ASIP-PM3-15 Asking for Help

You may be surprised to learn how many people know they are stuck and ask for help without first trying to help themselves. Sometimes you must seek help, and that is okay! But before you ask for help, be sure that you understand your position.

When you encounter a problem that is impacting your progress, pause and consider the following questions: Why are you stuck? Is it because of a: Lack of information? Lack of skill or expertise? Lack of resources? Lack of power or influence? Something else? Where did you get stuck in the problem solving process? Was it in the root cause analysis or perhaps when brainstorming a solution? What have you tried already to get yourself "unstuck"? When working through these questions, you can often gain the clarity that you need to continue problem solving. If, after working through these questions, you remain stuck, connect with your peers, colleagues, or supervisor for support.

Scenario: Let's practice asking for help at work, or with any other problem you may have.

Instruction: Type your responses in each box. Click the blue circle with an arrow to go to the next page of the activity. If you would like to save a copy of your responses, click the blue button "Download Your Responses" and then click the "Export" button. The Word document will be in your computer's downloaded files with a file name "exported-text". You can change the file name of the document on your computer.

Attribution: This activity is used in the Arts & Science Internship Program's open educational resource, "Ideation and Planning Skills for Employment Success", available through eCampusOntario's Open Library in Spring 2023.

This project is made possible with funding by the Government of Ontario and through eCampusOntario’s support of the Virtual Learning Strategy. To learn more about the Virtual Learning Strategy visit: https://vls.ecampusontario.ca.