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> "got a sec?"

The problem is that the answer to this is heavily dependent on what it is, especially because "got a sec" doesn't meaningfully time box the activity. I need something more to know whether this is something I can engage in immediately.




100% agreed. "Hey, do you have the link for the ticket connected to incident 34567?" is a 30-second task that I can certainly help you with at any time. "Hey, can we discuss the details of this bug report and iron out the multiple specific steps required to work it, along with some help debugging it?" is a 30-to-60-minute task that I may not have enough time for right now. I can't know whether I've "got a sec" to help you if I don't yet know what you need help with... which could be explained in a quick sentence after the "hello" without waiting for a response before telling me.


Not only on what it is but who it is. My boss? Absolutely. A colleague on my team? Maybe. Junior developer that can never seem to use google? Probably not. L1 or L2 support? Never, use the team's support email.


Support requests though chat were a massive problem at my first job and it caused my boss to blow up on a few people making requests as they were constantly told that specific devs were on support and chat was not a way to go around to get faster help.




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