Here are some tips for mentoring or pairing/collaborating with fellow engineers:
- Use whiteboards to discuss anything. This way you're solving an abstract problem without being bogged down by implementation (which should be very straightforward once the solution exists on the whiteboard
- Take notes liberally for everyone's benefit. During interviews and other whiteboarding sessions I write "Notes" down on the side with bullet points listing the requirements, keywords, or questions I have for future discussion. Of all the things I do, this gets the most praise from just about everyone: "this over here is really awesome!"
- Ask lots of questions in the beginning so you don't inadvertently make assumptions that they're too afraid to address. Often times it'll take 30 minutes for them to properly phrase it in a way that gives me enough context so I can start helping.
- Do a teach-back afterwards: "we spoke about X, Y, and Z, and tried 1 and 2. We saw that although 1 works, it is too clever to maintain because of A and B, so 2 is a better solution."
- Use whiteboards to discuss anything. This way you're solving an abstract problem without being bogged down by implementation (which should be very straightforward once the solution exists on the whiteboard
- Take notes liberally for everyone's benefit. During interviews and other whiteboarding sessions I write "Notes" down on the side with bullet points listing the requirements, keywords, or questions I have for future discussion. Of all the things I do, this gets the most praise from just about everyone: "this over here is really awesome!"
- Ask lots of questions in the beginning so you don't inadvertently make assumptions that they're too afraid to address. Often times it'll take 30 minutes for them to properly phrase it in a way that gives me enough context so I can start helping.
- Do a teach-back afterwards: "we spoke about X, Y, and Z, and tried 1 and 2. We saw that although 1 works, it is too clever to maintain because of A and B, so 2 is a better solution."