I'm managing a newly created team and I'm also learning the whole dev environment we are working with.
Our team has a mix of young devs and older devs.
One of my colleagues is a senior developer. He is also very detail oriented, which is a thing I enjoy tremendously when working with him. He is also one of the few to help when I need a right/left hand man. As an example, he is the first to go to our meeting room when we are going to attend our daily scrum. He is also the one who is OK to ask when needed to put the extra hours. He has also deep experiences in account management and in management.
There is one thing that bugs me, however: his attitude, which can be very directive.
He has a tendency to get angry easily when he is not understood, not only with me but everyone that interacts with him, firing verbal shots at people in meeting or in the open space. I won't say he is verbally attacking people, but it is close.
I would also say he is very impatient and very nervous. Our colleagues who work with him know this about him and keep things quiet or don't say things to upset him.
I'm patient with him as I've worked with ex-colleagues like him, with the tendency to blow-up, and also traits from a former professional life e.g used to be managing people. Telling him things the straight way won't change things.
I know there is another way, which would be more nudging him to be less explosive but I'm not sure on the best way to handle this. As said, I value his work, I value his attitude to stand up with me when needed and gives me advice, and that I want to keep it.
Any tips or ideas are more than welcomed.