Leaving me hanging

There's something that irritates me during my workday. When people IM me with cryptic messages.

"There's a problem"

"I need help"

People. People! When you write this stuff I'm waiting for YOU to type in the issue so I can respond accordingly. Why must you wait for me to type back?

"What's wrong?"

If it's a lenghty issue then EMAIL me with all the details. If it's hard to describe then put a print screen in so I can "see" what you're talking about.

It's just so frustrating!

Even more frustrating is when people don't think through a situation before they contact me.

Here's an IM with a subordinate of mine.

The dates on the reports were JUL31-AUG27

data is correct

but problem with dates

shall i continue or wait for ur answer

HUH? First of all, this guy compiles a weekly report, which is always for Monday to Sunday. So how could the data be correct if the dates are totally wrong? And what is he talking about continuing to compile the data? He can't do that if the date range is wrong.

Uh-hummm....obviously wrong.

We can't update these reports ourselves. We grab these reports off a client site. The client is responsible for changing the dates. So, of course, I need to contact the client and request an update to the date range. Right?

S-P-E-L-L it out people! I get so aggrevated when workplace contacts don't provide enough information. ARGH!

Now are you one of those people who sned out little blurbs with no real info to co-workers?