88
votes
I just started my first real job, and have been asked to organize the office party. How do I handle this?
What are some things I should keep in my mind so I can pull this off
smoothly without any incident?
Talk with the person who arranged last year's party and (as @ErnestFriedman-Hill points out) ...
- 387k
58
votes
I just started my first real job, and have been asked to organize the office party. How do I handle this?
When in doubt, ask (for help)
Nobody expects a college graduate to single-handedly do an office party. For that matter, even experienced people generally cannot organize something like that alone.
...
- 47.3k
46
votes
How to proactively deal with business plan that seems to phase out my position?
my boss discussed that we'd stop going after multiple smaller clients and instead go for larger projects.
My assumption is that your company is changing their approach in order to grow. As companies ...
- 25.2k
39
votes
I just started my first real job, and have been asked to organize the office party. How do I handle this?
So you are on your first job. You are a programmer. And you have been asked to organize a party for 35/40 people. I hope it's a joke on part of your new colleagues. If it's serious, then something is ...
- 1,905
24
votes
I just started my first real job, and have been asked to organize the office party. How do I handle this?
Here's what you do:
Figure out how much money you have to spend. What, they
gave you a budget already?? Step 1: DONE
Find up to three local bowling alleys. Depending on where you live there may ...
- 513
11
votes
Accepted
Refusing a business trip of an indefinite length for personal reasons
I will speak with my immediate supervisor about this further, but I
was curious what a polite or politically correct way to approach this
is?
You can always politely say that you aren't willing ...
- 387k
11
votes
Accepted
Is it reasonable to expect manager-like colleague to check in regarding progress of my work?
This person is not your manager
You said it yourself, your direct manager introduced you to colleague who has slightly more experience than you. Or in other words, you and this person are likely about ...
- 1,431
11
votes
What should I do if I am over tasked?
I would request that, before answering, you consider a very real situation which you had previously that you perhaps failed at dealing with suitably, but which you now do not because you have the ...
- 146k
11
votes
Accepted
How can I encourage my coworkers to ask questions in meetings instead of waiting until later?
Some solutions:
1: Let people know that for the next meeting, you will be collecting questions, then addressing the submitted questions in the meeting itself. The downside is if it's an urgent ...
- 43.2k
10
votes
Issues with estimating deadlines and communicating setbacks
Get a little app to log your time. Use it for some weeks. You should get a metric for how much development work you really did. From now on, estimate in hours / days and multiply by this overhead. ...
- 22.3k
10
votes
Accepted
How to deal with time planning dispute
I'm also a developer. I suggest for the time being, you just shut your mouth on this poor planning. Send one (1) last email to the project lead to summarize that you don't agree with the proposed ...
- 46k
9
votes
New time logging initiative at work place
I've gone through this in two different companies.
Would you be concerned about this announcement if you were a salaried employee working for this company?
I don't think I was concerned either ...
- 27.5k
8
votes
I just started my first real job, and have been asked to organize the office party. How do I handle this?
You have a few answers that tell you to back off immediately, that it is a joke or you are getting set up to be the "office mom". You have one answer that gives you a very concrete step by step guide ...
- 9,077
8
votes
Writing a Gantt Chart as someone with severe ADHD
A Gantt chart is a picture of a plan. Asking you to make a Gantt chart is really asking you to make a plan. And perhaps, implicit in that is asking you to stick to a plan. And you say you can't do ...
- 153k
7
votes
How can a group of programmers sort their opinions and come to consensus on the best answer?
Power == solution. You are the team leader, right? Whatever you feel comfortable is the best approach, no matter how absurd it sound. For instance, if you believe C is the best language for writing a ...
- 1,409
7
votes
Accepted
How do I get an unrelated group to recognize major problems I see in their operations that would negatively impact me?
You reported your concerns to Bob. Bob asked you not to worry about it, so stop worrying about it. Focus on your own work and let other people do their work. You (probably) do not see everything that ...
- 47.3k
7
votes
Accepted
Does estimating the work in story points leads to more accurate estimations than estimating the work in hours?
I don't believe so. Story points reduce the accuracy of estimations because they are by nature ballpark estimates. Its best not to try to get too granular when estimating size, anyway, because most of ...
- 1,199
7
votes
Is it reasonable to expect manager-like colleague to check in regarding progress of my work?
You are already providing your colleague with everything they need, so there is no need for them to reach out to you.
You check in with them regularly.
You provide them updates on your projects and ...
- 71
7
votes
What should I do if I am over tasked?
"Keep your manager informed" is actually the central thing. Your manager is the one who should set priorities, redistribute work, etc.
In an ideal world, the manager would become aware of ...
- 3,485
7
votes
Accepted
How to handle project when there are too many requests for quick development?
Unfortunately, we do not have a proper project manager
This is where you start; it's great that you have sales people who want to sell your product, but you need a project manager in order to ...
- 33.1k
6
votes
How to proactively deal with business plan that seems to phase out my position?
In this case, I don't feel that there's much I can study on my own to
make myself more useful. This is because they already have a front end
developer who does what I can do, and its unrealistic ...
- 387k
6
votes
How can a group of programmers sort their opinions and come to consensus on the best answer?
Leadership is about making decisions. If I were in your shoes, I would consider all perspectives and take some time to reflect on a solution. Then pick a plan or develop my own and then inform the ...
- 5,676
6
votes
Organising workshops for technical skills
I’m working to organize technical workshops at my workplace - nothing
big, just an hour long during lunch.
Maybe don't schedule it for lunch time. If this is important to the company then the ...
- 48.5k
5
votes
How should I deal with constantly changing directions/tasks/requirements from boss?
My boss trusts me, and us, and our competence - I feel like I can say
anything. But what do I say? What do I do?
Since you can say anything, a discussion about the constantly changing requirements ...
- 387k
5
votes
Accepted
I have been put on a project that's too hard for me and I feel like I ruin everything
Although working on stuff that was not in your perks list might be a good way to progress, you have many options:
Talk to your manager
Explain this to your manager, making sure he understands the ...
- 1,900
5
votes
New time logging initiative at work place
I received a similar request from a previous employer, with the same motivation, word by word.
After a few weeks I noticed I was the only one compiling this logging, and it tingled my nose, but I ...
- 13.9k
5
votes
Issues with estimating deadlines and communicating setbacks
Well - if I were in more certain environment I could afford to have
longer queues, stronger contracts and more accurate requirements, but
the environment is too dynamic for it. Sometimes I have ...
- 387k
5
votes
Issues with estimating deadlines and communicating setbacks
The terms for the development tasks are the biggest issue for me. I tend to commit to the nearest possible term as the deadline for my development tasks, but then the maintenance, consulting and ...
- 4,854
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