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This was very common when working with teams from India. I see this merely as a cultural difference, a courtesy. You don't start talking until pleasantries have

by dt3ft 5y ago

This was very common when working with teams from India. I see this merely as a cultural difference, a courtesy. You don't start talking until pleasantries have been exchanged. But I may be wrong, feel free to chime in.

andrew_ 5y ago
Same experience. I always reply with Mr. Burns Ahoy Hoy https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q8UUrL0C4so https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q8UUrL0C4so.
novok 5y ago
People do it in the USA too, they're more likely to have learned not to although.
santa_boy 5y ago
I am from India and this was reasonably true for my vintage 80s (-1) :-) (BPO wave) The next question was whatsup? how is it going? how was your weekend? Our reaction was that the recipient (typically an overpaid US guy) actually wanted an answer. It took me a couple of years that they didn't really give a damn. It was actually a hallmark to ignore and move on to the objective topic. (It somewhat impressed those guys!)
dakial1 5y ago
That is what I was going to comment. This might be ok in the US where people are more "transactional" at work and go directly to the point. In other countries the "social dance" is sometimes expected and by going directly to the point you will start getting a bad rep (as a rude/cold person). So you need to have some personal interactions ("How's your son?" "Did you have nice vacations", etc...) before asking the "serious stuff". Of course, you can keep things faster by putting the social dance right at the first message "Hello, how are you? Great game by your team last night congrats!", but it is still expected to lose some time on that... Another great example is the "Thank you" email after someone does something for you. I know many countries where this is frown upon (because is an unnecessary email), but there are many where the inverse is true, people expect you to acknowledge gratitude (with the risk of being known as a rude/cold person if not). To sum it up, be aware of the culture you're working with
- WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
  Okay then, why won’t it ever work the other way around?
  - robofanatic 5y ago
    Same thing goes with the spoken language in US. It is way confusing to foreigners. Just like the silent letters in the words. There are many instances when Americans ask questions but don’t expect a real answer, for example “what’s up” “how’s it going?” “How you doing”
    - WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
      I’ll try to answer “how’s it going” with “elephants are marching north” next time, since this answer is as good as any.
IE6 5y ago
anecdotally I have noticed this too - when I work with a new team I always say just to ask :)
GoblinSlayer 5y ago
How do they write emails? Or even paper mails for that matter.
voussoir 5y ago
In that case, the asker can still prepare their question text and be ready to copy/paste after exchanging hellos. The author reiterates several times that waiting for the other person to type is the pain point here.

by dt3ft 5y ago

andrew_ 5y ago

Same experience. I always reply with Mr. Burns Ahoy Hoy https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q8UUrL0C4so https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=q8UUrL0C4so.

novok 5y ago

People do it in the USA too, they're more likely to have learned not to although.

santa_boy 5y ago

I am from India and this was reasonably true for my vintage 80s (-1) :-) (BPO wave) The next question was whatsup? how is it going? how was your weekend? Our reaction was that the recipient (typically an overpaid US guy) actually wanted an answer. It took me a couple of years that they didn't really give a damn. It was actually a hallmark to ignore and move on to the objective topic. (It somewhat impressed those guys!)

dakial1 5y ago

That is what I was going to comment. This might be ok in the US where people are more "transactional" at work and go directly to the point. In other countries the "social dance" is sometimes expected and by going directly to the point you will start getting a bad rep (as a rude/cold person). So you need to have some personal interactions ("How's your son?" "Did you have nice vacations", etc...) before asking the "serious stuff". Of course, you can keep things faster by putting the social dance right at the first message "Hello, how are you? Great game by your team last night congrats!", but it is still expected to lose some time on that... Another great example is the "Thank you" email after someone does something for you. I know many countries where this is frown upon (because is an unnecessary email), but there are many where the inverse is true, people expect you to acknowledge gratitude (with the risk of being known as a rude/cold person if not). To sum it up, be aware of the culture you're working with

WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
Okay then, why won’t it ever work the other way around?
- robofanatic 5y ago
  Same thing goes with the spoken language in US. It is way confusing to foreigners. Just like the silent letters in the words. There are many instances when Americans ask questions but don’t expect a real answer, for example “what’s up” “how’s it going?” “How you doing”
  - WesolyKubeczek 5y ago
    I’ll try to answer “how’s it going” with “elephants are marching north” next time, since this answer is as good as any.

IE6 5y ago

anecdotally I have noticed this too - when I work with a new team I always say just to ask :)

GoblinSlayer 5y ago

How do they write emails? Or even paper mails for that matter.

voussoir 5y ago

In that case, the asker can still prepare their question text and be ready to copy/paste after exchanging hellos. The author reiterates several times that waiting for the other person to type is the pain point here.