462
votes
Engineer refusing to file/disclose patents
I find it interesting that your company has devalued patents significantly, and then seemed surprised when some of your engineers have decided it's not worth their time.
You talk about trust, but it'...
- 59.4k
395
votes
How can I deal with troublesome Professional Engineer?
Key points:
He has always been a dependable employee
So, you started with a good man, now what happened.
but since being overlooked for a promotion to principal engineer.
Your company screwed ...
- 159k
377
votes
Accepted
How to deal with a coworker who blamed me for the bug that was his fault
Just send an email to everybody involved saying that, after hours, you found (and fixed) the bug. "It is so and so in AB." Maybe with a link to something. Don't mention any person.
That should be ...
- 4,317
361
votes
Engineer refusing to file/disclose patents
30 patents in two years is roughly $75k a year that's been changed to $15k. So he's been given a $60k a year in pay reduction.
So, yeah, he's probably going to quit and go work for someone else. ...
- 8,042
338
votes
How can I deal with troublesome Professional Engineer?
I think you made your own bed, here.
You passed up the ONLY qualified candidate (so far as you have said) for a "Boss's Nephew." You (collective, as in the whole company) need to either go to him, ...
- 63.3k
318
votes
Manager wants to hire me; HR does not. How to proceed?
Continue to work for this company as a consultant.
Conspire with that friendly manager to enlarge your contribution until it is essentially full time or even more.
Charge three times what you ...
- 19k
314
votes
Employer doesn't want to pay me because I took longer than estimated to finish the work
Slovakia is an EU member since 2004. What your boss wants to do is illegal anywhere in the EU. We can ignore all your arguments why it took longer, fact is you were employed for three weeks, therefore ...
- 168k
269
votes
Accepted
Given an ultimatum, threatened with dismissal
When threatened with dismissal, the first step is to consult a lawyer. After you did this, follow the advice given. Most likely it will include talking to your seniors about the fact that they gave ...
- 137k
252
votes
How do I get a coworker to do something that they don’t want to do, as they disrespect me?
You cc'd the wrong person.
It's your manager's job role to make sure his/her teams work gets done efficiently. Your manager is the one who should have been cc'd. This ensures that your manager knows ...
- 218k
251
votes
Accepted
Coworker throwing cigarettes out of a car, I criticized it and now HR is involved
While I congratulate you for standing up for your beliefs, but it seems that you've entered a rather sticky situation. Clearly, this person is a bully, and I'm sorry to say that these sort of ...
- 49.6k
251
votes
Accepted
How to respond to your boss's email about a coworker's accusation?
Respond with an email laying out all the things you tried, up unto calling the supervisor and leaving the problem with them. If there's some kind of "how-to-fix" checklist, read over it and check if ...
- 35.7k
237
votes
Retaining ambitious employee with rare skill set
the only real option might be to write her a good letter of reference and let her go.
This.
Then six months after Alice has left, get back in touch with her and see if she'll put in a good word for ...
- 107k
232
votes
Accepted
How to handle manager when handing in my notice after lying about not looking for a new job
How do I handle this?
Professionally and while doing your utmost to remain calm and dispassionate.
How do I stop her from exploding?
You can't. She probably will based on the past interactions ...
- 59.4k
216
votes
Mass resignation (including boss), boss's boss asks for handover of work, boss asks not to. What to do?
You have not been paid for services provided. You are under no obligation to continue to provide services with no expectation of payment. You can still do as you wish, but if I'm not getting paid, I'm ...
- 1,071
205
votes
Accepted
How can I reply to coworkers who accuse me of automating people out of work?
I faced this same problem for many years.
You have to constantly reinforce that you're "Increasing our capacity." Then if pressed, explain that the human component is the most valuable part, and ...
- 63.3k
202
votes
Accepted
Accused by the team of "stealing" my role from a colleague: all team members are against me
Whatever you do, keep the evidence of decisions made, changed and overturned, by who and when. Sure as eggs are eggs, they will try to blame you ehen there is an error. – Solar Mike 2 hours ago
......
- 11.6k
193
votes
Managing difficult employees
View this from your tech lead's side. You've just joined the company, have given him a bunch of tasks that he's clearly unhappy with, complained that he's taken annual leave that he's entitled to(*), ...
- 34.6k
193
votes
Accepted
Colleague blocks change request in peer review because of perceived mistakes in code, but suggested improvements do not work
He might be correct that the code needs fixing, but he's going about it the wrong way for any code review I've ever seen. Code reviews should fail for very specific, addressable points, eg:
...
- 34.6k
193
votes
Accepted
What to do when during a meeting client's people start to (physically) fight with each other?
Unless you are a supervisor of someone involved (which you are not), your role is to provide physical security (which it is not), or someone is at risk of severe personal harm (discretionary):
DO NOT ...
- 59.4k
181
votes
How can I deal with troublesome Professional Engineer?
The other posters have brought up excellent points. I can provide more insight into the P.Eng. related concerns and reporting this engineer to his certification agency. But first things first:
Things ...
- 4,485
181
votes
How can I deal with troublesome Professional Engineer?
He is sending a message. You already know why he's doing it and you seem to grasp the gravity of the situation.
Your job is to pass the message where it's addressed: up.
Explain to your boss how ...
- 5,379
155
votes
Accepted
Senior engineer suddenly unwilling to do extra work they used to do after being denied promotion
The bridge is burned. He will likely leave the company once he finds another job. Your company can be happy he is not in a financial position to walk out - I WOULD. The moment I am f**** over, I walk ...
- 8,496
154
votes
Managing difficult employees
Managing IT people is like herding cats. Make them mad enough, and you'll get the claws.
Another analogy is that managing IT projects is like holding water, the tighter the grip, the more it escapes ...
- 159k
154
votes
How can I explain to my manager that a project he wishes to undertake cannot be performed by the team?
Some managers reply well when you give them concrete numbers, so they can put a price tag on their decisions. So instead of saying "we can't do this", tell them what you would need in order ...
- 39.8k
152
votes
How do I politely coexist with a help vampire?
So... how can I change this unproductive behavior of mine?
+1 for recognizing that your own behavior is part of the problem.
I'm genuinely trying to help my coworker help themselves
That's the ...
- 116k
152
votes
How can I tell my boss that my productivity is low due to a conflict with a coworker, without blaming the coworker?
Is it possible that you've been too concerned about not blaming your coworker?
Your coworker has been doing things that cause you to feel exhausted and to feel unproductive. That's a big problem. Your ...
- 960
150
votes
How do I conduct myself when dealing with a coworker who provided me with bad data and yet keeps pushing responsibility for bad results onto me?
While it may be that you have to go to your boss and announce you're not getting anywhere, I wouldn't give up until I managed to try one more thing. About an hour spent together with this other person....
- 148k
147
votes
Dealing with an overseas co-worker who acts like my manager/higher up than me
In contrast to Fattie's answer, I think it may be more appropriate to begin with a less aggressive tone, if this is the first occasion on which the matter is being raised.
For example,
"I've ...
- 8,691
145
votes
Accepted
How do I deal with a team member who regularly makes breaking changes?
You must make an ironclad rule that if a person commits code that breaks the build, the commit is instantly reverted and that person's work is not completed.
If you don't have the authority to make ...
- 19k
138
votes
Should I report it to my manager that the client's security didn't help (eg show me around) like my instructions said they would?
There are two things to be mentioned here:
Definitely report this, but do not appear to be finger-pointing at someone. Report the incident as it happened without blaming anyone. You can say something ...
- 70k
Only top scored, non community-wiki answers of a minimum length are eligible