[thefantasma]

Software engineering and building products is a social activity. Embrace it and take pride in helping others. Its part of the role too.

I understand that to you, as an individual, it may seem detrimental and even a waste of time but realize that overall it’s a positive thing for everyone.

Instead of having some engineer waste hours struggling to solve a problem, just get them unstuck and go back to whatever you were doing.

My attitude is that when I’m in the office, it’s all office hours. I’m there to collaborate. If I’m not in a meeting, then I’m available for questions. With that said, it’s ok to say please wait or I’ll get back to you on that.

Please don’t take it the wrong way but I’ve always been bothered by engineers who have this attitude. Very often these are the same engineers that can somehow focus on writing code and watching Netflix on the side. A large portion of what we do isn’t very complicated and it doesn’t really require 100% concentration (hence netflix on the side). IMO, this is just an excuse we engineers use to pump our chest about how important our work is and to be anti-social.

Some tips

- make sure you have good documentation

- create a slack room where team members can ask for help and encourage them to use that instead of asking you directly. Other team members can pitch in too

- be proactive and get to know the engineers you work with. Ask them if they need any help or if they are blocked by something

- figure out the weakness of your team and hold internal trainings to fill in the gaps

- have some empathy for your fellow coworkers

[fargle]

I very much disagree. To characterize engineering as a social activity implies that this is the foremost characteristic. It is not. It is very much a personal art. It is a science, and it is math. It is you vs. the machine. The engineering part is done alone, between you and the universe. It is you vs. you. It is not about people.

Do not misunderstand me, helping your peers and all manner of social skills are used, and are all necessary. There are other parts to this career and it requires balance and diverse skills.

But don't say that "engineering is a social activity". Nope. Bollocks. Staying employed as an engineer is a bit of social challenge we need to learn to deal with. Writing good code is not a social thing. Architecting good systems is not a social thing. The right answer is apolitical almost magically unfies people automatically. Mediocre answers are the domain for arguing and politics.

People are not the solution. Citing Dilbert: https://dilbert.com/strip/2015-04-24 - people are the problem.

Help? Learning? Asking for help is fine, giving and receiving help is fine. This should be viewed as a mentoring or apprenticing and learning relation. But you really need to figure things out yourself or it doesn't count. After the hint, or the explanation, what do you do? You go home, alone, and try to do it yourself.

Engineering is a life of learning to DIY. If you can't DIY, then you should, very much, not be giving advice, nor continuing this career. So by its very nature, the core of this field is a very solitary venture.

All good tips, btw. I concur with all of them. But I'm just immediately suspicious, on purpose, on principle, of people taking the line social first, maths second.

Having drinks with friends is a social activity. It doesn't pay as well.

[buttscicles]

Professional software development is very much a team sport, even when it comes down to the code. If you're not writing the code with the humans reading it in mind then in most cases I would say your priorities are off.