Is it wrong to ask too many questions?

Parent Cafe
1

<p>I am starting to think that maybe my colleague may think I am annoying or dull because I tend to ask too many questions. Say, I ask her about a certain process, and I ask her “what if this scenario happens, what should I do?”, and I give her like 5 or 6 other scenarios related to that process that we talked about. I am worried that I may come across as someone unable to solve a problem on my own. It’s really not like that. It’s just that I believe that every company has different policies, and I don’t want to THINK based on what I think should be done because I am not an expert, and maybe what I think was right may not be the best action for the company. </p>

<p>This is my first real job, and as much as I want to make a good impression, I also would rather be stupid in my first few weeks in employment rather than later. The person supervising seems kind of annoyed. I even ask her if I could have access to the entire training material, and she laugh and said that if I am confuse about anything, I should ask her any time. I am not sure about that since she seems so busy, and most of the time she is nowhere to be found.</p>

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<p>Are you talking about an assessment of risks?</p>

<p>Or are you talking about a procedural thing - what step comes next?</p>

<p>Does your company have a Quality Management System with procedures and work instructions available to all employees?</p>

<p>Sorry if that’s too many questions. :slight_smile: ;)</p>

<p>Seriously - if you have company procedures and work instructions, you could spend some time looking at those. Lots of companies actually have them on the company computer system. If they do, there’s probably a search utility that could help you. Of course you should be able to take questions to your boss, and she might get annoyed sometimes, or be busy or whatever, but if she’s a good boss - she’ll be glad you asked the questions even if she feels a little overwhelmed.</p>

<p>The advice I would give you is to not come to your boss with a blank sheet of paper. Bring your own ideas, evaluations, proposals, tentative plans, etc. and ask for her approval. It’s always easier for a boss to work with SOMETHING than it is to work with NOTHING. Just like for you! :slight_smile: </p>

<p>Organize your thoughts and questions in written form - present it professionally - you’ll learn so much faster this way!</p>

<p>Also, if it’s specific tasks, ask her where you might find an example of where the task has been done before. Is there a report, a document, etc. that you can reference as a guideline. Learn by observing the actions of others.</p>

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<p>Since I can’t know what actually happened, I’ll give you a hard line response so you can fit whatever answers you get to your situation.</p>

<p>Questioning can be pestering. Much learning is done by experiencing and observing. The old line is “watch, listen and learn”. Another is “think before you speak”.</p>

<p>I’ll give an example:</p>

<p>I walked into an ATM area outside a bank branch on Saturday. 3 people were in line behind one machine. I glanced at the line, wondered if they were together or were actually a line, and then looked at the other ATM. It didn’t show the welcome screen. So I got in line. I considered asking if this was a line but it seemed pretty clear these people were not together.</p>

<p>Next person comes in, walks up to the other ATM, then looks at the line. Asks if the other ATM is broken. Someone explains the obvious, that it is. Guy gets in line. Next person comes in asks the same question. Same answer, despite the temptation to say, “We’re all in line because we enjoy waiting to use the ATM.” Obvious, but you cut slack because the new person is walking into the existing situation. First guy who followed me in then starts asking questions: did anyone try the other machine? How long ago was that? Did anyone call the number to see if they can reset it? Someone tried to answer the first and then we all got quiet because the alternative was telling the guy to go bleep himself. That was pestering. I was muttering to myself, “Go try it yourself, jerk.” </p>

<p>See? </p>

<p>You can pester by asking questions when you should be observing. Going through every possible permutation is generally not acceptable behavior. </p>

<p>Another basic factor is that doing a job requires being able to adapt. If you need to be prepared for every single contingency, then you aren’t adapting and learning. This obviously isn’t true if the job is life and death but nearly all jobs are best learned by trying. You are expected to make mistakes and to learn from those, not to have every contingency mapped out beforehand.</p>

<p>This is, for example, how you learn as a doctor, which involves human pain and suffering. Some patient has to be the first time for some intern doing a central line. The old line there is “see one, do one, teach one.” That is considered the best way to learn though it inflicts literal pain on human patients.</p>

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<p>I remember being a little like that in my first job out of college… and I think I was probably annoying as h***. I learned pretty soon that I should focus on MY responsibilities as they had been explained to me. Take careful notes and pay attention to what you are told so you don’t have to be told twice. If I run into a roadblock or question, THEN ask. Sometimes I had to push a little to get time to ask, but I would collect a few questions and then see my boss with the list, trying to be efficient with his time. After a year or so on the job, it became more obvious what was a “good” question vs. haring of after something irrelevant.</p>

