What do you need help with today?
Asking for help can be quite hard. We’ve all had that feeling of needing some help not knowing how to ask for it. What’s almos equally as hard is offering help.
See the connection? The deadlock between people wanting to help and not wanting to/knowing how to ask for help is solved with one very simple question: What do you need help with today?
There are many variations to this question, but this has been the most successful one for me. Asking what someone needs help with is inviting, it’s genuine and it’s open for all kinds of requests of help.
Another way to ask is “What can I help you with today?”. That’s a great question in a very specific or given context. If you walk in to a store and one of the people working there asks this, it’s given that they’re available to help you with picking products in the store or with questions that touch on what they’re selling. If the context is given, it’s hard to know what we can ask of the other person.
Offering something that you can do to someone is another way to go. Even though it’s kind to offer something to someone, you’ve missed a crucial part of helping: listening for what help is needed and wanted. Again, this might be super successful in a given situation, like helping someone lifting their buggy of the bus. But blurting out what you can help with will seem like you’re pushing it down peoples’ throats.
Regardless the situation, I think “What do you need help with today?” works. So please try asking it, and then listen for the answer. You might be surprised of what comes.
What do you need help with today?