You could explore two ways to address this. One you try finding the answers and then going back to the associate or you enable the associate saying that there is this wonderful place called forum where anybody can get any answer for their question. I personally would prefer the latter as enabling an associate is for the long term and he will at some point will be grateful that you pointed him in the correct direction while the the former addresses the problem no doubt but then it's more short term in nature.
There may still be a question in your mind what would the associate think if I tell him to go to the forum and not provide the answer. The best thing would be to tell the associate that you don't have the answers right now, however, you will get back to him/her within a specific time frame. Having done that, once you have the answer you can also guide the associate to tell them how you found the answer and how much it would help the associate used the forum not only to get their answers but also to increase their knowledge of the business. You may also provide some live examples of things you learnt by using the forum resources effectively to drive home the point.
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You could explore two ways to address this. One you try finding the answers and then going back to the associate or you enable the associate saying that there is this wonderful place called forum where anybody can get any answer for their question. I personally would prefer the latter as enabling an associate is for the long term and he will at some point will be grateful that you pointed him in the correct direction while the the former addresses the problem no doubt but then it's more short term ...more