to any of my responses. My brain isn't quite completely rotted yet, and I almost had a little bit of free time. Also, I was thinking how my cell phone's battery was far too high, and hoping I could whittle it down somehow. So, yes, now is the perfect time for you to be an interactive ad!"

Serinus@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d

That's fine. I don't see what's wrong with that.

"Hey, I'd like to talk a bit about Project X. Is now a good time?"

Saapas@piefed.zip · 5 pts · 209d (1 reply)

I often answer even when I don't have a moment since I don't know how urgent it is or if I get something more urgent. So "you got a minute?"

"Not really"

phr@discuss.tchncs.de · 1 pts · 209d

relatable. our department just doen't have that many urgencies ;)

mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca · 4 pts · 209d

I tell people to ask first before calling, because it's just polite. otherwise they may not get a response

the only people who can call without notice are my boss and the owner, and even then, if you want me in a good mood and to be prepared for whatever project you're gonna ask about that I haven't thought about in months, it'll go better if you just ask if I have time to talk about xyz

some people don't get it. and those people get to sit there on the line while I bring up the project files in silence

"can I just tell you what's going on-"

"no. because then I'll have questions about your shitty description. so we're gonna wait here until I have the information open for what you're asking about so we're not playing tag later"

mrgoosmoos@lemmy.ca · 10 pts · 209d

this is my status message. usually I don't have it showing by default, but when somebody does this I toggle it lol

VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 7 pts · 209d (2 replies)

I swore there was a version that was a lot more aggressive and in your face.

morrowind@lemmy.ml · 9 pts · 209d (1 reply)

This is the one I know. It's more catchy too https://dontasktoask.com/

VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 1 pts · 208d

That's the one! @Evotech@lemmyworld.com fyi

AcesFullOfKings@feddit.uk · 6 pts · 209d
[ removed ]
MurrayL@lemmy.world · 115 pts · 209d (8 replies)

The solution to this is to not reply to them.

They will either give you the information you need (and potentially learn their lesson for next time), or they’ll get tired of waiting and ask someone else.

cannedtuna@lemmy.world · 45 pts · 209d (1 reply)

100% this. I got this dude who always messages me “hi” when he needs something but doesn’t bother to include what the fuck he needs. I told him, politely, once you can just include everything up front at once and I’ll answer as soon as I can. I just won’t respond to just “hi”. Like fucking hi yourself.

Archer@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 209d

I do love being in IT sometimes. No ticket? Then the problem doesn’t exist

VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 24 pts · 209d

When I share that I ignore people who messages with only a "hi", certain people get real upset. I used to try to be considerate like, "Oh I need to change my communication style" but after a while, I realized every person who gets upset by it was a egotistical asshole in the first place who thinks everyone should wait for them.

So yeah, say what you want to say. I'm not here for you.

youCanCallMeDragon@lemmy.world · 17 pts · 209d

Works every time

Evotech@lemmy.world · -14 pts · 209d (3 replies)

So passive aggressive

Just reply hi

How often does it really happen

VitoRobles@lemmy.today · 7 pts · 209d (1 reply)

No.

Evotech@lemmy.world · -5 pts · 209d

Children.

dreamkeeper@literature.cafe · 1 pts · 208d

No it's a waste of my time. And it happens constantly

4shtonButcher@discuss.tchncs.de · 51 pts · 209d (2 replies)

https://nohello.net/en/

I notice there are several similar domains by now. I know a few people who have this is the forever status message in the work messaging tool

Deebster@infosec.pub · 9 pts · 209d

I looked at the other ones; I think that nohello.club might be a bit more useful, in a catching-flies-with-honey kinda way.

mirshafie@europe.pub · 4 pts · 209d

Imagine calling someone on the phone, going hello! then putting them on hold...

My sister actually does this. I feel like it should be some sort of prank or social experiment, but I fear it's not.

mech@feddit.org · 46 pts · 209d (10 replies)

At least you can just ignore "Hi".

I have a co-worker "Ed" who's working 1st level support.
He'll take a call (but only if the caller hasn't given up after letting it ring for 20 seconds), then write in Teams:
"Joe Smith called. He has a problem in Outlook." (We have a ticket system, but Ed doesn't use it)
Now, Joe Smith expects IT to help him. So I can't just ignore it.

If I reply "what kind of issue?", Ed will ignore my question, because he doesn't react to Teams notifications.
If I physically walk over to his desk and ask him, he'll reply "Sorry, Joe didn't say".
Literally the quickest way to get this shit off my desk is to call the user back and fix their Outlook issue myself.
And that's exactly why Ed does this.

Of course, Ed isn't the problem.
The problem is that he wasn't fired years ago because he knows certain things about the owner of the company and the CEO.

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 21 pts · 209d (6 replies)

There's an "office politics" solution here. Sounds like Ed needs a promotion to another department.

mech@feddit.org · 18 pts · 209d (5 replies)

Ed got "promoted" to IT from another department.
He used to train new hires.
There's a reason he's been with the company for decades and works first level support.
Everyone's just waiting for him to retire.

