Team member asks the same information across the team

Question

There is a specific team member on my team that comes for me to clarify his questions. Once these questions are clarified, he does the same questions to other team members.

What would be the best approach to make sure the information provided is enough and to let him know that if the information is not enough he needs to state it instead of going to another team member and ask the same questions all over again, wasting both my and my team mate's time.

Answer 1

I see two sides to this: on one hand, gathering opinions on a problem / question is good thing because it means multiple brains on the problem, multiple points of view and schools of thought, crazy ideas that might be the trigger for a super idea, ideas feeding off of other ideas. On the other hand, he could be fishing for answers that validate his answer, which means he is actively feeding a bias we all tend to have. This, of course, would be not a great way to operate for himself. If you are just noticing this with you, it could also mean he is telling you he doesn't trust you.

I don't know that you want to tell him the information you provided is enough if my first thought is true. You'd instead want to exploit it even if it makes you feel insecure as a manager. It might be worth a general inquiry to him about his method. Let him know you observed this behavior and simply ask why. Uncover more information before you judge what is going on.

And also take a look at yourself as a manager. Managing others can often times make a manager, especially new one, feel very insecure.

Answer 2

Every person have different nature and requirements, and handling them is covered under Stakeholder Management and Communication Management under Project Management.

• The next time he comes to ask you question, let him make sure that he understands and that if there is anything unclear he comes back to you before going to everybody else.
• In the meantime, if other team members are aware and annoyed at the same time on this behavior, let them tell him "I know a little about it, probably you can ask Snooper"
• Ask him to take notes when you are explaining something. Try to sketch out solutions for him to keep as a reference and make sure he's clear on them.

Answer 3

1. Check the the various aspects of his question (use why? what? when? & etc).
2. Be patient and listen to him or her patiently.

3. Use writing or Drawing for clarify the question:

   • Write his questions on a paper or board.
   • Ask him to be thought with you on the various aspects of the question.
   • Write your answer or Description about those aspects.
   • Finally if someone else has given him a convincing answer; ask him to explain and check your answer with his description.