Active? Away? How about neither - Jason Fried:
Everyone’s status should be implicit: I’m trying to do my job, please respect my time and attention.
For me it is very simple:
- I will turn off my availability and status on instant messaging apps.
- We should choose asynchronous communication over synchronous communication whenever possible.
- If you want to know when I’m available, ask nicely.
- If you don’t trust my ability to design my own work schedule, why bother hiring me at all? We better not working together.
In general, if you treat someone like a 13 years old, she will behave like a 13 years old; if you treat a 13 years old like an adult, she will try her best to behave like an adult.