She Doesn’t Even Say “Good Morning”

An employee complained: “Every morning, when my boss comes into the office, she walks past my cube and doesn’t even greet me. I’m always the one that has to go into her office to initiate any conversation.” This is a common perception problem in the workplace. Culturally, it is natural for us to greet in the morning when arriving and in the afternoon when leaving. We even have the saying “He doesn’t even say good morning!” to refer to someone who ignores us.

The reality is that the employee is taking this too personally. There might be a number of reasons why your boss or manager doesn’t say hello. It’s not necessarily because they have bad manners or that they are trying to ignore you. In general, it is more likely that they’re trying to be polite and not disrupt you while you work. Or better yet, they are focused on their day and a never-ending list of tasks to complete.

This, however, should never stop you from trying to connect with your boss or manager. A simple hello on your part will always initiate a response. If you find you absolutely need a greeting of some sort, you might consider why that is. Do you feel your achievements or efforts are going unnoticed? There are more direct routes to getting the acknowledgement you need like setting up a regular informal review or asking to schedule a check-in coffee run.

Don’t sit back and complain. Create the environment that will help you succeed. That, ultimately, always depends on you.