The Big Q: Is it rude to tell a junior developer to stop asking me questions?Posted about 5 years ago by Client Server

I’m the team lead in a small dev team of four, two of whom are junior. One of the juniors has developed a weird habit for asking me questions the moment I get up from my desk. I can’t tell if this is a nervous tick on his part, but I’m starting to find it really, really annoying.

I want to help the team grow and develop, but surely there’s a better way for asking for help than whenever I pop to the kitchen. What should I do?

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You’re right – as a team lead, it’s part of your job to guide your team mates from a technical point of view. But it sounds like this is less about answering questions, and more about establishing a process.

One of your team members doesn’t know what the best way to ask for help, presumably because they’ve never been told, or the process has become confusing over time.

The best thing to do is set some simple guidelines for your team. Incorporate it into your daily stand-ups, or make a note to check in with your junior developers once a day to ensure they’re okay.

There will always be ad-hoc questions – that’s just a part of work – but if your team are made aware of a process for getting help, they will get the best out of your expertise and you won’t find yourself going nuts.

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