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How to Ask Questions (So Your Boss Doesn't Hate You) - Commoncog
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Pick a good time. Most people don’t like to be interrupted when they’re in the middle of something — programmers more so than most. There are two ways to get around this. The first way is to observe and pick a good point at which to ask your questions — for instance, you could accost your boss when he’s on his way to lunch, and make sure you get all the answers you need before you get back. The other option is to simply ask for their time — while making it clear how long it would take. A simple “could I ask you some questions on implementing the shopping cart enhancements? It’ll probably take 15 minutes of your time, but I’ll need some help to get unblocked on this task” would suffice. “Show that you’ve done your work.” Ask a well-formulated question. This is the last part, and it is the bit where you actually ask a question. Here, the normal rules of effective communication apply — just as you’d expect as with any other interaction with your superiors. This means providing surrounding context for your question, but doing so in a manner that presents just enough information for them to grok. In practice, this usually means using something like Minto’s Pyramid Principle to communicate your ideas; anything else and your explanation becomes too unwieldy.