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I often try to practice something like this, but context affects how actively helpful/meta I am. Someone who's new, or seems overwhelmed, or has shown some eff

by neilv 2y ago

I often try to practice something like this, but context affects how actively helpful/meta I am. Someone who's new, or seems overwhelmed, or has shown some effort... might get more hand-holding help... than someone who seems to be, say, ignoring the single-source-of-truth-for-most-all-things wiki that was impressed upon them, and just trying to knock off a task as easily as possible, with no consideration for others' time. A suspected former is more likely to get my best customer service, team player help. "Have you met Jane? I think she's started a new product feature for that, but there's also a related tailoring that Sales has been doing. Let me introduce you to Jane, and we can see which thing you should be you should be working with today. I'm curious myself." (Goals are to unblock this person, have everyone on the right tracks, and set the culture for team-orientedness.) A suspected latter, I'll play it by ear, for exactly how to see whether they checked the wiki (or did whatever is the thing everyone should know from onboarding they're supposed to do first), and try to nudge them into the right meta thinking if they need it, while also not sending the cultural message to not be very helpful.

withinboredom 2y ago
For the latter, I try to be helpful as if they were the first type. Everyone sometimes forgets shit (myself included). Basically, if I can search the docs and find the answer immediately, I will just share that with them. If they keep being "forgetful" or time-wasting I will have a 1:1 with them to discuss the behavior ("don't take my kindness for weakness" type of thing). I will also have a 1:1 with their manager who's job is to deal with that sort of thing. This usually has the intended effect -- eventually removing them from the organization, or teaching them how to use search functions to solve problems themselves.
- Retric 2y ago
  There’s also a 3rd option. When something is a critical priority leveraging other people’s time and expertise may be considered completely appropriate by the organization. As in not getting something fixed is costing 6+ figures per hour. Obviously the frequency of such events should be watched closely, but sometimes it’s a good idea to drop what you’re doing and get more directly involved.
  - yuliyp 2y ago
    Yeah there are lots of reasons to go into the warm case: in addition to genuine effort on the asker, urgency, criticality, or relationship building can all tip the balance.

by neilv 2y ago

withinboredom 2y ago

For the latter, I try to be helpful as if they were the first type. Everyone sometimes forgets shit (myself included). Basically, if I can search the docs and find the answer immediately, I will just share that with them. If they keep being "forgetful" or time-wasting I will have a 1:1 with them to discuss the behavior ("don't take my kindness for weakness" type of thing). I will also have a 1:1 with their manager who's job is to deal with that sort of thing. This usually has the intended effect -- eventually removing them from the organization, or teaching them how to use search functions to solve problems themselves.

Retric 2y ago
There’s also a 3rd option. When something is a critical priority leveraging other people’s time and expertise may be considered completely appropriate by the organization. As in not getting something fixed is costing 6+ figures per hour. Obviously the frequency of such events should be watched closely, but sometimes it’s a good idea to drop what you’re doing and get more directly involved.
- yuliyp 2y ago
  Yeah there are lots of reasons to go into the warm case: in addition to genuine effort on the asker, urgency, criticality, or relationship building can all tip the balance.