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 209d (4 replies)

Okay, so you see what works to fix the problem, you could have a conversation with him about how his skills are wasted in HelpDesk and that he should be making more money by doing job X in department Y. If he has enough dirt on the CEO, he can get his promotion.

mech@feddit.org · 8 pts · 209d (3 replies)

Unfortunately, he doesn't want a promotion.
He wants to sit on his ass and watch Youtube for another 5 years.
Then he can fuck off with one of the good old retirement packages that people joining 20 years ago got.
And that's what the CEO wants, too. At this post, Ed can't cause any damage, except to my nerves.

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 9 pts · 209d (2 replies)

He wants to sit on his ass and watch Youtube for another 5 years.

Set up a bandwidth restriction policy against his devices. Choke it down to 100kps for video sites so that watchability is garbage with low resolution and constant buffering.

mech@feddit.org · 6 pts · 209d (1 reply)

That's actually not a bad idea.
Or I'll go all out and redirect Youtube to lemonparty.cc for his account.

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 12 pts · 209d

Or I’ll go all out and redirect Youtube to lemonparty.cc for his account.

I wouldn't go that far. The goal is to cause him to complain to other employees/managers that Youtube is too slow. You want the question forming in other people's heads "Why is he watching so much Youtube here at work that this is a problem?"

Even better is if he is using the company internet/equipment to consume content that isn't safe and appropriate for work. If it can be shown his behavior is legal liability then the company may decide he's more trouble than he's worth.

ramble81@lemmy.zip · 11 pts · 209d

Luckily I had my Engineers backs when dealing with “Ed’s”. First I would go to his manager and tell them what is happening, along with evidence of what was going on. Then, when the manager ignored it, I would go to our shared manager to inform him of the problem. During this time I would tell my team to push back on it and if the internal client had issues first I would direct him to the service desk manager and then to our shared manager. A little petty at times but usually ended up working since I could lay it out with evidence.

hobovision@mander.xyz · 10 pts · 209d

I'd start by replying "Please get that fixed for him and create a ticket and escalate if you can't fix it". When that didn't work, I'd probably just hit him with the thumbs up react, or literally nothing. A coworker not doing their job even after guiding them through the process shouldn't be your problem.

WanderingThoughts@europe.pub · 9 pts · 209d

I usually insist "we solve the problem together" what means I solve it and he gets to watch in the call "as a teaching moment". It just means he can't just dump the problem on me and walk away so thinks twice before asking next time.

BanMe@lemmy.world · 44 pts · 209d (1 reply)

I've toyed with this a few ways, and my favorite response is waiting 4 hours and replying "hi!" That might mean the next day. Then when they ask the question, wait a couple more hours at least to reply. They've set the pace for the conversation this way, and it's going to be glacial. (Folks who have no urgency get no urgency)

If they ask the right way, I am pretty quick. (Polite people get polite responses)

If it's something that can wait 20 minutes, I typically wait 20 minutes. (I am a busy person) (Protip: this makes bosses and coworkers think you're not just fucking around all day, and they respect you more)

Train people using rules, even if they are unspoken, be consistent and it'll work.

Taleya@aussie.zone · 6 pts · 209d

Nah, hi back just before you knock off. As in send hi, log out, go home.

Duranie@leminal.space · 43 pts · 209d (2 replies)

On my way home tonight, sitting at a red light I noticed that my bosses boss sent me "hi, can you talk?"

I spent the next 20 minutes of the ride home trying to think of anything that I said to anybody that could have been misconstrued into God knows what. I get home and reply "I can now."

It was a question someone had about our specific uniforms (scrubs) and under which heading I was able to order them under.

"Hi, can you talk? I have a question about your uniform." Would have been so much kinder lol.

NannerBanner@literature.cafe · 3 pts · 209d

I swear bosses do this intentionally. It gets brought up so often in various places that it would be impossible not to understand the effect it has on their employees, and they get off on it.

obinice@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d

The true appropriate response, unless you're being paid to be on call, is to wait until you clock in the next day, THEN respond.

If you're not being paid to work, why do it?

boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 41 pts · 209d (4 replies)

I just write hi or good morning or whatever, follow it by an empty line, and then my question. In the same message.

luciferofastora@feddit.org · 15 pts · 209d

I always put "Hi" and the topic in the first line so they have a chance to estimate what it's about from the little preview blurb and decide whether to pivot their headspace that way now, later or not at all

Tilgare@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 209d (1 reply)

This probably isn't an audience that needs to hear this - but you can add a line break with ALT+Enter in Teams.

Getting a flood of short messages instead of 2 paragraphs drives me crazy.

boonhet@sopuli.xyz · 2 pts · 209d

I thought it was ctrl + enter but to be fair most things are muscle memory at this point so I don't actually remember things, I just do them

lobut@lemmy.ca · 3 pts · 209d

I'm the opposite ... I put my request in first and then do my pleasantries:

"could you look into this for me?"

"btw good morning"

smiletolerantly@awful.systems · 35 pts · 209d

Read it, do not reply

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 32 pts · 209d

bitwolf@sh.itjust.works · 30 pts · 209d

I don't answer "Hi" anymore.

If they need help they'll ask what they need.

I have some people that my entire message history is "Hi" and no answer. Because they eventually realize they should ask in our QA channel instead of dm'ing our team members.

