No Hello; Only If It’s Important

No ‘hello’ without context — unless it’s important.

This page encourages crisp, actionable messages. Say what you need in the first line. If it’s urgent or sensitive, lead with that — and it’s okay to just say hello.

See examples

TL;DR

Start with the request. Add key details (links, IDs, screenshots). If it’s truly important or time‑sensitive, say that first and a quick hello is perfectly welcome.

Bad

“hello”

Better

“Hey! Could you review PR #427? Waiting on deploy.”

Great (Important)

“URGENT: Checkout is down (500s). Rollback safe? Link to logs.”

Why this exists

Saying only “hello” creates needless waiting. Clear first lines reduce back‑and‑forth, unblock teammates, and respect focus time.

  • Faster responses with complete context
  • Less notification fatigue
  • Better async collaboration across timezones

The rule, in one line

No ‘hello’ without context — unless it’s important. Lead with your request, and if it’s urgent or sensitive, say so first.

How to start your message

Everyday requests

  • “Could you review PR #123 by EOD? link”
  • “What’s the API rate limit for /users? I saw 429s.”
  • “Please approve expense #991 — attached receipt.”

Important / urgent

  • “URGENT: Prod deploy failed at step 4. Can we hotfix? build logs”
  • “Heads‑up: Legal request due today. Approver OOO — who’s backup?”
  • “Sensitive: Incident involves customer data. Let’s move to a private channel.”

Examples

Don’t do this

  • “hello”
  • “you there?”
  • “hi, quick question”

Do this instead

  • “Can you approve invoice 5521? Needs finance tag.”
  • “What time is the release? I’m updating status page.”
  • “Please check Grafana panel for elevated latency.”

If it’s important

  • “URGENT: Checkout failing in EU region. Rolling back now unless you object.”
  • “Sensitive: HR topic — can we chat 1:1?”

Reasonable exceptions

Context‑first is the default. It’s fine to lead with a greeting when any of these apply:

  • Time‑sensitive or production‑impacting issues
  • Topics involving privacy, HR, or sensitive data
  • First contact with a new person or external partner
  • Social channels where chit‑chat is expected
  • Live meetings or huddles (sync context)
  • When your team norm explicitly differs

Make it yours

Drop this one‑liner in your status page, Slack topic, or onboarding docs. Edit the urgent keywords to match your team.

Shareable one‑liner

No ‘hello’ without context — unless it’s important. Start with the request. If it’s URGENT, SENSITIVE, or PROD-impacting, say so first.