Something I do when mentoring a junior developer is to tell them that if they get stuck on something, they should try and solve it by themselves for fifteen minutes (adjust the duration depending on the situation) before they ask for help. But if they’re still stuck on the same thing after these fifteen minutes, they have to ask for help.
I found it has many benefits. First, it makes it clear that it’s OK to ask for help. Second, it sets a balance between them interrupted you too often (which is frustrating to you) and not making much progress (which is frustrating to them, which is worse). Often, when they finally come for help, even though they’ll fell that they were just stuck for 15 minutes, in reality they will have come close to the solution, and you can show them how they almost solved it.
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Something I do when mentoring a junior developer is to tell them that if they get stuck on something, they should try and solve it by themselves for fifteen minutes (adjust the duration depending on the situation) before they ask for help. But if they’re still stuck on the same thing after these fifteen minutes, they have to ask for help.
I found it has many benefits. First, it makes it clear that it’s OK to ask for help. Second, it sets a balance between them interrupted you too often (which is frustrating to you) and not making much progress (which is frustrating to them, which is worse). Often, when they finally come for help, even though they’ll fell that they were just stuck for 15 minutes, in reality they will have come close to the solution, and you can show them how they almost solved it.