Polite, efficient communication
Don’t just say “hello” or “you there?”
After your greeting, include your full question and context right away. This helps everyone get to the point faster and avoids back-and-forth.
Don’t send
- “Hello”
- “You there?” / “Got a minute?”
- “11111”
- Just a “?” or an emoji
These messages force others to wait for your follow-up, creating delays.
Do send
- Example Hi! While deploying project X I get this error:
Error: Z. I tried A/B (clearing cache, reinstalling deps) but it didn’t help. Any ideas what to check next? - Example Good afternoon! I need to reduce API latency from 800ms to 200ms. The bottleneck is DB queries; indexes didn’t help much. Any optimization tips?
Why?
- Eliminates “you there?” confirmation ping-pong and speeds up replies.
- Critical for async channels; others can start helping even if you’re offline.
- Good context invites more people to jump in and provide accurate help.
The rule of thumb
Greet, then immediately share your question, context, expected result, things you’ve tried, and any relevant screenshots/logs.