Re:Precision in Technical Discussions
by dfxm12 on Friday February 04, 2022 @04:09PM
(#30213254)
Oh, and calibrating the level of detail in technical conversation is very hard too, because it can lead to people feeling like they are being talked down to, or it can lead to people assuming the other person knows more than they do. It's a Hard Problem.
In the end, I think, people want their problem fixed ASAP. To that end, I make zero assumptions about what others know, especially over asynchronous communication (and it's frustrating when you're working with someone halfway around the world and only get to leave them one email per day, for example). I'm aware that it might come off a certain way, but in all honesty, more than feelings, I'm interested in getting issues fixed as quickly as possible and giving people all the info, techniques, tools, etc. they could possibly need to fix their problem now, fix a future problem, and maybe prevent this problem from happening again. I've gotten negative feedback once, and when I explained why, it seemed like they understood and there were no hard feelings.
I think of it like this, if the shoe was on the other foot, it's how I would want it to be handled. My feelings aren't hurt if someone is working from a script or dumps a set of five steps at me, four of which I already know, etc.
In the end, I think, people want their problem fixed ASAP. To that end, I make zero assumptions about what others know, especially over asynchronous communication (and it's frustrating when you're working with someone halfway around the world and only get to leave them one email per day, for example). I'm aware that it might come off a certain way, but in all honesty, more than feelings, I'm interested in getting issues fixed as quickly as possible and giving people all the info, techniques, tools, etc. they could possibly need to fix their problem now, fix a future problem, and maybe prevent this problem from happening again. I've gotten negative feedback once, and when I explained why, it seemed like they understood and there were no hard feelings.
I think of it like this, if the shoe was on the other foot, it's how I would want it to be handled. My feelings aren't hurt if someone is working from a script or dumps a set of five steps at me, four of which I already know, etc.