Hi There ! !

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No, this isn't a weak excuse to say hello to everyone on the WP Board.

There's something that I have a problem with at work and it's a little crazy, so bear with me. During the day the first time I meet someone at work I say hi, or good morning, or whatever. No problem. If I meet them again later on in the day what do I do? The options are many and varied:

1) Say nothing, don't even make eye contact. Just walk by them in the corridor and just confirm their judgment that I'm a bit odd.

2) Either smile or just make a slight nod of the head just to confirm that they're there.

3) Say hello again.

4) Something else.

All ideas welcome.

Vanilla_Slice

Cant say that this is really advice or that it will work for you but this is how i do: I usually just go for "Good morning" and "Goodbye". Any greeting inbetween that feels a bit unnecessary for me.

When i leave i tend to make everyone (present) aware of that i leave, i look back into the work area and say "bye" with a loud voice. If someone should pop in after the "good morning" i think it is their obligation to say "good morning".

I have learned that it is a good thing to be overly clear with management and clients/customers and take the initiative to a "hello", and put on a fake smile now and then to make them feel comfortable or "acknowledged that they are there" (like in your point 2).

Sometimes people i work with look like they have been through something tough, like they may have trouble with their familys or had a rough time in trafic which can be observed by watching their facial expression looking a bit stressed, then i ask them "Are you ok?" or "Anything you want to talk about?

And they may say "Nothing that you can help with" or "I rather not talk about it" and they become silent for a long while, this is when i exhale deeply on the inside knowing i dont have to talk to them for a while and i can concentrated on coding Then again, they may want to talk about it...

Anyway, learning social protocols and avoiding shallow conversation and is an artform... you have to learn it by trial and error.

Maby someone on this forum could sum up everything and write a book about it. (Please?)

If you already said hello to the person, you don't need to say hello again or make eye-contact. I hate making eye-contact with strangers.

Generally if I meet someone in the hall that I have already greeted earlier in the day, a smile with sometimes a double eyebrow raising maneuver is fine. Some people wink too. Head up as you pass, because a head down generally conveys the message "I am avoiding you" whether you meant that or not. You don't actually have to make eye contact, its usually sufficient just to acknowledge someone's presence. If they have a facial expression that looks a little tired or desperate, then a half smile, pushed together lips and slight head tilt does the trick (that says "tough day, almost over"). Sometimes people will say "how is it going" and I just do the ritual "not too bad, going okay for you?" speech back and I don't usually have to stop. If they pass then decide to stop to talk to me, I find I don't have to greet them back because the hello isn't a greeting, but a segue into conversation, and I just let them take the lead.