X User's Post On Juniors Constantly Messaging For "Minor Issues" Sparks Online Discussion

A software engineer has sparked a discussion online after expressing his frustration over his juniors at work frequently reaching out to him with minor or trivial issues. Taking to X (formerly Twitter), the user, Vinay, described how he felt when his juniors or even mid-level engineers at work message him for trivial things that can be solved in minutes. He said that such a behaviour signifies "low growth potential and a lack of self-awareness". He also added that junior colleagues or his mentees need to understand that constant interruptions can affect workflow and reduce productivity.

"I'm disappointed when my mentees constantly message me with minor issues. This behavior signifies low growth potential and a lack of self-awareness. It's surprising that junior and even mid-level engineers expect me to drop everything to respond to their Slack messages, despite the brief time it takes to resolve their concerns. They need to understand that constant interruptions disrupt my workflow and reduce my productivity," Mr Vinay wrote. 

Take a look at his post below: 

I'm disappointed when my mentees constantly message me with minor issues. This behavior signifies low growth potential and a lack of self-awareness.
It's surprising that junior and even mid-level engineers expect me to drop everything to respond to their Slack messages, despite…

— Vinay (@vinayjn7) April 30, 2024

The post, shared on April 30, has gone viral on the microblogging site with 25,000 views. In the comments sections, users shared their perspectives on junior colleagues' instant messaging. 

"There was a phase where 70 percent of my time went into answering queries of other people. I was under the impression that this is needed, otherwise what's the point of working in a team? When I mentioned this in one of my 1-1s , I was told that it's my problem to solve," wrote one user. 

To this, Mr Vinay replied, "Agree with the last line, this is definitely the mentor's problem. My job as a mentor is to teach the mentee as much as I can, and I not spoon feeding them is a great idea. At the same time the mentee needs to trust that me not being constantly responsive is beneficial for them". 

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Another user wrote, "Can you document such small questions from your team members and share them as FAQs? You can also ask them to update these documents with their own observations". 

To this, Mr Vinay said, "The questions are not repetitive but the behaviour. Questions raised by curiosity are fun to answer, those questions are sometimes unique and the mentor themselves don't know the answer to. However, questions that seek guidance in simple debugging and understanding a process are frustrating". 

"Like every relationship, Each mentor mentee relationship requires a ton of investment. Like finding the balance of what is okay to ask. Express displeasure at the risk of pushing them away in the other direction where they do not ask the earnest questions either," commented a third user. "I guess you should get them all in a call and tell what kind of queries deserve your attention," suggested another.