Is It Fine To Greet Your Boss With A ‘Hey’ On WhatsApp?

New Delhi: Is it fine to greet your boss with a “hey” on WhatsApp messenger?

Well, Reddit user Shreyas did — and was pulled up by his boss.

Shreyas recently shared a screenshot of his WhatsApp conversation with his boss, which has gone viral.

The conversation went like this:

Asked by his boss whether he had submitted a test, Shreyas replied, “Hey, no. Not yet.”

“Please don’t use the word ‘hey’. It’s offensive for me. If you can’t remember my name, simply use ‘Hi’,” the boss replied.

The boss then asked Shreyas not to use several other words in a professional conversation — among them “dude, man, chap and chick”. Even “hello”, which he thought was unprofessional unless a large group is being addressed.

“Well, considering that we are having a conversation over WhatsApp and not over LinkedIn or a mail chain. I’m just being casual as you are texting me on my personal number. And coming to being professional I’m not the one being offended,” Shreyas replied.

The boss said that WhatsApp is “not personal space anymore”.

“I am not insisting my ideology on you. If you understand it, fine; or you will understand it sooner or later.”

Netizens are split.

“Seriously. ‘Hey’ especially with a colleague/team member with whom you’ve had ongoing conversations with is more than acceptable, almost preferable, to keep the convo as open as possible,” one user wrote.

“I’d be calling him ‘chap’ in literally every communication,” said another.

“I like how ‘hey’ is unprofessional but emojis are fine,” wrote another.