Hey Hanging Is the Rudest Workplace Behavior

B2 – Upper Intermediate

Digital workplaces such as Google Workplace or Slack have become even more sought-after workplaces since the pandemic due to their digital workstyle nature.

Chat messages are often hard to decipher because you don’t know the tone of the sender. Reading a chat without context may cause you to overthink or be anxious. Subtle nuances in the digital workplace can have a significant influence on the overall atmosphere and dynamics. One such nuanced behavior is “Hey hanging”.

Read this article to learn about how “Hey hanging” induces anxiety in the workplace.

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/hey-hanging-work-chat_l_64c9387ae4b0fd06594dd491

Vocabulary Questions:

  1. Define “right off the bat”. “To avoid any awkward pauses, it’s better just to explain what you need right off the bat.” Use this phrase in a sentence.
  2. What does “out of the blue” mean? “If you’ve never chatted with the person before, a “hey” out of the blue can leave you second-guessing yourself, too.” Make a sentence with this phrase.
  3. What does “tailspin” mean? “When a colleague replies to a paragraph-long question with a one-letter “k” on Slack, it can send us into an anxious tailspin, worried the sender is mad at us.” Use this word in a sentence.

Discussion Questions:

  1. What are your thoughts on “Hey hanging”?
  2. What impact does a “hey” message without a follow-up or with a pause have on individuals, particularly when it comes from a manager?
  3. Have you personally experienced a situation where a sudden “hey” message in a digital workspace led to misinterpretation or heightened anxiety? How did you handle it?
  4. Can you provide alternative greetings or messages for a positive digital tone and reduced anxiety?
  5. How do clarity and context ease concerns with short messages like “hey” in digital work settings?
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2 replies on “Hey Hanging Is the Rudest Workplace Behavior”

Vocabulary Questions:
1. Define “right off the bat”. “To avoid any awkward pauses, it’s better just to explain what you need right off the bat.” Use this phrase in a sentence.
“Right off the bat” means to be straightforward, to be direct, to go to the point, don’t looking around…
She doesn’t like to lose time, this is why always try to introduce the problems right off the bat.

2. What does “out of the blue” mean? “If you’ve never chatted with the person before, a “hey” out of the blue can leave you second-guessing yourself, too.”. Make a sentence with this phrase.
“Out of the blue” means something that happen suddenly, a kind of surprise, something not knowing beforehand.
The car appears out of the blue and almost crash against our vehicle.

3. What does “tailspin” mean? “When a colleague replies to a paragraph-long question with a one-letter “k” on Slack, it can send us into an anxious tailspin, worried the sender is mad at us.” Use this word in a sentence.
Tailspin means to fall, plunge, crash, but in the context of the article I thinks is more to overthinking.
The scarcity of the product put the shares of the Company in a tailspin situation.

Discussion Questions:
1. What are your thoughts on “Hey hanging”?
I’ve never experienced such a problem in all my work life experience. Of course, I felt anxious when someone call me to a meeting out of the blue, even more if the chairman is a big-wig.
2. What impact does a “hey” message without a follow-up or with a pause have on individuals, particularly when it comes from a manager?
Some kind of anxiety, but I think that in these cases it is better to answer kindly with a Hey, do you need some information?, please, tell me.
3. Have you personally experienced a situation where a sudden “hey” message in a digital workspace led to misinterpretation or heightened anxiety? How did you handle it?
Nothing related with a Hey or OK message (see previous answer)
4. Can you provide alternative greetings or messages for a positive digital tone and reduced anxiety?
Yes, I think to reduce this kind of problem the best way is to point this out and publish some Company rules to reduce this rude practice.

5. How do clarity and context ease concerns with short messages like “hey” in digital work settings?
In a face to face situation is impossible to have such kind of problems, because you have the context and the person that can clarify any kind of seconds-guessing.

Great work expressing your thoughts on this topic. Thank you for sharing them here.

Here is one sentence that you can still revise to improve a bit:

* note the proper punctuations

In a face to face situation is impossible to have such kind of problems, because you have the context and the person that can clarify any kind of seconds-guessing.

In a face-to-face situation, it is impossible to have such kind of problems, because you have the context and the person that can clarify any kind of confusions right in front of you.

Happy writing!

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