This is fair, though the reason we do it is to make sure the other person is okay enough to answer the question or talk about the thing first and if not we would want to help them out or take that into consideration.

Just asking the question feels rude or dismissive if they aren't doing well.

[–] schizo@forum.uncomfortable.business 27 points 3 months ago (1 children)

...so do both?

"Hi, coworker! How's your day? Anyway bossman is on me about the TPS reports, are those going to be done today?"

See? You were polite, checked in on them, AND got to the point all at once!

[–] SweetCitrusBuzz@beehaw.org 3 points 3 months ago

I'll think about it. Thank you so much for the suggestion though!

[–] syklemil@discuss.tchncs.de 1 points 3 months ago (1 children)

This varies a lot by culture, though. If you ask a North American how they are, you've basically said "hi". If you ask a Norwegian the same, you've asked a personal, private question. You might get an answer if you already know them privately; we might think you're prying into something that's neither your nor the workplace's business if you don't. Keeping professional is polite, prying is rude.

[–] SweetCitrusBuzz@beehaw.org 1 points 3 months ago

Sure, context and culture matter. Thanks for pointing this out!