Send a real request for help using the structure, then review how it went.
Pick one problem you're stuck on right now, at work, on a course or on a side project, and keep it in mind as you read. You'll use it to test the asking routine from the last three lessons: look first, set a stuck limit, ask using the goal, what you tried, what happened and where you're stuck, then close the loop. You'll also measure what happens, so you can see the difference for yourself instead of taking it on trust. The whole exercise takes about twenty minutes, spread over a day or two, and part of that time is spent waiting for the answer.
The problem has to be real and current. It might come from work, such as a spreadsheet formula, a process you don't understand, a system that won't do what you expect or a policy question. It can also come from a course you're taking or a side project. It needs to meet two conditions: you need the answer, and someone you can reach probably knows it.
Before you write anything, do the groundwork from Lesson 4.1, "Try for a set time yourself, then ask". Search the obvious places and keep trying until you reach your stuck limit, the set amount of time you try on your own before asking. If you find the answer while doing the groundwork, choose a different problem.
Siti is a claims executive at an insurer in Singapore (an invented example). She needs to know whether a claim can be paid when the customer's medical receipt is in the name of the clinic's parent company, not the clinic itself. She checks section 4 of the claims manual. It requires receipts from "the treating provider" but doesn't cover parent companies, so she's still stuck.
Write the full question first, using the four parts from Lesson 4.2: your goal, what you tried, what happened, and the specific point where you're stuck. Don't worry about length at this stage.
Then cut it to under 100 words. Cutting is the step that makes the question good. Remove background the helper doesn't need, merge sentences that repeat each other, and make the actual question one specific sentence. Attach the screenshot, file or error message instead of describing it. Before you send it, check that you aren't sharing personal data, customer details or confidential material the helper doesn't need.
Siti's first draft is 180 words and includes the full history of the claim. She cuts it to 78 words. Her final message greets Daniel, a senior claims assessor at the same insurer (also invented). It says she is processing a hospitalisation claim and needs to confirm the receipt is acceptable, and that the receipt comes from the clinic's parent company, not the clinic named on the referral letter. It notes that section 4 of the claims manual requires receipts from "the treating provider" but doesn't cover parent companies. It asks whether she can accept this receipt or needs one from the clinic itself, and says the receipt and referral letter are attached with the customer's details masked.
Send the question to the person most likely to know. That isn't necessarily the most senior person or the nearest one. If you don't know who that is, ask your manager or a teammate who would know. Choose a channel that suits both the person and the urgency, as set out in Lesson 2.4.
Then record three things:
the time you sent the question the time a useful answer arrived how many messages went back and forth before you had what you needed
Those back-and-forth messages are your follow-ups. A question that gets a complete answer in one reply scores zero follow-ups. Once you have the answer, close the loop: tell the person whether it worked and thank them.
Siti sends her question to Daniel on Teams at 10.15am. He replies at 11.05am. The team accepts the receipt if it also names the clinic where treatment happened, so she should check the footer. She gets one reply and needs no follow-ups. She thanks him and adds the answer to the team's shared FAQ.
Find a question you sent last month, before this module, and score it the same way: time to answer and number of messages.
Siti finds one she sent Daniel three weeks earlier: "Hi Daniel, can I check something about receipts?" It took four messages each way and most of an afternoon, because Daniel had to ask which claim, which receipt and what the problem was.
Your own comparison won't always be this clean. Some people answer quickly whatever you send them, and some problems are simply harder. Over several questions, though, most people see fewer follow-ups and faster answers, and the people they ask notice that the questions are easier to handle.
When you finish, you have the question you sent, the response time and follow-up record for it and for your older question, and a note of the person's answer. The last part of the exercise is to put the two records side by side and decide what you'll do differently, which the activity below asks you to write down.
Send the question, record how long the reply took and how many follow-ups it needed, and write down one thing to change next time.
Junxiong-WFG Organisation is an authorised representative of AIA Financial Advisers Private Limited (Reg. No. 201715016G).