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It's all about how you ask. Simply saying: "Good morning everyone, would anybody be available to answer a question? I am running into [describe your problem].

It's all about how you ask. Simply saying: "Good morning everyone, would anybody be available to answer a question? I am running into [describe your problem]. Thank you.". Easy, polite and to the point.

tobr 6y ago
That looks nice, but often the [describe your problem] part is three paragraphs and a few code snippets.
- rcfox 6y ago
  You can interrupt my channels with a three paragraph problem description any time. I'll gladly take that over "the thing doesn't work."
- jgwil2 6y ago
  Put "Good morning everyone, would anybody be available to answer a question?" in the channel, then reply to it in a thread with the details.
  - Ace17 6y ago
    Wouldn't this approach exactly have the issues the article recommends against?
    - jgwil2 6y ago
      Type out the question in full in a text editor, then paste it after the greeting if you're worried about delay. Although if you're posting in a channel, I don't even think it's an issue; people will see that you are typing and follow up when you have provided more info.
- ajford 6y ago
  At my current employer, the common pattern is a TLDR of the problem as the initiator, then thread your more elaborate description. Though we also usually have private team channels and separate support channels for a team in our Slack. I.e. the SRE team might have their own sre-priv channel for team chatter, and an sre-support channel for external support requests, so perhaps that is a function of this format. You'll often see a new msg in the support chan with something like the following: > Hey #TEAM, we're seeing an issue with the spline reticulator not reticulating splines. Started last night. Details in :thread:. Thanks! followed by notes/logs/stack traces as needed. Works quite well, and doesn't choke the channel with endless walls of text.
branweb 6y ago
Ah thanks for the suggestion. Yep that is a pretty nice solution. Grouping the ask to ask ("would anybody be available to answer a question") with the question avoids the tedium of prefacing your question with standalone messages, and still reads as fairly polite.

tobr 6y ago

That looks nice, but often the [describe your problem] part is three paragraphs and a few code snippets.

rcfox 6y ago
You can interrupt my channels with a three paragraph problem description any time. I'll gladly take that over "the thing doesn't work."
jgwil2 6y ago
Put "Good morning everyone, would anybody be available to answer a question?" in the channel, then reply to it in a thread with the details.
- Ace17 6y ago
  Wouldn't this approach exactly have the issues the article recommends against?
  - jgwil2 6y ago
    Type out the question in full in a text editor, then paste it after the greeting if you're worried about delay. Although if you're posting in a channel, I don't even think it's an issue; people will see that you are typing and follow up when you have provided more info.
ajford 6y ago
At my current employer, the common pattern is a TLDR of the problem as the initiator, then thread your more elaborate description. Though we also usually have private team channels and separate support channels for a team in our Slack. I.e. the SRE team might have their own sre-priv channel for team chatter, and an sre-support channel for external support requests, so perhaps that is a function of this format. You'll often see a new msg in the support chan with something like the following: > Hey #TEAM, we're seeing an issue with the spline reticulator not reticulating splines. Started last night. Details in :thread:. Thanks! followed by notes/logs/stack traces as needed. Works quite well, and doesn't choke the channel with endless walls of text.

branweb 6y ago

Ah thanks for the suggestion. Yep that is a pretty nice solution. Grouping the ask to ask ("would anybody be available to answer a question") with the question avoids the tedium of prefacing your question with standalone messages, and still reads as fairly polite.