February 13, 2015 at 17:16How to ask a question to your colleague?
A friend of mine recently complained that he often noticed how our colleagues are repeating the same mistakes. He himself often made these mistakes in the past and sought to get rid of them for a long time. From this, he had a desire to share some of his rules, which help to gain the loyalty of colleagues and receive detailed answers to their questions.
In general, this is just information for reflection, and probably you should not take everything written literally, but it is worth adapting them to each "for yourself".
So, 7 golden rules when distracting colleagues with requests for help:
1. No need to say hello. No not like this. You should not send the word "hello" and wait until they answer you. You may need a lot of time to type in the question for which you are starting a conversation. Therefore, it is worth taking care of the interlocutor and not distracting him from important matters ahead of time. Maybe the business he is involved in requires complete immersion, and he involuntarily has to wait until you finish, so as not to be torn out of work again. If your upbringing does not allow you to miss the greeting, then send it no sooner than you print your question completely.
2. Never ask if you can ask a question. It's not fair. Answering it in the affirmative, the questioner secretly signs an obligation with his conscience to answer on the merits. To answer negatively, without listening to the question itself is impolite, and therefore no one likes to do so. Ask a question right away. Read the question and evaluate their capabilities to the asked person is not difficult. If the person asked does not have time or the answer to your question, he will say this himself.
3. Do not send paragraphs as you write. There is no need to send your question in several stages, when it can be sent in one message. If you divide the question into several messages, then at best, the person asked is forced to give up all his affairs and wait until you finish. And in the worst case (for you), the person asked will not wait until you finish. He will go about his business, and maybe read your question later.
4. A correctly asked question is half the answer . Describe your problem in detail (to a reasonable extent, naturally). Firstly, very often the question itself disappears even at the stage of its formulation. Thus, you will save both your time and that of your colleague. Secondly, it is impossible to give an exact answer to a vague question. But you really need the exact one, right?
5.Make sure you call a spade a spade . Many terms live only in your head or are practiced only in your team. Do not lock yourself in your little world. Before you describe a phenomenon or entity that you have never described before, open Wikipedia for reference and find out what it's commonly called in the rest of the world.
6. Make sure that your interlocutor has all the data necessary for him to answer your question. If you know the details that may be important, but not obvious, do not be too lazy to tell your interlocutor about them . Your goal is to combine your knowledge and the interlocutor’s knowledge to solve a difficult task, and not play the game “Scrabble” with him.
7. If you were able to find the answer to your question first, do not forget to inform the person you asked about it.. This will allow him not to waste time and add loyalty to you if you turn to this person with a different question in the future.
Here is a generally simple list of rules that can greatly facilitate the life of you and your work colleagues. And what rules do you follow in communications with your colleagues?
In general, this is just information for reflection, and probably you should not take everything written literally, but it is worth adapting them to each "for yourself".
So, 7 golden rules when distracting colleagues with requests for help:
1. No need to say hello. No not like this. You should not send the word "hello" and wait until they answer you. You may need a lot of time to type in the question for which you are starting a conversation. Therefore, it is worth taking care of the interlocutor and not distracting him from important matters ahead of time. Maybe the business he is involved in requires complete immersion, and he involuntarily has to wait until you finish, so as not to be torn out of work again. If your upbringing does not allow you to miss the greeting, then send it no sooner than you print your question completely.
2. Never ask if you can ask a question. It's not fair. Answering it in the affirmative, the questioner secretly signs an obligation with his conscience to answer on the merits. To answer negatively, without listening to the question itself is impolite, and therefore no one likes to do so. Ask a question right away. Read the question and evaluate their capabilities to the asked person is not difficult. If the person asked does not have time or the answer to your question, he will say this himself.
3. Do not send paragraphs as you write. There is no need to send your question in several stages, when it can be sent in one message. If you divide the question into several messages, then at best, the person asked is forced to give up all his affairs and wait until you finish. And in the worst case (for you), the person asked will not wait until you finish. He will go about his business, and maybe read your question later.
4. A correctly asked question is half the answer . Describe your problem in detail (to a reasonable extent, naturally). Firstly, very often the question itself disappears even at the stage of its formulation. Thus, you will save both your time and that of your colleague. Secondly, it is impossible to give an exact answer to a vague question. But you really need the exact one, right?
5.Make sure you call a spade a spade . Many terms live only in your head or are practiced only in your team. Do not lock yourself in your little world. Before you describe a phenomenon or entity that you have never described before, open Wikipedia for reference and find out what it's commonly called in the rest of the world.
6. Make sure that your interlocutor has all the data necessary for him to answer your question. If you know the details that may be important, but not obvious, do not be too lazy to tell your interlocutor about them . Your goal is to combine your knowledge and the interlocutor’s knowledge to solve a difficult task, and not play the game “Scrabble” with him.
7. If you were able to find the answer to your question first, do not forget to inform the person you asked about it.. This will allow him not to waste time and add loyalty to you if you turn to this person with a different question in the future.
Here is a generally simple list of rules that can greatly facilitate the life of you and your work colleagues. And what rules do you follow in communications with your colleagues?