Chandigarh, July 3rd
As a professional, you have to follow a set of workplace manners and ethics.
The rigid, strict rules and decorum have become a thing of the past as the new age companies, with the preeminence of technology, have undergone a complete revolution, especially in the way they function or communicate best.
However, for some bosses, being professional than texting has different connotations.
In one such incident, a senior berated a subordinate for calling him “hey.”
A professional named Shreyas was trained by his colleague Sandeep on how to use the word “hey” in their WhatsApp chat.
The now viral conversation was shared on Reddit’s Antiwork forum by an anonymous user asking, “How are you responding to this? And how come ‘hey’ isn’t professional?”
In the screenshot, when asked by Sandeep if he had submitted a test, Shreyas replies with a “Hey! No not yet.”
This greeting doesn’t go down well with Sandeep, who tries to teach Shreyas how to take offense at speaking.
“Hello Shreyas, my name is Sandeep. Please don’t use the word ‘hey’. It’s insulting to me.” He adds, “If you don’t remember my name, just use ‘Hello’.”
He goes on to educate Shreyas on what other words to avoid professionally.
These include “dude”, “man”, just “Hello” and “Hello there”. Terms like “chap” and “chick” should be avoided in emails, he said, ending his advice with a short “thank you.”
The minor inconvenience caused Sandeep Shreyas to feel distant.
Shreyas does not hesitate to put forward his views and indicates that he did not agree with Sandeep.
“Well, since we’re having a conversation over WhatsApp and not LinkedIn or any email chain,” he replied. “I’m just being nonchalant because you’re texting me on my personal number. And when I get professional, I’m not the one who gets offended.” He wrote.
The boss finally replies by saying, “Whatsapp is no longer a personal space, it has been used for business.” However, he clarified that he was not imposing his ideology on him. “If you understand, fine; or sooner or later you will understand.”
The post has garnered more than 30,000 upvotes and thousands of comments from baffled Redditors challenging Sandeep’s “outdated” business standards.
The lesson to learn from such a bad conversation is to seek clarity ahead of time as you join a company about how superiors would like to be addressed.