[Language Help] What are different ways you can ask for help solving a problem?

[Christine P. Dela Rosa]

Prompt: sometimes, you may not be the person to solve a problem...at least not alone. But asking for help or getting direction on what to do next can be hard.

Please share the language you use in these situations. Or, upvote the responses you like.

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Series note: communication is the foundation of connection with teammates. The more options we have at our disposal, the better chance we have of communicating our needs. What better place to crowdsource ideas than from the Atlassian Community?

[Jimmy Seddon · Accepted solution]

I think I have been very lucky over the years.  I have never felt afraid to ask for help directly from either my teammates or my manager (I think that's why I have stayed so long at the various places I have been employed).

As I have grown within a given company, I have also been proud that I don't have all the answers for people, but that I usually know who to get help from.

I think if we all work in an "open-door" policy where people are encouraged to ask questions without the fear of appearing incapable, it actually makes the company and products they produce stronger as things are done the correct way instead of someone fumbling in fear of looking stupid having to ask questions.

[Christine P. Dela Rosa]

Nice, @Jimmy Seddon. This reminds me that being able to ask for help can be supported by letting people know you're willing to help/listen. What's one way you let folks know that you have an open-door policy?

[Jimmy Seddon]

Good question @Christine P. Dela Rosa!  In the past, which I was physically in an office, I had a couch (long story but when you are a start up people look past a number of things) that stayed with me for the entire time I was employed there, and I had a "the doctor is in" sign about it with an open invitation to anyone to come and chill on the couch and ask me a question.

Virtually, that was harder to accomplish.  Since our entire company is in slack, I setup a slack channel called "jira_questions", then I set the topic to "You have questions? I have answers!".

I set that up as a way for people to informally ask for help without needing to post a ticket in JSM, and I have noticed that others have started to help answer questions as well if I can't get there fast enough.

[Christine P. Dela Rosa]

The visual cues are such invisible but important indicators of open communication! From your couch to the door sign to the literal descriptor for the Slack channel, I get how you made yourself welcoming for others. Nice!

[Darryl Lee · Accepted solution]

I use the following format all the time when placing my questions/requests as I would expect the same clarity the requester puts for me.

• Brief summary of the issue/inquiry.
• Use bullet points to list out what have you done and what are you struggling with.
• What are the actions you expected the requestee to take for this issue/inquiry?
• (if any), what would be the best channel or time preference for further discussions.