Sounds like pair programming, except the programming part is optional.
I’d like a large rolodex of such people, both for me, and other people I know who could use help.
Maybe different people need different assistants.
Seems to me that being a good assistant has two components: good communication skills (patience, clarity of explaining, adjusting the advice to target’s current skills and knowledge), and skills in the specific thing you want to assist with. With the communication skills, different people may prefer different styles, but there probably would be a general consensus on what is better. With the task-specific skills, it depends on what you already know. Someone could provide useful advice to beginners, but have nothing useful to say to an expert.
I guess, if you make a list for other people, it should make clear what is the level of your skill where the assistant will be useful for you. There is nothing wrong with only being useful to beginners, if there are beginners who will use the list; and in a large group there will probably be more beginners than experts on any specific topic.
Sounds like pair programming, except the programming part is optional.
Maybe different people need different assistants.
Seems to me that being a good assistant has two components: good communication skills (patience, clarity of explaining, adjusting the advice to target’s current skills and knowledge), and skills in the specific thing you want to assist with. With the communication skills, different people may prefer different styles, but there probably would be a general consensus on what is better. With the task-specific skills, it depends on what you already know. Someone could provide useful advice to beginners, but have nothing useful to say to an expert.
I guess, if you make a list for other people, it should make clear what is the level of your skill where the assistant will be useful for you. There is nothing wrong with only being useful to beginners, if there are beginners who will use the list; and in a large group there will probably be more beginners than experts on any specific topic.