I saw a LinkedIn post from a manager saying he ignores messages such as:

• I have a doctor’s appointment
• I’m picking up the kids
• I’m taking the dog for a walk

Their argument was that adults should not need permission and that managers should care about results rather than time. I think the principle is reasonable but the behaviour is not.

People are not always asking permission. Sometimes they are simply letting colleagues know they will be unavailable. In most workplaces, this matters because work is interdependent.

A brief acknowledgement is not micromanagement but basic human communication and acknowledgment.

There is also a difference between trusting people to manage their lives and signalling that you do not care about what is happening in their lives. Silence might be read as trust, but it can also be read as disapproval, irritation or indifference.

And “we track output, not time” is too simple. Output is often shared, delayed or difficult to isolate. Quality, judgement, collaboration and sustainable workload matter too.

A better rule is:

You do not need permission to manage ordinary life commitments. Let people know when your availability affects others, and acknowledge that without turning it into a bureaucratic event.

That is autonomy with coordination, not managerial indifference.