Poppapoppop@thelemmy.club · 27 pts · 209d (4 replies)

I’ve done this out of habit trying to be friendly. I’m starting to see the error of my ways. A point has been made.

dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de · 11 pts · 209d

You're welcome to start with "Hi", "Hello" or even "Greetings, my lord" but please don't just leave it at that. Follow up with your actual question immediately so the recipient knows what you need and if it's urgent.

kkj@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 10 pts · 209d (1 reply)

Shift+Enter or Ctrl+Enter (depending on the platform) will usually insert a line break. You can divide your greeting from the content of the message without actually sending two messages.

dfyx@lemmy.helios42.de · 8 pts · 209d

Personally, I don't care if it's one message or two. The thing that annoys me is people who send a greeting and then wait for a response before telling me what they actually want. If someone sends "hi" and then immediately starts typing their actual question, that's fine for me, especially on platforms with a typing indicator.

Taleya@aussie.zone · 6 pts · 209d

You can say it as a polite prelude...it just has to be an immediate part of the message. Not just "hi" then waiting for a response. The latter pisses everyone off.

chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world · 26 pts · 209d (2 replies)

Just reply “hi” then set your status to away and go grab a coffee!

WanderingThoughts@europe.pub · 16 pts · 209d (1 reply)

Just saying "Hi" back five minutes later already throws them off and they'll come back to you the next day.

chonglibloodsport@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 209d

Oh yeah. Never say “hi” back right away! Always wait at least 5 minutes!

9point6@lemmy.world · 23 pts · 209d

Someone sending just "hi" in a work IM is equivalent to no message being sent at all.

I will respond when I actually receive a message

t_berium@lemmy.world · 18 pts · 209d

These are your coworkers' best friends, who send you an email and then immediately run to your desk to tell you that they sent you an email. And if you're busy, they stare at you until you turn to them and they get what they want, no matter what you were doing.

Taleya@aussie.zone · 16 pts · 209d (2 replies)

Proper format:

Hola,

X is Y and we need Z. Did you fuck with the server?

Brickhead92@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 209d (1 reply)

...new server, who dis??

faintwhenfree@lemmus.org · 2 pts · 208d

Luke, I am your father.

planish@sh.itjust.works · 15 pts · 209d (5 replies)

Can I ask you a question?

Frenchgeek@lemmy.ml · 11 pts · 208d (2 replies)

Apparently.

Rooster326@programming.dev · 2 pts · 208d (1 reply)

Calls you immediately despite your status being "in call"

deltapi@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 208d

I get this from colleagues in a specific areZA of the world.

jack_of_sandwich@lemmy.sdf.org · 4 pts · 208d

I don't know, can you?

Passerby6497@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 208d

You get one a day, try again tomorrow

CrabAndBroom@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 208d (4 replies)

Coworker: Hi

Me: [Waits for more info, nothing comes.]

Me: Hello

Coworker: So

[Several seconds pass]

Coworker: What's up with that file from yesterday?

Me: [Waits for more info, nothing comes.]

Me: Which file

[No response for literally 10 minutes]

Coworker: The one we sent to client B

Me: [Rather than keep trying to extract information, search through history and find file which was sent to client B yesterday, find nothing obviously wrong with it, and it was nothing to do with me anyway]

Me: [Sends link to file] You mean this one?

[5 minutes pass]

Coworker: NM I figured it out. Thanks!


My other favourite is the coworker who does the same thing but instead of saying hey types "Pssst" and if you don't respond within about 5 seconds they start sending GIFS of people knocking on doors and stuff.

echodot@feddit.uk · 8 pts · 208d

If anyone says hi to me I literally just ignore them until they say something actionable.

It's great because if they ever complain about it I can just say, oh I was busy so didn't immediately follow up and they never ever specified what they wanted.

qarbone@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 208d (2 replies)

I've thankfully never experienced that last one, but that is heinous. I would actually engage to tell them not to do that.

Darkenfolk@sh.itjust.works · 1 pts · 207d (1 reply)

qarbone@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 207d

Don't do that.

AnnaFrankfurter@lemmy.ml · 14 pts · 209d

nohello.com

Eat_Your_Paisley@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 209d

It generally takes me about a year to train people on stuff like this.

frog_brawler@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 209d (1 reply)
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debil@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d

Me too, but some fraction of the total damage still comes through.

partial_accumen@lemmy.world · 13 pts · 209d (3 replies)

Reply with:

"Teamsbot-AI v1.3 says: 'Hi! I see you're looking for user $User. They haven't seen your message yet. Go ahead and send the rest of the message about your need or what you want to talk about and I'll send it onto them to respond.'"

You don't need a bot or software, just literally copy and paste this response in to them. They'd never know the difference.

Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe · 4 pts · 209d

Haha, awesome!

RedGreenBlue@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 209d (1 reply)

You got to paste this instantly to be convincing.

EpeeGnome@feddit.online · 11 pts · 209d

I suspect there's a substantial overlap between people who would fall for this even with a delay and people who would send a "hi" and wait for a response.

derpgon@programming.dev · 12 pts · 208d (1 reply)
Omgpwnies@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 207d

This is set as a permanent status message on my Teams at work

webghost0101@sopuli.xyz · 12 pts · 209d (3 replies)

Hello is acceptable if,

Its almost instantly followed with a proper message about what this about, no waiting of dance involved.

The hello and the question are one big message.

I have known people who felt offended to not receive a formal greeting if this is the first communication between us today so i adapted.

