Three types of questions at work

Knowing when to try finding answers to questions yourself versus when to ask your team for help can be hard. While it's important to be resourceful, self-reliance isn't always the best strategy. Here's how I think about the appropriate level of effort to put into answering questions:

1. Not specific to your company - Search online for an answer on your own.
2. Likely to be searchable in shared documents, email, or chat - Search through company resources available to you on your own. If you're stuck after looking in the obvious places, ask a colleague for other potentially relevant search terms.
3. Specific to your company but unlikely to be searchable - Avoid replicating work that has already been done. Focus on finding the right person to ask; the information you're looking for will likely be helpful for others in the future.