I've pressed people who chat this way with me to change, and usually it seems people get it once they get shown how unproductive this kind of conversation is.
Just ask me your question. Feel free to start with pleasantries if that's your style, but get to your point or the ask on the first message.
It's purely a cultural thing, people from some cultures find it rude to get to the point, so they need to have this "hi, how are you" -preamble every time, even if the other person is on a completely different timezone, which makes every chat take 2 days.
I'm a big proponent of the whole "just start with your question" thing but anytime someone replies to a "hello" with just a link to that page, they immediately come across as a jerk.
I like to put this as my slack status for a while when I join a new job. It tells my coworkers I mean business, and sets healthy communication patterns right out of the gate.
Interesting. I write messages in Teams about the same way I write emails. Some people prefer splitting each sentence in a separate message, some keep the whole body as one.
Email just nudges to send whole body at once because it usually doesn't have a synchronous chat UI.
Also, even if responses are just 20 second after each, there is this constant context switching, which takes more time and attention that if we took literally any other method (in person, email or call).
IMO, this is because every email is a named, searchable thread. Sure Slack, MS Teams, Discord, etc... have threads but they sort of get washed away in the stream of messages imho.
I dunno, there's something about email that makes a lot of people write more thoughtful and comprehensive messages. Not everyone, obviously. But it feels more like writing a letter - you're not expecting a reply within minutes.
You're right but thats because of the social rules around email. With instant messaging people are very used to casually using it in their day to day life so you're fighting against that. But I still think its worth doing
For some reason, IM encourages people to send superficial quickfire messages, which is very inefficient if one party is busy.
The classic example is
Colleague: "Hi".
One hour passes
You: "Hey - what's up, can I help you with something?"
10 minutes pass
Colleague: "Yeah I was wondering if I could ask you about Foo"
One hour passes
You: "Sure, what do you need to know?"
Next day
Colleague: "I'm trying to export but it's not working."
One hour passes
You: "Okay... Is it giving you any error messages? Please give me as much info as you can in one go!"
etc...
I've pressed people who chat this way with me to change, and usually it seems people get it once they get shown how unproductive this kind of conversation is.
Just ask me your question. Feel free to start with pleasantries if that's your style, but get to your point or the ask on the first message.
https://nohello.net/en/
I never answer hellos. That tends to teach people.
This is why you reply with this: https://nohello.net/en/
It's purely a cultural thing, people from some cultures find it rude to get to the point, so they need to have this "hi, how are you" -preamble every time, even if the other person is on a completely different timezone, which makes every chat take 2 days.
I'm a big proponent of the whole "just start with your question" thing but anytime someone replies to a "hello" with just a link to that page, they immediately come across as a jerk.
Or I'm setting boundaries.
Getting a "hello" from your superior with nothing else is akin to "come to my office first thing tomorrow morning" without extra context.
That day is ruined as well as the next one unless the manager is 5000% explicit that it's a good thing.
If your way of setting boundaries is to reply to a message with a URL, I consider you a jerk.
It's got nothing to do with your boundaries.
I like to put this as my slack status for a while when I join a new job. It tells my coworkers I mean business, and sets healthy communication patterns right out of the gate.
Interesting. I write messages in Teams about the same way I write emails. Some people prefer splitting each sentence in a separate message, some keep the whole body as one.
Email just nudges to send whole body at once because it usually doesn't have a synchronous chat UI.
This.
Also, even if responses are just 20 second after each, there is this constant context switching, which takes more time and attention that if we took literally any other method (in person, email or call).
There is the opposite too, which is just as bad. The stream of consciousness messaging.
‘Hi’ ‘I’m’ ‘Trying to get the’ ‘File’ ‘But’ ‘I’ ‘Need’
Etc etc and it’s 20 messages before you have any idea what’s going on. The deluge of notifications is distraction.
IMO, this is because every email is a named, searchable thread. Sure Slack, MS Teams, Discord, etc... have threads but they sort of get washed away in the stream of messages imho.
This type of communication style would be a problem on any communication medium. The problem needs to be fixed at the user level.
I dunno, there's something about email that makes a lot of people write more thoughtful and comprehensive messages. Not everyone, obviously. But it feels more like writing a letter - you're not expecting a reply within minutes.
You're right but thats because of the social rules around email. With instant messaging people are very used to casually using it in their day to day life so you're fighting against that. But I still think its worth doing