How to Use Instant Messaging to Reduce Wait Times at No Cost

Have you ever encountered that person in chat who writes only “hello” and waits for your reply before continuing, leaving you wondering, “What do they want to tell me?”

Colleague: Hi!
Me (hours later): Hi!
Colleague: I wanted to ask… blah blah blah…

Here’s the immediate fix.

Set a status message that is clearly visible to anyone messaging you:
➡️ Please don’t say just hello in chat + a link to https://nohello.net/en/

Working in geographically distributed teams (a.k.a. remote work) is a paradigm shift. It requires different communication protocols, and we must manage even small adjustments like this one effectively.

Let’s educate people on how we want to be contacted: define our rules (our APIs) and explain them to others. If they are clear and effective, they’ll be adopted quickly.

Attaching an image of the magic that happens from the very next interaction.