To say hello to colleagues in the morning

[Stickystitch]

If you work in an office, do you greet your colleagues who are sitting at the same desk area as you, and do they say hello to you when you arrive in the morning?

I've been in my job nearly a year. It's hybrid, most people do 1-2 days a week in the office and the vibe is very low energy. Recently I've stopped trying to say hi to people and now just ignore people in the kitchen - some days I can come in, sit down, and genuinely not speak a word to anyone all day. Aibu to think that's odd? I'm not looking to make BFFs at work at all, or hang out chatting all day. Like everyone else, I just want to get in, get my work done and leave. But I don't think it's unreasonable to think it would be nicer, and less awkward, for colleagues to acknowledge your existence? It's kind of soul sucking!

Also it's not personal. There's only one little office clique who really talk to each other, and they're not very friendly to outsiders.

But why don't you initiate it? At the moment, you are expecting them to speak first, why don't you speak first?

That’s weird, and your manager sounds like a right plonker. You are being the normal, polite person. Perhaps you need to find a normal, polite office!

Sounds horrible and very unusual! I've never worked somewhere where people don't greet each other in the morning and when leaving, and at least smile and say hello if crossing paths in the kitchen, at the bare minimum!

Do you have any method of raising it? I'd suggest at your one to one but if your boss is as bad as the others maybe not? There used to be a big focus on welfare and a yearly anonymous survey when I worked for the CS and a lot of places had staff councils etc - anything like that? Although in fairness there's only so much HR can do to mandate "don't be ignorant and offer basic courtesy to your colleagues and staff!"

Also 30 mins once a month is a bit shit for 121 time.

All that said, some PP are talking about not being greeted by people who may just be lost in concentration.

Yes, put it in the People Survey if your one is still open! Ours closes next week I think

Yes, we always say hello and chat for a few minutes. Can’t imagine not doing!

To me it sounds like a complete lack of social competence not to even say a short hello. I’m a nursery teacher and I think it’s very important to teach children to say hello, good morning and knowing what your friends names are. Basic but oh so important.

I also used to work in an office / call centre environment and would often be on an early shift when we would start at 7am. You could be one of a handful in and the CEO and owner wouldn't even acknowledge you even with a nod of the head. I would always say ‘ morning all’ as I came in and then say hello to my team as they arrived. I find it rude to not acknowledge people, I don’t want a full on conversation, far from it but radio silence is just rude.

I'd say Good Morning, than when I didn't get a response, say, "Good Morning Stickystitch" back to myself in a passive aggressive way 😁

WTF? This sounds intolerable. I talk to pretty much everyone at work. Not only is it [i]just simple courtesy and politeness[/i], it's also the way to find out what everyone is up to, cross-pollinate ideas, make connections, brighten the day...

You need a new job.

I am in an office of 4. We always say good morning when people arrive, and some form of leaving greeting. I’d also say good morning to anyone I passed on the way to my office.

I WFH 4/5 days, so the day I'm in the office I say hello to everyone! That's the point of being there!
It's a shared office of 6 but there's usually at least 2/3 of us, and people sometimes walk through to get to the kitchen, so everyone says hello.
I've only been there a month, so maybe I've disrupted the status quo, but everyone seems quite chatty!

Oh YANBU, I would hate that too.

There are quieter people where I work and I just do a very loud smiley 'GOOD MORNING', it's hard to resist.

Gosh this all sounds so tense.

Just start saying 'Good Morning Everyone'. And in the kitchen too, hello!
Maybe even 'I've left some biscuits to share' With a note - help yourselves.

Shift that vibe. I'm sure some others want to shift it too. If nothing changes then shift yourself out, life too short for that negative vibe all day.

Your manager should not be a manager, as it's about people and he has no people skills. . That's also weird.

That's really weird behaviour. I work in a serviced office building and although I'm as socially awkward as they come, I still muster a hello to people as you pass through the building. There is one woman who is here every day, must recognise most people (it's not a huge building) but still fails to even acknowledge your existence. It's honestly really bloody rude.

I can't imagine not saying hello to everyone in the morning. It's just polite to acknowledge people.

It has happened to me in the past, in which I was once in the office and no one spoke to me all day.
After that I decided to be more proactive, and ALWAYS spoke to people first thing, including the doorman, the recptionist, cleaners, and those already in the office, even if it was just a general 'Good Morning'.

How weird and unfriendly.

Gosh that sounds depressing to me.

I work in a pretty large company but in our corridor we are smaller offices so we're either in our own office or 2 people sharing.

If doors are open as I walk past in the morning to my office I always say hello if my colleagues aren't on the phone.

We also all tend to arrive a little before our start time so we'll chat for 10 minutes while making coffee. And we're in and out of each other's offices in the day and we go for lunch at the same time if not in meetings.

Part of the reason I don't miss WFH is the social aspect.

It sounds awful, have you been working there long? It sounds pretty depressing. I don’t think I could stay in an environment like that even if I really liked the job.

I would raise this in your 1~2~1 with your line manager.

How are he and other managers tackling the low morale in the office?
It may be a vicious circle that every one is stuck in but this is not behaviour that is conducive to a healthy working environnant.
Surely he and the management team must recognise this.

Do they respond if you say hallo, or do they ignore you? If they respond, I would suggest you carry on in the hope that it will catch on.

Sounds dreadful. Don't know how you manage to drag yourself into the office.
My DS works in an office (public sector) and whilst I don't know if they all say 'Good Morning' when they arrive every day they do take it in turns to buy cakes every now and then and go out to a cafe for lunch every Friday. They are a small core team with visiting specialists from other offices - who also join in.

Very odd, I work hybrid in the office 1 or 2 days a week, we are hot desking but usually in the same office space, with recent building work we have had people from other teams sharing our office and that's so nice getting to know new people and share information etc. Everyone says morning and have a little chat now and again. Your setup sounds really not very productive or welcoming at all.

I would likely zone in on the ones who do not seem to have low morale. Then greet those ones

All the best