Asking Questions and Giving Advice

This week the guys broke the episode into two parts. BJ starts out with a study from Harvard University on the perceptions of asking for advice. The first half of the episode then outlines good question asking strategies for newbies and junior developers. Starting with closed ended questions leading into longer open ended questions and when to use each. This can also apply to senior developers as well in areas they don’t have as much knowledge. They then talk about planning out your questions and detailing what you have already attempted. The second half of the episode Will gives advice to senior developers on giving advice to junior developers. Starting out by realizing that you are helping junior developers and know they will mess up. Also keep in mind that you might be wrong. Tell them how to do something or show them but do not do it for them. Links Bike Navigator Harvard Study Biz Success How To Ask Questions Amazing Questions Bringing Novice Developers Up To Speed Editors Note: Unfortunately there was a technical error with the recording of Will’s microphone and therefore the body of the episode was taken from BJ’s recording. Also throughout the episode there is a high pitched sound that could not be removed in post production.