It can be frustrating, but it's also frustrating if people ask without thinking what this might mean for your own routine. At the end of the day you won't get promoted for not getting your own work done while helping others and people tend to be very inconsiderate if you let them.
At Google one of the early engineers had a handbook on communicating with him, e.g., when to send an e-mail, schedule a meeting, send an instant message. I think this makes sense.
For me for example I think an e-mail should have content (an answer to a question, not a reply that I'll look at it) and I'll reply when I think is appropriate as long as there is no explicit deadline. An instant message might not get a reply at all if it's outside of my time zone or I'm working on something, best to follow up, if an e-mail needs an estimate when to expect a reply, ask for it.
On the other side, I think it makes sense to be as considerate as possible when asking for something, to make sure to get a reply, try not to waste other people's time and try to be as concise as possible.
Edit: one more thing that really helps getting a good reply: if possible tell the recipient what’s in it for them to invest their time.
> at the end of the day you won't get promoted for not getting your own work done while helping others and people tend to be very inconsiderate if you let them.
This depends on the team. I’ve been promoted to manage a team because “we have observed that everyone that has a problem they cannot solve themselves walks over to your desk and you take the time to answer.” Your individual capacity for work may drop, but the teams efficiency can still grow at the same time.
Good point, this is probably my experience at a FANG talking, I was like that early in my career, based on my experience at university where it was mutually beneficial to support others. All things equal I didn't get promoted any faster than the others so I adapted my behaviour. What you experienced is what good management should actually look for, in my case that showed that the team and company goals were strongly misaligned with my personal goals.
Outside of big corporate I've seen more value in helping others, though it still makes sense to evaluate if someone is repeatedly taking up time without returning the favour when the situation arises.
To be clear, I don't think it's good to ignore people, but I think it's important to show boundaries, if someone wants something, they should be considerate and have fair expectations. A well written request considering my situation would very likely get a quick reply.
Exactly this! Many, in particular SW devs, are very concerned with not being interrupted, because it lowers their productivity. But in my opinion, you should optimize for team productivity, not your own productivity. That can for example mean taking 5 minutes to answer a question that they could find out for themselves with a few hours of digging through the code.
At Google one of the early engineers had a handbook on communicating with him, e.g., when to send an e-mail, schedule a meeting, send an instant message. I think this makes sense.
For me for example I think an e-mail should have content (an answer to a question, not a reply that I'll look at it) and I'll reply when I think is appropriate as long as there is no explicit deadline. An instant message might not get a reply at all if it's outside of my time zone or I'm working on something, best to follow up, if an e-mail needs an estimate when to expect a reply, ask for it.
On the other side, I think it makes sense to be as considerate as possible when asking for something, to make sure to get a reply, try not to waste other people's time and try to be as concise as possible.
Edit: one more thing that really helps getting a good reply: if possible tell the recipient what’s in it for them to invest their time.