I really enjoyed this guide on answering questions in a helpful way because I answer so many questions in a given day and, these days, through more avenues than I have in the past. I always try to give equal attention to either a question about something technical in my workplace as I do someone asking about which Chromebook to buy for their child who has now been learning at home for more than half a year at this point. I think this guide is a good very litmus for whether or not you’re being an asshole when asked a mediocre question by giving you some somewhat obvious (if you’d thought about what you were going to say instead of just spitting out whatever popped into your head) tools to better your participation in the troubleshooting process. I have the habit of casting everything as a troubleshooting process because that my actual marketable skill. I think in this case it is very much a collaborative effort to troubleshoot an issue just not as linearly as I’m used to.
It’s something worth considering because if you’re getting a proper question posed after doing a little bit of prep work before passing it on to me then I feel like I’m being met half way between let me Google that for you dismissiveness and a question so specialized in an area where my knowledge might be lacking and will have to do more research than you would to learn how to even begin looking for an answer. I’m always happier with the amount of effort I have to make if I feel like the person asking the question has done a little bit of pre-work. I’m not even sure if that preparatory business necessarily helps the process but it makes me feel like I’m another piece of helping someone find an answer instead of just a convenient sucker to pass the thinking on to. Cynical? Yeah, a little but I think it’s at least defensible given the tendency of people in general to throw up their hands in surrender when confronted with something that isn’t immediately familiar.
I’m going to categorize this one as a ‘Don’t Forget’ as well and keep the link handy for those days when questions are coming in at a relentless pace and I forget that people aren’t doing it because they’re clueless jerks. People are asking me because they’ve tried and weren’t successful or they aren’t even sure what exactly they’re even looking for.