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Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

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Re: Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

#111

Post by geoffjentry »

Melatonic wrote: post #22
ninkendo wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have to prioritize their time. If they get messages from someone, they have to weigh responding to it against all of the other things they may be doing with their time (other messages, that ticket you’re working on, etc etc.) By just saying “Hey”, you’re leaving a message of unknown priority . You’re giving the other party zero information as to what you might want. If you say that to me, you’re saying “I need…

I dont think it is a problem with saying "hey" but when you say "hey" by itself. All the time I will say something like "hey" and then a followup message with a short question or asking how they are doing, etc etc. But for sure it is annoying when someone sends me a message that says "Hi" and then says nothing else until I respond

Right. The complaint isn't people including a greeting ("hey", "hi", "hello"). It's only giving the greeting.

"Hi - remind me what time we're meeting" is fine. "Hi" is not :)

Re: Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

#113

Post by accrual »

commandlinefan wrote: post #4

> Never send a direct message that just says “hey” or “hello.” I first started hearing people suggest this recently (within the past month or so). I never really understood why these message bothered people so much - they never bothered me and always actually seemed a bit more polite than just barreling forward with a question. But I guess if even Slack themselves are saying don't do that, it must really get on other…

My favorite is when I get not just "hey" but "hey, how's it going?". It's one more step further removed from whatever the actual question is.

Re: Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

#114

Post by fleddr »

chousuke wrote: post #104
fleddr wrote: post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Your assumption may be wrong though. Especially if you work internationally, the greeting ritual may be a form of civil courtesy. I do hate it though. Just ask the damn question, don't wait for me to say "hey" back.

I wish we could just get rid of that particular form of "courtesy". I can't help but be annoyed or distracted by naked hellos, regardless of the intent behind them, so to me, they are rude. I understand that they might be some sort of social ritual, but I can't for the life of me understand how it's in any way courteous to ask for someone's attention with an expectation of a synchronous reply before revealing anythin…

It's a misuse of tools indeed. It's something to do on the phone, not in a (supposedly) asynchronous communication tool. But hey, some people even use email synchronously.

I tried to punish the naked hello senders, by simply not responding at all. If you can't be bothered to tell me why you need me, I can't be bothered to respond.

Unfortunately, empathy broke it. I work with a lot of remote workers in India. They make long hours and I know they need something from me, I just don't know what. By intentionally not responding, I feel bad about effectively sabotaging progress.

Re: Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

#115

Post by [deleted] »

swilliamsio wrote: post #84
LesZedCB wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if it was good enough to get the idea across in order to be corrected, it succeeded. grammar is fake. language is made up, didn't you know? pithy response aside, i work with a lot of ESL international folks, caring about grammar comes _way_ after being gracious in communication. edit: also, period goes inside quote, even with ellipses. https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/ellipses . secondly, the extra comma before "as wel…

> also, period goes inside quote According to Wikipedia, it very much depends: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#Punc...

[deleted]

Re: Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

#116

Post by [deleted] »

swilliamsio wrote: post #84
LesZedCB wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if it was good enough to get the idea across in order to be corrected, it succeeded. grammar is fake. language is made up, didn't you know? pithy response aside, i work with a lot of ESL international folks, caring about grammar comes _way_ after being gracious in communication. edit: also, period goes inside quote, even with ellipses. https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/ellipses . secondly, the extra comma before "as wel…

> also, period goes inside quote According to Wikipedia, it very much depends: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Manual_of_Style#Punc...

[deleted]

Re: Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

#117

Post by [deleted] »

triyambakam wrote: post #72
LesZedCB wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

if it was good enough to get the idea across in order to be corrected, it succeeded. grammar is fake. language is made up, didn't you know? pithy response aside, i work with a lot of ESL international folks, caring about grammar comes _way_ after being gracious in communication. edit: also, period goes inside quote, even with ellipses. https://writingcenter.uagc.edu/ellipses . secondly, the extra comma before "as wel…

> also, period goes inside quote Not in the UK

[deleted]

Re: Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

#118

Post by Tagbert »

commandlinefan wrote: post #4

> Never send a direct message that just says “hey” or “hello.” I first started hearing people suggest this recently (within the past month or so). I never really understood why these message bothered people so much - they never bothered me and always actually seemed a bit more polite than just barreling forward with a question. But I guess if even Slack themselves are saying don't do that, it must really get on other…

It is particularly problematic when the other person in a significantly different timezone to the point that you have no synchronous overlap. I work with coworkers in India and we are 12.5/11.5 hours apart.

When they send me a ‘hello’ message and nothing else, that immediately becomes a much slower interaction. I won’t be able to see and react until the next day. They won’t be able clarify the nature of their inquiry until the following day. I need to remember to come back to see what they wanted on the third day. That is slow motion torture and very inefficient communication.

Just send “Hi, could you you give the the location of the xyz document?” Or “Hello, I was working on ticket 101 and did not understand the second paragraph of the requirement, could you expand on that so I know what needs to be done, please?”. that is something that I can help with and give a much faster turn around on.

Re: Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

#119

Post by Tagbert »

barrucadu wrote: post #82
jawns wrote: post #2

Most important Slack etiquette ... Don't @channel large channels after hours!

While @channel is generally rude (unless it's something really urgent, and even then that's better solved by having one person specifically be interruptible for urgent questions), it's even better to just not check Slack after hours.

When is “after hours”? I check and respond during my work hours. It is likely to be “after hours” for some members of the team. I am sending this now so that they will see it when they come online. I do not expect them to respond 24/7 and will often mention that I’m looking for an answer “by tomorrow” to set expectations. And no, I don’t use @channel, though once in a while I will use @here if the priority is high.

Re: Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack

#120

Post by Tagbert »

tallanvor wrote: post #75
kome wrote: post #58

Collaborate with kindness: Etiquette tips in Slack: use email. - "1. Never send a direct message that just says “hey” or “hello.", write longer messages -> use email. - "2. "Write longer messages that scan quickly" -> don't use a chat app for your messages, use email. - "3. Use threads for effective team collaboration. Seriously." -> use a mailing list. - "4. Replace short follow-up messages with emoji reactions" ->…

I hate emoji reactions. I understand that not everybody will view them the same way, but to me they're phony - if I've helped you, say thanks - don't send a thumbs up emoji. And recognize that in large group settings, maybe a response isn't necessary - I'm sure a lot of people get annoyed by the flood of "thanks!" "good bye" and such messages that get sent at the end of large meetings.

A large number of “thanks” or “agree” messages just add noise and get mixed in with other messages. The emoji reactions are concise and targeted. At minimum they acknowledge receipt of the message.

I do a lot of work with people who are not working at the same time I am so keeping communications clear and contained is helpful.

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