Though worse issue is people who call without any heads-up. I am working, i dont need a phone crying for my attention to distract me. So when they want to call i prefer a “hello, can we call” or best of all “hello, do you have time later to call about x and y”

Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe · 7 pts · 209d (1 reply)

The unnaounced call has been verboten in business since instant messaging became standard at work - about 2006.

The only exceptions are when someone doesn't have good connectivity or you're already workingon something together and you both know these calls may happen because of circumstance.

One look at anyone's calendar and you'll know you're going to voicemail.

webghost0101@sopuli.xyz · 3 pts · 209d

I think my office never got the memo. Which is odd considering memo is prob one of the few technologies they can work with.

We frequently have to explain to the senior IT bosses how to do basic computer things so they might just be stuck in the 90s and then i have to trust that these people make sound decisions when it comes to digital innovation and ai.

FishFace@piefed.social · 1 pts · 209d

Even better is when they just put something in my calendar with a brief description of what it's about

PM_ME_WRISTS_GIRL@lemmynsfw.com · 12 pts · 209d (3 replies)

I got a "hi, can I ask an urgent question?" followed by... no question. Guess it was not that urgent.

davidagain@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 209d

“hi, can I ask an urgent question?” followed by… no question.

"Hi, can you commit an unspecified amount of time to a problem that I'm not prepared to outline in case you don't think it's as urgent as I do? Please agree in advance to drop everything for it before knowing what it is."

No. Absolutely not. Bye bye unopened notification.

Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 209d

They ded

driving_crooner@lemmy.eco.br · 3 pts · 209d

Ok, my intern dosen't use the "urgent" part, but he always do that. I try to explain to him that there's an automatic yes to that question so he can skip it, but he continues with it. It's make me crazy

Korhaka@sopuli.xyz · 12 pts · 209d (2 replies)

If you want to say hi, start your message with it as a single message.

ShinkanTrain@lemmy.ml · 1 pts · 208d (1 reply)

What if I want them to take a moment to mentally prepare for the bullshit I'm about to drop on their lap?

Korhaka@sopuli.xyz · 1 pts · 208d

"Hey, so I have this... "

hissingmeerkat@sh.itjust.works · 12 pts · 209d (1 reply)

I got in trouble at work for being "unavailable" for 3 days while my coworkers were working on something important without me because I never responded to the one word message "Hey".

rumba@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 208d

I was 100% WFH, for a company in California, long before Covid.

We rented an oceanfront condo for a week from a friend, it was a good deal (they were unbooked so they figured a discount for a known user is better the no booking)

I went down there and worked from the condo from 8-6. Solid internet, attended all meetings. My boss got a case of the ass that I was "taking a vacation" and started trying to hop into support calls before I could so he could write me up for taking a vacation without requesting it.

I literally hit every support message within 30 seconds, he spent his whole day trying to do my job for me. By the end of the day, he had the gall to say I wasn't answering messages quickly enough. I demanded he show me what message he was talking about. Over a whole day of work, there was one message that went unanswered for 45 seconds because I was already working with two separate people. I sent him my chat logs of me working with the other people, and he bitched that I didn't tell them to wait for 45 seconds.

When I quit, he said, "I have to say I didn't see it coming, you were always so dedicated, I'm really sorry to see you go, no chance that I could change your mind? Is it salary?" "nope, I was summoned from some people I used to work for, and they're ready for me"

I hate how dysfunctional so many people are on communication and remote work.

dumples@piefed.social · 11 pts · 209d

We had a communication training at my work that told us to always start with a Hi before asking the question on teams. It was infuriating

markovs_gun@lemmy.world · 11 pts · 209d (1 reply)

The same morons also say hi to ChatGPT. They can't help it.

planish@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 209d

If I was trying to use ChatGPT I would say "hi" before explaining my whole deal for five minutes because I don't want to hear "API Limit Exceeded, Buy More ChatGPT".

Of course, I would never.

Lodespawn@aussie.zone · 10 pts · 209d (1 reply)

Just hit them back with a different conversation than the one they wanted to have. I find" hi how's your day going?" isn't tangential enough, but if you know who they are then might try ask something a bit more personalised or even try and offload one of your problems onto them.

laranis@lemmy.zip · 8 pts · 209d

Chaotic good

Quexotic@infosec.pub · 9 pts · 208d (2 replies)

If I'm feeling nice, I reply to those with " please lead with your question"

If not, I don't reply.

Lightfire228@pawb.social · 5 pts · 208d (1 reply)
echodot@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 208d

My god it's been annoying people for 16 years and we still haven't come up with a solution. As a species we are doomed. That's why the aliens haven't contacted us, would be too annoying.

skrlet13@feddit.cl · 8 pts · 209d (6 replies)

I'd say this works and should apply it at work.

But in personal comunication it can be badly percieved, you could be seen as that person who only talks to ask for a favor (wherever it is real or not).

jafajakaja@lemmy.ca · 5 pts · 209d (1 reply)

But it can also be badly perceived when you go through the motions of exchanging pleasantries instead of just being up front about needing a favour. In either case, pleasantries are nice, but pleasantries that are being done just for the sake of pleasantries can be seen as rude and trying to establish needless or false familiarity.

skrlet13@feddit.cl · 1 pts · 208d

True, it depends of the person. Sometimes I'm talked to just so I do something.

In my case, I prefer pleasantries and asked favour in the same message. Being at least recognized as a person and know what's up ASAP. It faster for them anyway.