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<p>Good illustration, Lergnom. And it reinforces my last sentence too. Learn by observing the action of others.</p>

<p>First “real” jobs are very challenging and can be really rewarding because they require you to THINK, OBSERVE, LEARN, etc.</p>

<p>It’s not always a pat answer. As you work through putting your own thoughts, plans, etc. in written form - you may (and probably will) answer a lot of your own questions.</p>

<p>By jumping in and doing somethings and beginning to work the problem and think on your own, you can eliminate a lot of the questions you would have had otherwise.</p>

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<p>It is really great that you want to make a good impression.<br>
If you think you are being annoying then you probably are. Can you do your job without asking those questions, even if it takes a little longer for you to figure it out? She may want to help you but she sounds like she is very busy and has other priorities. This is common. Also, how important is it not to make a mistake, are you client facing? Can mistakes be fixed?</p>

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<p>Well I don’t know, had anyone in the ATM line told the people inside the bank that one of their ATMs was broken? Because someone should.</p>

<p>As to the OP. It’s okay to ask if you are asking too many questions, since you are new you can explain that you are still trying to get a sense of to what extent you are supposed to figure things out on your own and what things have procedures you need to follow. It can’t be as bad as me my first week in a German office when I had to ask what every piece of equipment was called. I was reasonably familiar with architectural terms with regards to buildings, but not words like “drafting tape”, “template”, “ajustable triangle”, “tracing paper”, “mylar”, “French curve” etc.</p>

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<p>I once had a trainee who reminded me of the OP. There seemed an almost compulsive need to prove that she could imagine every possible scenario for any given situation and needed to ask about them. Or she wanted to prove how clever she was. </p>

<p>This is what you should not do:</p>

<p>Me: We provide reimbursement for out-of-town candidates who interview at our firm. We ask that they fill out a reimbursement form and provide receipts. </p>

<p>Trainee: Ok, great. But what if aliens come and single out THAT candidate and steal only every third receipt for her visit here?</p>

<p>Me: Generally credit card statements will work, as well.</p>

<p>Trainee: Yeah, but if President Obama personally calls THAT candidate and asks to meet her on his trip to the United Nations because she single-handedly saved the world last week, should our firm pay for her trip or should the White House pay for it?</p>

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<p>^ yup. Seeking info that will cover various situations is good- in many cases, it’s a great skill and asset. OTOH, constantly tugging on someone else’s sleeve with “what-if’s” and asking about situations that haven’t occured, rarely occur or may never occur- isn’t great. </p>

<p>Not just “almost compulsive,” but you risk them thinking you haven’t read instructions/manuals, observed or wondering if you can tackle things confidently. Be sensitive to how these questions take another person from their responsibilities. Good luck.</p>

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<p>So, that would add up to seven questions – the initial one and then six more. Perhaps wait to ask some of those questions until the actual problem arises. If you’ve thought of seven scenarios, it wouldn’t surprise me if some of those never occur and there are others you haven’t thought of that do. </p>

<p>Sometimes you just have to get started. Dig in and get your hands dirty. </p>

<p>Where risk and the cost of making a mistake is high, ask the question.</p>

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<p>also, ask if there is a place where the answers to these questions are documented. If it’s something in particular that is hanging you up you could also ask if there was someone you could shadow for a bit to see how they do things.</p>

<p>I’ve been training a few new people on my team for the past few months - one person for example will try to look up every procedure and then ask if she gets stuck. another person wants you to hold their hand through it. Someone else asks questions before they even try. SOmeone else follows the instructions and occasionally messes up because they didnt think there was clear. Point being, everybody learns differently. Also, is she training other people or just you? I can’t speak for your boss but I can tell you that when the above four people are asking me 8 questions every time we speak, it can add up to be a bit much added on to an already busy day.</p>

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<p>Yes. I have an employee who accompanied me on a business trip. She had to be hand-held to every aspect of traveling - how do I get my boarding pass? do I meet you before security or after security? do I check my bag? do I bring my computer? (when told of the dress code) should I wear my black pants two days in a row or should I bring two diff pairs of pants? will the hotel have a hair dryer? do they have a gym? when should I work out? how we will rent a car? how will we get from the airport to the location? She had traveled before, including internationally - she wasn’t a newbie to travel. It IS pestering. You need to be able to anticipate, solve your own problems (figure out your own black pants schedule, if you want to see if the hotel has a gym, check their website) If the person seems annoyed, there’s your clue. Don’t focus so much on contingencies at this point.</p>