Learn to respond with a link
If you’re writing things up regularly and referencing them in your team’s handbook, you can avoid redundant conversations by encouraging people to read. Just share the link and let them self-service. This will also improve adoption of your handbook and your asynchronous knowledge resources. This isn’t rude. It’s just efficient.
Here’s an example of how you can respond with a link.
Coworker: Hey Sumeet, can you talk me through the requirements for the notifications service? I wanted to figure out what endpoints we need to build out to support the new functionality.Sumeet: Hey mate! I already wrote up the requirements as part of the proposal. [Insert link here]. Check it out. You’ll find explanatory wireframes in there too. If something’s not clear, just drop a comment and I’ll address it pronto.
If you can’t respond with a link, then it’s a trigger to write things up. Help your colleague out, create the document and then get their feedback to check if it answers their original question. That way, you can respond with a link in the future.