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 3 pts · 208d (3 replies)

you could be seen as that person who only talks to ask for a favor (wherever it is real or not).

If you are this way you'll be perceived as such regardless of if you do small talk first. I have a relative that only ever talks to me if they want something and it's fucking annoying to wait for the shoe to drop when they try to chit chat beforehand. Just get to the point if that's all you really care about.

skrlet13@feddit.cl · 1 pts · 208d (2 replies)

Indeed. I meant some people confuse being direct with being rude and uninterested in the other person.

scutiger@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d (1 reply)

I'm not trying to be rude, but I am entirely uninterested in my coworkers.

skrlet13@feddit.cl · 1 pts · 208d

I'd say this works and should apply it at work. But in personal comunication [...]

AeonFelis@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 209d

As long as it's just an "hi" you don't know what it is and have to assume it's super urgent. Once you answer, they can disclose the actual matter in its full mundanity, resting assured they have already confirmed your attention.

GreenBeanMachine@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 209d (1 reply)
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kingblaaak@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 209d

cant be tooo available, or these users become accustom to rapid comms

ramsgrl909@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 209d

I just don't answer, lol

RaccoonBall@lemmy.ca · 7 pts · 209d (1 reply)

similarly frustrating: a voicemail that just says "call me"

BenLeMan@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d

That's why my voicemail is disabled.

jcs@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 208d (1 reply)

The company I work for has a general guideline/policy to "don't ask to ask." I thankfully rarely experience this.

Ephera@lemmy.ml · 2 pts · 207d

Yeah, really doesn't make sense when everyone is working for the same company. You are literally being paid for your time, when answering that question.

Mac@mander.xyz · 6 pts · 209d

I just emote wave in response.

raglan@lemmy.world · 6 pts · 209d (3 replies)

Hey, you got a sec?

lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 8 pts · 209d

No, sorry

davidagain@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 209d

Actually, I'm on the loo, so if you mean a second for a yes/no question with no follow up whatsoever, fire away, but if you're looking for some interactive process, absolutely not, my turd takes priority.

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 3 pts · 209d

*Realizes I do in fact have a second and leaves to get a cup of coffee*

buttmasterflex@piefed.social · 6 pts · 209d (4 replies)

The company I work at emphasizes the up front contract in both internal and external communications.

"Hi, I need X minutes of your time to discuss Y. I intend for us to reach a decision/decide the next step next step/get your approval by the end of the call. Are you available at this date & time? Thanks!"

egrets@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 209d (1 reply)

This is a way bigger faux pas than an ignorable "hi" in my books. We've got tools for organizing a meeting. You can check my availability alongside everyone else's, so we don't spend three hours playing Calendar Battleships.

Even if it's just the two of us, don't ask me to check my calendar because you can't be bothered to.

buttmasterflex@piefed.social · 1 pts · 208d

This was a generic version to get the point across, subject to a lot of factors. The meeting timing aspect is for the external facing comms.

Lodespawn@aussie.zone · 2 pts · 209d (1 reply)

I feel like that's more nutballs than just saying hi with no information ..

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 209d

It's literally a meeting invite... Just send a meeting invite.

Thrife@feddit.org · 6 pts · 209d

That's why I ignore them until they complete their message themselves. But someone else here linked "nohello.net", maybe I'll try that too!

Tigeroovy@lemmy.ca · 6 pts · 208d (2 replies)

I will obviously start by saying Hi, but I will also just say what I’m contacting them about in the first message.

rumba@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 208d (1 reply)

yeah, i'd like to see us abolish email and turn things into slightly long IM's.

I've been struggling for years to condense several thoughts into a single IM, not to blow up the recipient's attention.

Tigeroovy@lemmy.ca · 2 pts · 208d

My experience has been doing it pretty much entirely through work chat IM. But also working in animation the needs are usually pretty simple like “this scene is locked by you, can you unlock it for me?” Or inquiring about background updates or something. So it’s fairly easily to just get to the point.

Janx@piefed.social · 6 pts · 208d

Hey.

ExLisper@lemmy.curiana.net · 5 pts · 209d (15 replies)

Hi.

robocall@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 209d (13 replies)

Hi.

WhyIHateTheInternet@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d (12 replies)

So, do you have a minute?

robocall@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 209d (11 replies)

Hi.

WhyIHateTheInternet@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 209d (10 replies)

As per our earlier conversation...

Hello

robocall@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 208d (9 replies)

How's it going?

WhyIHateTheInternet@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 208d (8 replies)

Hi! It's been going really great!

Just wanted to circle back to our previous conversation from before the holidays. Did you get my message?

robocall@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 207d

Great! and you?

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 3 pts · 209d

High.

morphballganon@lemmynsfw.com · 5 pts · 209d

Respond with a gif of someone doing a blank stare

lugal@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 209d (1 reply)

Hi, how are you?

snooggums@piefed.world · 4 pts · 209d

Oh shit, this is going to be painful.

technocrit@lemmy.dbzer0.com · 5 pts · 208d

LMAO. I thought I was the only one quietly enraged by this...

jack_of_sandwich@lemmy.sdf.org · 5 pts · 209d (2 replies)

I'm sitting in the hospital with my mother and someone does this to me....

Just Hi...

Spent too long staring at it trying to decide if they deserved the effort to tell them I can't help them right now....

