My boss wants me to take advice from a senior developer from a different team who has no idea about what I am doing. He wants to give his advice from time to time, but for me it's a waste of time. How should I handle this? How do I let my boss and the senior guy know that their advice is not helping me in a respectful manner?
Active approach:Tell him to mind his/her own business and stay out of your way with a glaring look
Consequences:The senior developer might get hurt,might not give nice feedback about you in the long run to others lowering your reputation in your company and refuse to help you even when you genuinely need help
Passive approach: Listen to his advice from one ear and forget about it the moment he goes away.You might plug your headphone jack in the other ear to concentrate on your music while completely ignoring the advice and concentrate on your work Consequences:The developer might think that you are not taking advices seriously and eventually stop giving advices to you feeling that his/her time is wasted on you.Again you might not receive help in the near future and your reputation might go down.
Smart Approach:Ask about the projects that he/she previously worked on and whether the advice that is being given has any practical use case/implementation that can be used currently in your project.But always ask him/her whether it is the most performance efficient way to implement it for every piece of advice that is given.Next create list of doubts that you know are going to take a while to figure out and ask him/her so that it keeps them busy rather than boring you out with useless knowledge Consequences: If the developer is technically sound he/she might figure out your doubts in more efficient manner or might give you a different approach that you might have never thought of. If the developer is not technically sound he/she will think 10 times before bluffing/boring you with useless knowledge because he might get stumped himself over his piece of advice similar to how new teachers always fear smart kids who might ask questions to them for which they might not know the correct answer. In both cases your reputation will improve since the senior developer knows that you are a smart programmer and creates a good impression about you in the office. Office is not that different to schools in many ways.People and roles might change but old school tactics always work in all types of institutions...
Perhaps there's a way you could make it a 2-way conversation and help this senior dev give you more relevant advice. They've seen a lot of different things during their career I'm sure, so there is going to be plenty of generic advice not related to any specific tech stack that they can offer.
I've felt this way in the past when working places, but now what I'm self employed and working on my own I realize what a treasure it can be to have access to a senior dev like this. Try to make the most of the chances you have to talk to them, not everybody has somebody they can get advice from, or ask when they get stuck! Find a way to use it to your advantage!
(On the flip side, telling your boss you don't want advice could hurt or entirely kill your chances for advancement. Managers care about ambition and your desire to learn and improve a lot more than your present capabilities. If what you can do today is all you desire to do, there's not much growth opportunity for you. Even if you never ever want to hear advice, you can't ever let your manager know this. You must always be showing your manager that you are wanting to grow, learn, and improve)
Depends on situation. Could you provide more information?
This section assumes you're a junior dev.
First off, be more humble. There's a reason they're a senior dev and you're only a junior. Now, your boss seems like hes trying to create some collaboration between the dev team. Additionally, you can never tell someone you don't want/need their advice when your new to a company - which I'm assuming you are.
With your situation I would suggest telling the senior dev that you should ask him if it's ok to come talk to him if you have any issues/in need of advice. You sohuld also say that when it comes to your work you like, not prefer, to try everything to solve a problem yourself before asking for help first. This shows your commitment to solve issues but also that you know help is available should you need.
You have to bare in mind that whilst he the senior dev might not know much about the stack or project or whatever you're working on they will have more knowledge than you on how the company works, processes, general experience - the list goes on.
This section assumes your a mid/senior dev.
Ask your boss if they had anything specific in mind your colleague could advise you on and (if unsatisfied) then express your concern that it shouldn't be a formal thing and just more "if required" type deal. Also see paragraph 2.
In the boss mind : My junior dev need help. Hey Senior dev, can you share some advices with him. Thx.
In the Senior dev mind : My boss want me to share my knowledges and advices with this Junior dev. Ok lets go.
In the Junior dev mind : I do not need this advices as they are useless.
If you want to tell him that you dont not need help, you have to prove it. Prove that you do not need help. If you dont, your boss will stuck in this idea. Prove to senior dev that you do not need him.
So the question, its how do you prove that you are able to dev without advices ? The best way to do that is to ask to the senior dev : What is your advice to solve this problem ? Senior dev : "bla bla bla" You : "I got it, thx. But, (if something is wrong), i think this way is better and there is why : "bla bla bla"
Repeat this 3-5 times :
• Problem occur : Think about a solution
• Present your solution and ask advice about this.
• Choose between the best solution.
Cheers !
Tommy Hodgins
CSS & Element Queries
TheSheriff
Co-Founder, Founder, Entrepreneur & Problem Solver
Simon Hamp
Code isn't everything. Live
When you say 'advice', what kind of things are you talking about? If it's like "Don't eat that sandwich, the dog licked it!" I'd be inclined to pay heed.
If it's more like "To be a great [designer/developer/emperor], you need to oil your beans each morning and scratch a crocodile's tongue each night," maybe just tell them kindly to stop.
If it's actually related (even tangentially) to what you do, there's probably a good reason for it and you should definitely try to (tactfully) find out why they feel you need to know these words of wisdom.