New developer denies all wrongdoing, won’t allow conversation to continue

@angrivatedJan 23.2016

We have a web developer that is relatively new, several months there, and when we were sent an email with instructions and questions from the boss to hunt something down, he just went and did the work without telling anyone, while I filed a proper task, and the third developer did nothing. The request was highly unusual as the boss has insisted the process be very task-based to avoid walk-up, email, phone, and chat requests to go through the task process.

The 2nd developer sent me a chat with his notes, and I asked if they were on the task; he said what task? I pointed it out and mentioned that he shouldn’t have just done the work without mentioning it to anyone, and he got very defensive and denied any wrongdoing and I couldn’t even explain why. We eventually went into the boss’ office where it was almost as difficult to keep a conversation without the boss interjecting.

I wasn’t harsh in my words or critical, merely asking questions and saying that we shouldn’t just be jumping into a request like that as we may all have ended up doing the same work when we’re already under enough pressure to get other things done. He’s not from this country and seems very sensitive to anything that seems like he’s doing something wrong, so I’m not sure how to communicate these things without being very soft and delicate, and it can be tough to communicate that way.

Any advice on your experience? I haven’t had trouble like this except with people very convinced of their ability but having a hard time seeing the bigger picture when someone tries to point it out.

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4 Comments(s) _↴

@WebDesignDenverJan 25.2016 — #I would look for a more experienced Developer - someone that has portfolio work similar to what you are needing done.

@jedaisoulJan 26.2016 — #Hi Angrivated.

From what you have said, I suspect that this rather silly mess may have been:

1. Initiated by your boss emailing all the developers with a request for work. That was asking for duplication of effort?

2. When he came to you with the work he had done, you should have been grateful that [i]someone[/i] had actioned the request. After all, it appears that no duplication had actually occurred, as you just raised a task and the third programmer did nothing.

3. Going to your boss with a petty dispute that you could, and should, have resolved yourself reflects badly on everyone.

4. Instead of which, you might have:

a) Thanked the young programmer for his initiative.

b) Updated the task accordingly.

c) Sent the completed task to your boss.

d) Ask the young programmer to raise a task in future.

Then everyone could have come up smelling of roses?

@angrivatedauthorJan 30.2016 — #I would look for a more experienced Developer - someone that has portfolio work similar to what you are needing done.[/QUOTE]

I'm not able to do that.

@angrivatedauthorJan 30.2016 — #Hi Angrivated.

From what you have said, I suspect that this rather silly mess may have been:

1. Initiated by your boss emailing all the developers with a request for work. That was asking for duplication of effort?

[/QUOTE]

Yes, he went against his own practices and requirements, which he'd chewed us out over for not doing those things sometimes, and said he wanted all three of us to work on it, which wasn't stated in the email, so looked contradictory, and likely would have been a waste of time for two of us.

2. When he came to you with the work he had done, you should have been grateful that [i]someone[/i] had actioned the request. After all, it appears that no duplication had actually occurred, as you just raised a task and the third programmer did nothing. [/QUOTE]

I wasn't ungrateful, he just IM'd me this block of tech notes the next day that I had no context for, and I simply asked him if he put it on the task. When I realized he'd already found the answer, I then asked why he started without telling anybody. Remember that it's not just important what happened, but what could have happened, and what problems could have been avoided. Thinking "the ends justifies the means" is usually a recipe for disaster.

3. Going to your boss with a petty dispute that you could, and should, have resolved yourself reflects badly on everyone.[/QUOTE]

This was not a petty dispute, I was unable to communicate with him because he kept cutting me off, so I went to the boss, who's previously told us if someone can't communicate to go to him, and he was finally able to get the point across in the delicate way the developer preferred it (normally totally unnecessary with most developers), and I was not being harsh.

4. Instead of which, you might have:

a) Thanked the young programmer for his initiative.

b) Updated the task accordingly.

c) Sent the completed task to your boss.

d) Ask the young programmer to raise a task in future.[/QUOTE]

Again, this could have caused a major problem if we had spent hours doing the same thing; all of these little things you're suggesting are not wrong in a normal situation, but are enabling in a bad situation. I never said "you're doing it wrong", but he would only accept "you could do better instead", and it doesn't sound like you've relayed any experience in the matter as I requested, so these may as well be uninformed suggestions.

Anyways, I'll take your advice, but I'm not going to kowtow to someone who could be causing problems by bad practice with no thoughtfulness in the situation. I've already run into too many of these situations, and very rarely have people been unable to understand why it's a problem or unwilling to even listen to the feedback about it.