What to do when you don't know what the hell to do

by Brian Weyer | at MinneBar 14

You have been given a task to complete, either on your own, or as part of a team. The requirements seem understandable, you’re ready. Then, with no warning, it blows up on you. There’s missing requirements, you don’t have enough information, privileges, knowledge, or experience to conquer this task. So what do you do?

How do you know where to start? How do you gain experience and insight? What if you don’t have enough time to learn? What happens if you don’t know where to turn next? Are your colleagues or boss too busy? Do you feel supported? Do you feel as though you’re failing?

These are all natural responses to what often may seem an insurmountable task, at the very least, it’s a struggle. There are several strategies we can use to help ourselves move forward, inform teams and leadership (who are responsible for mentoring and leading the inexperienced), and move toward continuous improvement.

This session will cover actionable take-aways like:

Self-analysis Rubber-ducking Effectively raising “the red flag” Proactively improving interactions/communication/solutions

Beginner

Brian Weyer

Software Engineer at SportsEngine focusing on front-end. I love to make things.