5 tips for software engineers on asking questions more effectively

Credit to Rohit Farmer.

The guiding principle here is that questions are not free.

• There’s the obvious cost of you having to ask the question, but the less appreciated detail here is that the recipient has to context switch and then come up with an answer.
• If you consistently ask “bad” questions, e.g. questions that anyone can easily find the answer to or are so vague that they are impossible to answer, you’re eroding your social capital. People will be less inclined to help you because they know you need a lot of handholding.

As an engineering manager, here are 5 pieces of advice on communication I’d give to every new-grad or entry-level software engineer.

1. Make sure you’re asking a question.

At the risk of stating the obvious, are you actually asking something with an answer? For example, saying “I don’t get how X works.” is not a question and you’re making it difficult for the recipient to be helpful.

A better-phrased question would be “I don’t understand how this feature works; I thought it did Y, but it’s actually doing Z. What am I missing?”

2. Provide enough context so there aren’t any clarifying questions required.