My clients started assuming I'm available weekends after using Slack.

It's like they forget I have a life outside work. I'm considering setting up an auto-reply, but worried it might seem unprofessional. How do you manage this?

4 comments

4 Comments

kimfisher1mo ago

Oh man, this hits way too close to home... My clients started doing the exact same thing once we moved to Slack, like my off hours just vanished. I tried the auto-reply thing for a while, but it felt kinda cold, so I ended up just setting clear expectations on Friday afternoons. It's still a struggle though, some people just don't get the hint... Maybe we need a better way to signal when we're actually off the clock.

viola_lopez301mo agoTop Commenter

My team started doing Friday wrap-up messages in our main channel. @kimfisher, that expectation setting really is key. We even started sharing weekend plans so it's clear we're logging off.

quinn_burns20d ago

Actually think the status thing can backfire sometimes. I mean, if you set it to offline with a custom message, it just tells people exactly when you're not there, which might make them wait to bug you right at your start time. Maybe it's better to just be totally offline without the note, so the line is blurrier. Idk, the weekend plans idea seems nicer because it's more about sharing your life than drawing a hard work line.

sean8541mo ago

Saw a blog post where a company tried setting Slack statuses to "offline" after hours with a custom message about response times. They even created a separate channel for real emergencies that only allowed messages from managers. But some clients still sent random questions at midnight, lol. The article said it got better when leadership started modeling the behavior by not sending weekend emails. Really makes you wonder if clear rules from the top would help more than just hoping people notice your status.