yours, tiramisu

⭐ please don't be spooky

A piece of advice I wish I could give my manager is don't be spooky.

My manager regularly messages me things like Hey, can you talk? or Got a minute now? Occasionally there's enough context for it not to be scary, like when we're discussing something and it's easier to just hop on a call and discuss. But often these come with no prior context, which can be very nerve-wracking, even for someone not prone to anxiety like me. Messages like these scare me and always put me on edge at the beginning of a meeting. Of course, it's usually nothing bad, but messages like this create a lot of unnecessary stress and anxiety that could easily be avoided with a quick sentence or two about context.

Repeated pings fall under the same category. If I'm available, I would have replied to you already. It's not reasonable to expect coworkers to be at their computer for every minute from 8AM to 5PM. It's normal (even beneficial) to take breaks or do things around the house. Please don't message me multiple times in quick succession if I don't respond to you immediately. Everybody has their own life.

A corollary to this piece of advice I wish I could give to some other coworkers is don't just say hello in chat. Look, I'm all for sounding polite and nice too. But you don't have to send a naked "hello" on its own while you draft your request and make me wonder what's going on in the meantime. Respect other people's time by drafting your whole message (niceties and all) and sending it all in one go.

#advice #english #work