Why "Hi" is the Most Expensive Message in Remote Work

You are in New York. You need something from a developer in Bangalore. You send this Slack message at 9am EST:

"Hi, are you there?"

By the time you send it, it is 7:30pm in Bangalore. They are at dinner.

They see it the next morning (your night) and reply:

"Hey! Yes, what's up?"

You see that reply the next morning. You ask your question. You have just lost 24 hours to a greeting.

In a co-located office, "Hi" is polite. In a distributed team, "Hi" is a latency bug. It forces a synchronous handshake in an asynchronous world.

The Fix: The "No Hello" Rule

The rule is simple: Never say "Hi" without the context.

Don't wait for a handshake. State your business immediately.

Bad:

"Hi Sanjiv..." (Wait 5 hours for reply) "Can you check this PR?"

Good:

"Hi Sanjiv, when you get a chance, could you check PR #102? It's blocking the deployment. No rush, just need it by your EOD."

Why It Feels Rude (But Isn't)

We are conditioned to think that jumping straight to business is cold. But in a remote team, respecting someone's time is the highest form of politeness.

When you send the full context upfront, you give the recipient a gift: the ability to unblock you immediately, on their own schedule, without a back-and-forth tag game.

The "Check Context" Habit

Before you message someone, do a 5-second check. Where are they? Is it their night?

If you use Timezoners, you can instantly see if your colleague is in their "red zone" (sleeping/personal time).

If you see it's 10pm for them, you can preface your message:

"I know it's late for you, so please don't reply until tomorrow! But here is the context for the bug..."

This signals two things:

1. You are not expecting an immediate reply (reducing their anxiety).
2. You are organized enough to provide everything they need to work on it when they wake up.

The Payoff

Adopt the "No Hello" rule and watch your team's velocity increase. You aren't just saving typing time; you are saving entire days of "waiting for reply" latency.

Next time you open Slack, skip the "Hi." Send the work. Your team will thank you.