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I think "no hello" evangelists should emphasize that you can say hello if you want, as long as you follow up with your actual question/request in the same message. The point isn't that the "hello" itself is a critical waste of some human resource, but rather that interrupting somebody with "hello" and then making them wait for something actionable is disruptive and frustrating.

This may seem obvious to many, but I don't think it's universally understood.



Saying hello and then your inquiry is what every example in the website says is the right thing to do. Who is saying you shouldn't say hello at all?


The marketing of "no hello" (nohello.net) is contrary to what those examples say. So maybe there is a better way to market it instead of "no hello". Like maybe "just ask the question", or "start with a query", or "Don't just hello".


I feel like this almost falls under dont ask to ask https://dontasktoask.com/ which is a clearer ask.


I think the tone being kind of sassy and put apon over a small inconvenience shifts the focus from the more constructive parts of the message and in that sense I agree with the person you are responding to - the etiquette evangelists might be more effective if they did less spleen venting.


My boss always sends a hello first, usually 1 to 5 minutes before I get the thing I'm actually supposed to respond to. If she just sent the whole thing at once, I could determine if it's something I need to break focus for immediately, or get to in a few minutes.


But the article does do that: https://imgur.com/a/Ar5gsKi. Did you feel like it doesn't?


My comment's other grandchildren sum up my thinking fairly well, in particular the one pointing out that the URL of the site is literally "no hello".


I found that a particularly weak argument, and find myself firmly agreeing with the website.

What did you want the url to be? "dontjustsayhellofollowupwithyourquestioninthesameline.com"?


You are welcome to think what you want. The opinion I've expressed here is based on my lived experience with the "no hello" concept as promulgated within a real life workplace---likely before this article was written, but I don't feel the article is a significant improvement on the other communication approaches I've seen. People are very imperfect readers and there is a reason the concept of 'burying the lede' exists.


Yes this is covered in the (very short) linked article.


I usually respond to the "Hello" or the even less polite content free @name with a waving emoji.




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