Fed-up Aussie office workers spill their ‘unforgivable’ and petty workplace gripes – and the ONE message trend they can’t stand
Australian workers are revealing the small workplace habits that quietly drive them crazy – from pointless meeting reschedules to colleagues who refuse to get to the point.
But one simple message appears to cause the most frustration of all: ‘Hi’.
In modern offices where most communication happens through Teams, Slack, or email, many workers say the two-letter greeting has quietly become one of the most irritating habits of digital workplace culture.
The problem is not the greeting itself – it’s the pause that follows.
Instead of explaining what they want in the same message, the sender waits for a reply before continuing the conversation, turning what could have been a quick request into a slow back-and-forth exchange.
The topic came up after workers were asked to share the pettiest things they do at work that no one has called them out for yet on Reddit.
For many people, their response was simple: ignore the message entirely.
‘Leaving anybody who sends me a Teams message that just says “Hi” or “Hello” on read for at least a day and then replying “Hi”,’ one worker admitted.
Australian workers are revealing the small workplace habits that quietly drive them crazy
For workers juggling multiple tasks and constant notifications, that small delay can feel unnecessary.
Many say it forces them to stop what they are doing, respond to the greeting, and then wait again for the real question. In busy workplaces where dozens of messages arrive every hour, those extra steps quickly add up.
Others said they simply refuse to respond at all until the sender provides context.
‘I refuse to reply to anything with just “hi” from a stranger or someone outside my team,’ another wrote.
‘With no context, I assume this is nothing urgent and until they message again I’m not going to reply.’
They argued that messages are far easier to deal with if people simply include their question upfront.
‘If you give me all the information straight away for me to make a sound reply, I’m more likely to take the effort to reply sooner.’
Australians say the most considerate approach is simple: say hello, but include the question straight away.
In modern offices where most communication happens through Teams, Slack, or email, many workers say the greeting ‘Hi’ has quietly become one of the most irritating habits of digital workplace culture
Something like ‘Hi – do you have the latest file?’ or ‘Hi – quick question about the meeting later’ allows the recipient to read the message and respond when they have the information.
Another workplace message trend workers say they hate is the mysterious ‘call me’ request.
One commenter said those messages were an instant irritation.
‘Call me’ messages annoy me so much. I ignore them,’ they wrote.
They said many conversations could easily be resolved with a quick sentence over email instead of forcing someone into a phone call.
‘Give me some context. Some things can be resolved with a one-line email. But instead the caller has instigated a time-sucking tag team.’
Beyond messaging etiquette, workers also revealed the small acts of workplace pettiness they quietly carry out.
Some said they change the tone of their emails depending on how annoyed they are.
‘I withhold my ‘kind’ and sign off emails with ‘regards’,’ one person admitted.
Others keep meticulous records when colleagues repeatedly reschedule meetings.
‘I number each reschedule,’ one worker wrote.
‘When someone keeps rescheduling a meeting to derail me, I number each reschedule and attach the email where they requested it.’
Another said they had learned to stop chasing problems that weren’t technically their responsibility.
‘I used to follow up. Now I watch it burn. If it’s not a “me” thing, I just go with the flow and let fate decide how it turns out,’ she wrote.
Some of the habits revealed were less strategic and more mischievous.
One man admitted to quietly removing pieces from a communal break-room puzzle, while another said they remain permanently offline on Teams – despite actively working – to avoid unnecessary chatter.
‘I’m online and doing work. I just don’t get slammed with pointless banter and if people need me they have to call me like the old days,’ he explained.
Others confessed to tuning out workplace small talk altogether.
‘I never reply to small talk in email or Teams. If someone wants to know about my weekend, I just ignore it and answer the [work-related] question they ask,’ one person wrote.
While most of these behaviours are harmless, they highlight how modern office life – particularly in digital workplaces – is filled with tiny social rules that everyone seems to understand but rarely talks about.
From email sign-offs to Slack messages and meeting etiquette, the way colleagues communicate can easily become a source of quiet frustration.
And if the confessions are anything to go by, many workers have developed their own subtle ways of pushing back.
Just don’t start the conversation with ‘Hi’.