Decided if they couldn't say what they want, I wasnt going to tell them it's not going to happen.

jack_of_sandwich@lemmy.sdf.org · 10 pts · 209d (1 reply)

I suspect these intros are intended to get you to confirm your presence before they hit you with the request, assuming that will make it harder to ignore the request once you've shown yourself

davidagain@lemmy.world · 7 pts · 209d

This is why it annoys me so much. No, I don't blanket agree to interact with you. If it's something short, I'll answer immediately, but if it'll take me longer, it'll be later. Someone I worked with was a monster for this.

Hiya.

...

David

....

...

Hello?

...

Just say what you want ffs. This could have been over 15 minutes ago if you didn't insist on real time interaction via this asynchronous communication medium!

SpaceCadet@feddit.nl · 5 pts · 208d
itsgroundhogdayagain@lemmy.ml · 5 pts · 209d

I don't reply to that. Tell me what you want and I might reply.

NABDad@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 209d

The last time it happened to me I replied, but I waited until the end of the next day and shut down my laptop and put my phone away immediately after clicking send.

JoMiran@lemmy.ml · 4 pts · 209d (2 replies)

I think what the OP is thinking of is an ancient technology called "e-Mail".

GorGor@startrek.website · 2 pts · 209d (1 reply)

right? teams is a descendant of INSTANT messaging. I actually find it more annoying if someone tries to initiate a Teams Call without the "do you have a minute for a quick call?"

Some things are easier to do via email. Some things are best discussed live. Be that via text or voice or video.

atomicbocks@sh.itjust.works · 3 pts · 209d

Slack and Teams were copies of Google Wave. They are very specifically hybrids of email and IM.

m3t00@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 208d (3 replies)

IT nerd for 20 years. 'can i ask you a question?' or voice message saying 'call me'.

already did, done. I wouldn't return the call. or answer the phone. I ain't a help-desk

bofh

echodot@feddit.uk · 3 pts · 208d (1 reply)

Oh I hate the people who open a ticket, provide basically no information at all, mark it urgent, and then when I call back within 15 minutes they don't answer. So I leave a voicemail, and they literally never call back.

I have one in my queue right now and the entirety of the ticket is simply "my outlook details are incorrect", I have absolutely no idea what she wants, if she doesn't answer tomorrow that ticket's getting closed.

m3t00@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d

had a phone with multiple lines. 1 rang everyone's. never pick that up. it's 'dildos'. to quote Sqiggar

rumba@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 208d

bofh: untags the voice vlan, phone still passes data through

smuuthbrane@sh.itjust.works · 4 pts · 209d

This is a hill I will die on with you. I've even sent the "no hello" link to a particularly egregious offender.

WeavingSpider@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 208d (2 replies)

I have written in a previous job messages, but it usually went like this:

Hello, [Name]! Hope you're not too busy! I have questions regarding [whatever the fuck it was on about]

Mostly because I hate getting a message and it is just a wall of text, the greeting allows for a slight breathing room and a chance to spot a typo.

But I never left the other hanging, more than a minute to type the needed thing up. If it was taking longer, I would just send it in chunks.

Track_Shovel@slrpnk.net · 1 pts · 208d (1 reply)

I skip all formality and just say what's needed.

WeavingSpider@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 207d

That's fine. To each their own.

resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 209d (2 replies)

Hey.

UltraGiGaGigantic@lemmy.ml · 8 pts · 209d

Ho let's go!

Now playing The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop

OldChicoAle@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 209d

Thank you.

jjjalljs@ttrpg.network · 3 pts · 209d (1 reply)

Do you think the people that send junk like "hi" or "quick chat?" get annoyed when they're the recipient? Or they just think it's normal?

Rooster326@programming.dev · 5 pts · 209d

They are the 80% that do 20% of the labor.

They're quite content sitting around staring mindlessly at their monitor.

Eufalconimorph@discuss.tchncs.de · 3 pts · 208d

You wouldn't write a letter that's just "Hi " and then no body. You'd have the greeting, the content, and the signoff. The same applies to Slack, Teams, and the like. You can omit the greeting & signoff or keep them in, but you can't omit the content!

If you do, I'll wait until the next day or so, and if I remember I'll reply that they seem to have forgotten to include a message before hitting "send".

Amberskin@europe.pub · 3 pts · 209d

Guilty as charged :(

razzazzika@lemmy.zip · 3 pts · 209d (7 replies)

Im guilty of this. I hate wasting the time to type it up if the person isnt going to reply. I'll ping them, when they respond, then open a dialogue.

miridius@lemmy.world · 10 pts · 209d (1 reply)

Personally I never respond if someone just writes "hi", but i will always answer actual questions/requests

Brickhead92@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 209d

Same. And from what I have seen, more often than not, they are the same person who will not read an email, and then ask a question that was answered in the email. Then you've got to do a "per my previous email" response.

ulterno@programming.dev · 7 pts · 209d

I don't get it.
If you send the whole message when they are not free, do they not reply later when they are?

mapleseedfall@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 209d (3 replies)

I mean if its time sensitive you should call.

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 209d (2 replies)

Eh, I'm not answering a cold call either. Leave a voicemail with what you want and I'll check it when I finish whatever I'm working on. A complete teams message or email with what you want is always going to get the fastest response from me. Respect my time and I'll respect yours.

mapleseedfall@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d (1 reply)

I think this varies from person to person. But in my experience for a rule of thumb, calling when urgent is the way to go. Maybe it doesnt work for you. But hospital wont email you when they need something emergency.

