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I'm also a remote worker and have been for many years. Everyone else on my team is in a different time zone than I am, many of them quite far apart. I get the

by biztos 8y ago

I'm also a remote worker and have been for many years. Everyone else on my team is in a different time zone than I am, many of them quite far apart. I get the "hello" message quite a bit on Slack, and I find it pretty reasonable, since the person hello-ing me is really asking "are you there? Because I expect you might not be, and I want your help with something." I think "hello" is a polite way to check for presence. If I reply (and the asker is still online) then it's a green light for the conversation. If I'm not online then fine. (I usually send messages like "Hi @coworker, can you please check the smoke alarm in the server room?" -- but the questions the coworkers have for me usually involve more Q&A than a one-liner would cover.)

alkonaut 8y ago
> I think "hello" is a polite way to check for presence. If I reply (and the asker is still online) then it's a green light for the conversation. It is. But typing a long question for say 5 minutes isn’t really “conversation” it’s just keeping someone waiting. That’s what the usual problem is. Not someone saying “hello” and then when greeted back they ask a 5 word question. In that situation it obviously makes no difference.
GordonS 8y ago
> I get the "hello" message quite a bit on Slack, and I find it pretty reasonable, since the person hello-ing me is really asking "are you there? I haven't used Slack for some time now, but I presume it's like every other I'm service in that it displays your current status, such as" Available", "Away" etc?
- gubbrora 8y ago
  Ime: available, away, busy - all mean "phone is on and person may or may not be available".
  - GordonS 8y ago
    I actually assume the status means what it says. Where I work we use Skype for Business, and it automatically changes to away if their is no interaction for some time or I lock my workstation. Skype also has Outlook integration, so automatically switches status to Busy if it knows I'm in a meeting. I presume other IM software does the same kind of thing.

by biztos 8y ago

alkonaut 8y ago

> I think "hello" is a polite way to check for presence. If I reply (and the asker is still online) then it's a green light for the conversation. It is. But typing a long question for say 5 minutes isn’t really “conversation” it’s just keeping someone waiting. That’s what the usual problem is. Not someone saying “hello” and then when greeted back they ask a 5 word question. In that situation it obviously makes no difference.

GordonS 8y ago

> I get the "hello" message quite a bit on Slack, and I find it pretty reasonable, since the person hello-ing me is really asking "are you there? I haven't used Slack for some time now, but I presume it's like every other I'm service in that it displays your current status, such as" Available", "Away" etc?

gubbrora 8y ago
Ime: available, away, busy - all mean "phone is on and person may or may not be available".
- GordonS 8y ago
  I actually assume the status means what it says. Where I work we use Skype for Business, and it automatically changes to away if their is no interaction for some time or I lock my workstation. Skype also has Outlook integration, so automatically switches status to Busy if it knows I'm in a meeting. I presume other IM software does the same kind of thing.