A few days ago someone asked me:
Is there a method to share what we know? People approaches me with questions and I find it a bit difficult to make myself understand.
My answer was more or less like this.
There are 2 parts on this interaction, that depend on each other:
- How they ask
- How do you answer
For the former, I had already written in Rubber Duck Effect where I explained that "the problem" lies with HOW anyone comes asking directly: Ey, how do I solve my problem?
No context, no explanation, no effort. It seems they haven't given time to analyze the problem or to zoom out and have a panoramic view in order to provide good context.
In this scenario there are only 2 ways to answer:
- Answer the question directly the best you can with the information you have.
- Help them articulate the question by asking for more details.
Each case will be different and will depend on the importance (not urgency) of the solution, but in general my advice is: Help them articulate the question
The next time someone comes in and asks you for a solution to a specific problem, ask them to "explain" things like:
- What is happening?, what project is it?, what technology are you using? What the logs or the error tracker say?
- Why do you want to fix it? or why is it a problem?
- Which solutions have you tried?
I've learned that leader is then one who helps you to be a better version of yourself; therefore, we must GUIDE but not give answers, basically tell them: Research first, Try something and, if nothing works, I'll gladly help.
This will improve their learning and thinking process for both technical and soft skills, like researching or linking ideas which, at any situation, will help them to respond to themselves, thus, increasing effectiveness.
It's all about collaboration, TIME of both parties is equally important.
- While asking be clear and direct, acknowledge that other's person has priorities and our urgency is not one of them.
- When answering assess the situation, generally speaking is better to let people investigate but direct responses can be a relief in exceptional cases.
Again, It depends.