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 1 pts · 209d

Do what you want, as I said, I'm not answering a cold call or responding to it unless there is a voicemail and there is a lot more friction between me and listening to a voicemail than there is for checking a teams message or an email.

Nalivai@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 209d (12 replies)

It's a handshake. If you're out of the office or otherwise can't respond, it saves them from typing the whole message, they can do it only if they know you're responding.
It's still offloading the inconvenience to you a bit, but at least it's rational for them

AeonFelis@lemmy.world · 15 pts · 209d

If I'm out of office they can still type the message and I'll see it later. If they can't wait and would send it to someone else if I don't immediately respond to the "hi", then they could either copy-paste it, or - even better - send it to some relevant channel that contains multiple people capable of assisting them instead of PMing it to me.

Honytawk@feddit.nl · 11 pts · 209d (9 replies)

There is literally a feature to see if someone is out of office or not.

And even if that is set wrong, they can copy and paste the same question to someone else if you don't respond. Doesn't take any extra work.

Nalivai@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 209d (8 replies)

You assume that everyone is replaceable and you can just message whatever to whomever.

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 3 pts · 209d (7 replies)

Then we're back to just send the whole request and I'll get to it when I get to it. "Hi" is worthless in every scenario.

Nalivai@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d (6 replies)

The objectively correct from a selfish perspective here, is to send "ping" and only type out the whole request if you respond. Yeah, it will make you wait, but it will save me time and mental effort at typing all that, knowing that it's all for nothing if you will not respond in time.
The correct answer here is to do "Hi, need to talk to you about [thing], are you available right now?", but it's technically speaking only one step above this hateful "Hi"

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 209d (5 replies)

The objectively correct way is to send all the detail you have about the request so that the person fulfilling it has to ask as few follow-up questions as possible. This is the most time efficient way for everyone. If that person is unavailable then you either wait for them or copy paste to the next person. Being selfish doesn't make sense when you're the one that needs them to do something for you. If someone starts a communication with me with "ping" I'm not responding to that ever, if they follow up with what they want they'll still be at the bottom of my list. That shit is disrespectful as fuck.

Nalivai@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d (4 replies)

If you look at it from other perspective, typing the whole paragraph of details just to be ghosted can also feel disrespectful as fuck, while "Hi, can you talk right now?" is actually pretty normal.
There is no easy and universal answer, it's all depends on context and the situation, just like anything else in human communication.

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 208d

Spending 30 seconds to type out what you want is hardly a big ask. If typing is a struggle for you then go take a typing course and catch up to everyone else in this century. I don't want a vague "can you talk right now?". I can't answer that question accurately when I'm in the middle of juggling multiple different things pretty much all day long. I need to know what the context is and how much time it is likely to take to make sure it's not going to derail the other shit I have going on. As the person who is demanding attention from someone else you should be doing everything in your power to minimize the inconvenience to them.

jack_of_sandwich@lemmy.sdf.org · 5 pts · 209d

Hi

rumba@lemmy.zip · 2 pts · 208d

Hello, this is your operator, you have a call from "bobwehadababyitsaboy"

do you accept the charges?

Feedback17@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 209d

Hi

stepan@lemmy.cafe · 2 pts · 209d (1 reply)

I do that, but I send the actual message right after, without waiting for a reply to "hi".

Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works · 6 pts · 209d

You're almost there, just resist the urge to send the "hi" until you've added the substantive part of the message. That way the recipient can work out the appropriate response in their own time, and get back to you when it's ready. You won't know if they're frantically working on your issue, or having lunch, and that's as it should be.

Randelung@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 208d

I refuse to play that game. People learn; either to message correctly or to leave me alone.

resipsaloquitur@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 208d (2 replies)

SkunkWorkz@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 208d

m3t00@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d

unshopped?

obinice@lemmy.world · 2 pts · 208d

If they're just making a request, why not put it in an email instead of chatting with you?

Not really Instant Message necessary at all.

vinyl@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 209d

I do that with my friends out of habit sometimes

Reygle@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d

I've managed to (for better or worse) make myself fairly irreplaceable at my job and am in a rare position where I can refuse to use anything I choose and there's no-one who can make me.
Windows and Teams are top of my "Fuck you" list.

I feel for the people who don't have that luxury though.

raspberriesareyummy@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d (1 reply)

Hi!

IEatDaFeesh@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d

...?

chiliedogg@lemmy.world · 1 pts · 208d (3 replies)

I work in municipal government and had a enginee4ing consultant Teams me a comment about a developer being a bumbass while I was screen-sharing to a live public meeting that involved that developer.

Please give me the "hey"

Frigidlollipop@lemmy.world · 4 pts · 208d (1 reply)

I think you can hide message previews now, but dang lol.

piranhaconda@mander.xyz · 1 pts · 208d

I always have mine set to "do not disturb when screen sharing" and it works flawlessly for internal meetings. As soon as I have an external meeting though... I have to manually enable the do not disturb when joining a meeting set up by someone outside my company.

Need to look into disabling the previews, that should hopefully fix it

Buddahriffic@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 208d

Don't ever share your main desktop. Share individual windows or a secondary monitor.

