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Ask HN: Coworker does not work, at all. What to do?

6 points by tuckerpo ↗ HN
My remote coworker has not done any work for nearly two years. Every day, seemingly either through obfuscation or exaggeration, they find a reason to get nothing done.

Sometimes the dog is sick, sometimes it's a contractor doing work on their home, sometimes it's insane Rube Goldberg machines like "it's raining and my wife has astigmatism so I have to drive her around town so she can do her errands"

Now, I know commits are a terrible proxy for programmer productivity, but... we're talking about 8 commits over the course of ~650 days, 7 of which are README updates from this person. Sounds hyperbolic, but it's the truth.

Normally I wouldn't care about a bum coworker. There's a lot of them out there, unavoidable. They're usually harmless. But this person is above me in pay and title and has recently come to the helm of the project that I am working on. This person's apathy and laziness is really starting to affect my ability to do good work. The rest of my team under this individual feels similarly.

What's a person to do? This is not some mega-corp where do-nothing types can fly under the radar. It's glaringly obvious to boots-on-the-ground engineers that this person is a net negative. I think even our manager is at least acutely aware that this person is a bit of a bum, but they seem to take on a cognitive dissonance towards it, pretending to be aloof about the situation, to the point of allowing this person to run projects and lead teams.

I've spoken with this person individually and let them know how they're affecting the rest of the team, but they took it as a personal attack of character, so that just lead to this person seeing me as a threat.

I really love everything about my current gig and would hate to have to move teams or even find an entirely new job, but I feel I am running out of more civil options. Any suggestions from folks who've dealt with a similar situation?

11 comments

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iwanttocomment
"It's come to my attention that x has only committed 8 times in the past ~2 years. I'm not aware of other substantial work that they've accomplished. Should I be slowing things down? I love this company and feel like my accomplishments speak for themselves, but I don't want to risk burnout if I'm working so far beyond the level that is actually expected. My understanding is that this concern is shared by my peers."
infamouscow
You don't know what the situation is.

It's in your best interest to take a step back and really try to be in your coworker's shoes. There's many unknowns that explain everything.

Despite your frustration, it's still not professional. You don't know what's going on. If you cannot empathize you're unqualified to be a software engineer and should pack up your stuff. It's not about you or a silly project everyone will forget about in a few years. Your coworker may be making up excuses because they don't want to share what's really going on with the rest of the team, especially if the other members are poking around. A close family member might be sick for all you know and management has enough heart to let their performance slide.

shrimp_emoji
> If you cannot empathize you're unqualified to be a software engineer and should pack up your stuff.

You've got "software engineer" and "HR lady" mixed up.

Being able to code makes you qualified to be a software engineer; empathy is for all those other people whose brain doesn't have to remember what prvalues are and have enough room for social shit.

Just because MBAs drilled into everyone's heads that fewer people should be able to do more stuff to justify lower staff counts doesn't make it true.

tuckerpo
> If you cannot empathize you're unqualified to be a software engineer and should pack up your stuff.

I do mostly empathize with this person. I don't believe they are inherently lazy or malicious, and recognize that they're likely going through something in their personal life.

I used to just observe from afar making the mental note that this person was sort of clocked out, but I care much more now that they're in a leadership position that is directly correlated to my career's success.

Empathy in the inverse direction must also hold, people should feel bad about their own lack of output, creating a thankless burden of the rest of their team.

icedchai
You have to complain more. Complain to the boss's boss if your boss doesn't want to do anything. My experience is most people don't want conflict so nothing is done for the first couple of complaints.
sizzzzlerz
Who is assigning tasks to this person? Do they not notice that they aren’t being completed? I assume you and your other co-workers aren’t covering for them by doing their work as well as your own. If your work is being delayed because you need their work, let your management know. If this is stressing you, ask for a reassignment and give your reasons.
shrimp_emoji
Look, I just have a lot going on right now, Tucker. It's not easy being on HN and at the helm of a large project.
tuckerpo
Quit taking your dog for 7 hour long walks and write some code, man! :^)
marssaxman
If you have already informed your manager of your observations and your feelings, then you have already done all that is necessary, because your coworker's level of performance is not your responsibility.

> This person's apathy and laziness is really starting to affect my ability to do good work.

This is a problem you actually have control over, so this is what you should probably focus on. Your coworker's behavior is not directly harming your productivity, after all; your feelings about the situation are doing that. If you want to keep this job, as it sounds like you do, you may need to accept that your underperforming coworker is a fact of life, then figure out how to get over it - you cannot control what, if anything, management will choose to do about the situation.