Yes that's true, which is why I said "why not both?" The manager should do more, but so should the employee. Sitting there and saying "I'm blocked, woe is me" is garbage compared to saying "I'm blocked. Can you please help me Mr/Ms XYZ?"
We're humans. Unless there's been a training day or a Readme file explaining HOW to report a bug, I think it's perfectly reasonable to expect this protocol to work:
"I'm blocked!"
"Why?"
"{reason}"
If nobody ACKs the "I'm blocked" message, it's reasonable for someone to think that nobody cares or nobody is listening. This is a normal human protocol, as used in most human environments.
"{problem}!"
"What's happening? How can I help?" (any considerate person nearby responds)
I just cut your protocol complexity by half. ;-)
It’s rather unrealistic for the manager to be understanding all the time and coax a team member to give all details of every problem...
Dig as far as you can, record it all, then escalate. You also have to gauge how critical it is and how much of your time (esp. if other things are building up) to spend on it as a factor of when to take it up the line.
Tbh, I haven't had any managers lately that have been that great but I'm still holding out hope.
Those people should never be managers.
> Source: am a manager.
> I'm blocked, woe is me" is garbage
As a manager, are you prepared to put your real name to these comments?
This is an anonymous public forum with a massive audience and great content. Let's keep it civil and not target individuals. Please don't try and start witch hunts to ruin someone's career just because you do not agree with him.