Kobold@ttrpg.network · 0 pts · 209d (2 replies)

I'm glad to never have worked in a workplace where instead of the email they used teams.

ChakraNorris@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 209d

Honestly, we use it a lot for quick questions or to inform someone about something, and it's fine for that.

"Hey, which shared drive has the files regarding blablabla" that sort of stuff.

I prefer it over getting emails for every small thing.

bampop@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 209d

That way you can do lengthy email exchanges to discuss what time both parties are available for a phone call

Jarix@lemmy.world · 0 pts · 208d (2 replies)

Then why not just use email? Sounds like you just want an email...

echodot@feddit.uk · 2 pts · 208d

I don't use email because it's the absolute worst UX ever developed. I don't think there was a single email provider that lays the messages out in a way I would like them laid out, i.e. in descending order, oldest to newest, with the newest on the bottom just like it's a text exchange. So I can follow the conversation.

Plus it gets really confusing if they start adding other people into the conversation halfway through. I don't see that conversation because it's a separate communique, and then they try and merge the two together and then I get a big long list, suddenly, of 5 days worth of messages, interspersed with my own messages to them, except now they're all out of sequence.

For all of its many many faults, at least Teams is actually visually coherent.

Plus of course I don't need that email signature telling me not to print the email at the end of every message, literally no one in the history of the human races ever printed an email so they don't need to tell me not to do it.

zarkanian@sh.itjust.works · 2 pts · 208d

I don't get why people don't use email for lots of things. Most of the stuff that Facebook does for you can be done with email.

pdavis@lemmy.world · -3 pts · 207d (1 reply)

This is describing email, not a chat client. If I am chatting with you I expect real time engagement, otherwise I would send an email.

Omgpwnies@lemmy.world · 3 pts · 207d

Soft disagree. It's less asynchronous than email, but definitely not a synchronous conversation like a phone call or in-person chat. Caveat: If we are having an active conversation, then people should try to respond promptly, or with minimal delay.

Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org · -13 pts · 209d (8 replies)

Sorry but no. If it's asynchronous and I don't need a response in a short time, I'll email you. If I say something on Slack to a person, and don't get a response in a short timeframe (~5 minutes), I go to someone else - whether that's a coworker or a manager. And when I get told, "you'll have to ask [unresponsive]", I say, "Oh, I tried to reach out to them, they didn't respond. Can you reach out and see if they're available?"

That way, I've gotten somewhere closer to my answer, and I've put another person on the scent of the unresponsive one.

davidagain@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 209d

Don't expect people to make themselves available to you without telling them what for. "I reached out" is a shitty phrase for "I expected them to drop everything but I didn't explain why or what the problem is and for some reason I'm blaming them for no progress happening. I tried prodding my colleagues silently with literally no information whatsoever and now I'm all out of options. Please can management intervene, because telling my colleagues absolutely nothing about what needs to be done isn't working - for some reason they're not doing anything. I act like my urgent work problem is utterly meaningless content-free chit-chat and then get butthurt when people don't respond to it. Management needs to make sure all my colleagues always drop everything for me instantly on my say so without hesitation or any context because otherwise they're unhelpful. Please tell my colleagues that 'hi' from me means it's AN EMERGENCY WHICH MUST BE HANDLED IMMEDIATELY."

Pyro@programming.dev · 14 pts · 209d (5 replies)

You sound like an awful person to work with. I'm not gonna break my focus and check the chat every 5 minutes so that I can serve your majesty's questions.

Endymion_Mallorn@kbin.melroy.org · -3 pts · 209d (4 replies)

Anything that I care about enough for that is related to one of four things:

  1. Broken tech.

  2. Software or systems insufficient to the need, which stand in the way of either operations or profit (usually both).

  3. Directly involved with vendor or client ops, and needs to be fixed for operations to continue.

  4. Billing problems for clients or vendors which I cannot resolve on my own.

Everything else, I can send an email or ask in a channel, rather than a private IM.

davidagain@lemmy.world · 14 pts · 209d (1 reply)

How on earth are your colleagues supposed to know this from "hi"?! If there really is an urgent problem, actually say what it is. Why do you expect all your colleagues to deduce that 'hi' means "production is currently shut down, please help immediately"?

DON'T just say hi. Say what the problem is. Just saying 'hi' shows no respect whatsoever for your colleagues' time management.

lightnsfw@reddthat.com · 2 pts · 209d

No, don't you see? He's a very important bigshot and everyone must drop whatever they're doing to service him immediately.

Pyro@programming.dev · 9 pts · 209d (1 reply)

These are not simple questions but high severity issues that need to be dealt with in a short timeframe. Slack is not the right tool here, a dedicated process would work much better (like an incident system).

That being said, the point here is to include enough context in your initial message so that the other person can start thinking about it as soon as they see it, instead of having to wait for you to type it out.

AWistfulNihilist@lemmy.world · 5 pts · 209d

This company desperately needs a ticketing system. I can't imagine getting interrupted by some entitled asshole who doesn't realize i don't exist to serve only them.

To people like this, my existence begins and ends with their call, those kind of people get shit work done for them and everyone talks about them behind their back.

Mouselemming@sh.itjust.works · 8 pts · 209d

But what did you say in the first place? Did you state the problem? If not, "Slack" describes your brain.