“Help” can be many things: asking a colleague to review some code, asking a teammate to pair while resolving a bug, asking a manager to help remove a blocker, or asking a customer to clarify some requirements.
Asking for help enables us to move faster and make fewer mistakes.
Not only is it important for us to ask for help, it’s also important for us to respond to help requests too!
Make asking for, and giving help a normal frequent part of the team culture.
Discussions for your team
- What’s a reasonable time-frame for answering help requests?
- Who mentors and helps new team members on tricky parts of the codebase and project?
- Do we give and recieve help from customers to clarify requirements and acceptance criteria?
- How do we ensure everyone feels comfortable asking for help?