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I ALWAYS say hello as the first thing in any chats that have some kind of importance.

Why? because the person may be presenting to 200 people and my message will be displayed. They may be with someone and they cannot communicate.

If this is a message of the kind "lunch at 12?" then fine, but anything remotely sensitive starts with hello, and I wait for that person to respond.

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You can just ask the person to let you know when they are available to talk to you. This way you are less prone to interrupt the person and also don't expose sensitive information.

It may be a cultural thing. This is a very usual thing to do in my company, and anything outside of chit-chat (or non-sensitive info) is handled this way.

It's fine to say Hello, as long as it's immediately followed by something consistent, preferably in the same message

No, the point is to say "hello" and nothing else.

And wait for the other person to reply, I then assume it is safe to chat.

This is obviously for more sensitive/professional settings but directly saying "we have had a 100M loss because of that M&A", even on a safe IM, is irresponsible because this is likely to pop up on their screen.

I don't get this at all. What happens if they reply to you - maybe hours later - when you are the one presenting?

They will say "hello" and wait for me :)

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