Timeline for How to handle a colleague who appears helpful in front of manager but doesn't help in private?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
12 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Nov 20, 2019 at 19:53 | vote | accept | Htg07 | ||
| Nov 19, 2019 at 12:47 | comment | added | Player One | @FrankHopkins Yes that would be an easy counter, but if John wants to escalate things that far then I think it becomes a situation that's different enough to warrant a new question. | |
| Nov 19, 2019 at 2:08 | comment | added | Frank Hopkins | One easy counter for John to this is to say "Well, you didn't ask me stuff, but worked on it on your own. Just ask me when you don't know how to do things." In which case OP would need to make the inefficiency of the help publicly visible, as John does indeed answer questions, just in a very unhelpful way. | |
| Nov 18, 2019 at 21:40 | comment | added | ThunderGuppy | +1 for framing this as John not having enough time to spare. That places the responsibility on him without OP having to "blame" him confrontationally. | |
| Nov 18, 2019 at 15:45 | comment | added | Chris Stratton | If a private conversation can resolve it by triggering help today, great. If not, blocking issues are a purposefully public part of standup status as a matter of optimization not blame - perhaps someone else can help. Or John states he needs to do something higher priority so all understand this task will slip. The wole point is to not let inefficiencies fester unacknowledged behind the scenes. (If the help were expected to take substantial amounts of John's time it should have been an element in his sprint, too) | |
| Nov 18, 2019 at 13:02 | history | edited | Player One | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 475 characters in body
|
| Nov 18, 2019 at 12:35 | history | edited | Player One | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 493 characters in body
|
| Nov 18, 2019 at 8:58 | comment | added | Stephan Branczyk | @ChrisStratton, I think the point that MaxW was trying to make is to start with a private confrontation with John right now. "If you can't help me this week, don't ever volunteer to help me in front of others again. That just messes up the entire estimation process." | |
| Nov 17, 2019 at 20:15 | comment | added | deep64blue | "For that matter, the fact that the task is going slowly due to lack of help should have been being brought up in the next morning's standup" - this is definitely the right answer, don't let the issue linger! | |
| Nov 17, 2019 at 18:22 | comment | added | Chris Stratton | @MaxW - Sprint planning requires technical honesty to the point that it simply does not work if it is based on assumptions at odds with reality. The wording proposed here is remarkably diplomatic for the reality of the way these persistent false promises have been sabotaging planning. For that matter, the fact that the task is going slowly due to lack of help should have been being brought up in the next morning's standup so that either the help could be provided, or expectations of timeframe re-calibrated for an un-aided effort if the helper's time must go instead to higher priority tasks. | |
| Nov 17, 2019 at 18:01 | comment | added | MaxW | I'd prefer to start off with a less public confrontation. | |
| Nov 17, 2019 at 12:20 | history | answered | Player One | CC BY-SA 4.0 |