Another one down

On alternate Thursdays, we have our project planning meetings. These entail my presenting a description of a user requirement, why we’re doing this, and what the expected functional result is. For example:

“A customer shall be able to dispose of effluvia.”

The team asks clarifying questions and offers suggestions. For example:

Would a push-button on the top of the tank be an acceptable user interface to activate the device? Or, is a lever required? [Sure it can be a button - it just needs to be obvious how to use it. The customer wants the fecal material to go away without thinking too much about it. Or calling technical support.]

And so on. A key point is I try not to get into the implementation details - that’s the engineers’ job.

The meeting is long, but it’s useful because we leave with clarity on what we’re building, how long it’s going to take, and how we’ll know we’ve built it. Furthermore, since we have adopted a Kanban-style operation, we have a visually impressive set of cards with work orders.

Paramount to this process is having the entire team present and engaged. This was the biggest concern I had when Bucky was assigned to my team. Our daily five-minute stand-up meetings, held at the crack of 9:30 a.m., are an opportunity to review the kanban cards, discuss impediments, see our progress, and just gel as a team. Not only is Bucky always late to these, he has not made an overt effort to try to learn what it is we do. The dude’s been here longer than me, too. It’s been hard to keep my comments in check.

About halfway through our planning meeting, Bucky left the room with nary a comment. We all assumed he was going to do some informal research of the effluent disposal devices on the other floors. But, when an hour and a half had passed — time for us to order, pick up, and eat pizzas — he had still not returned. He pushed my limit.

When we finished discussing all of the kanban tasks, I went looking for Bucky. One of the team members thought I was being harsh about looking for him, but I pointed out the insolence was towards the team. I don’t care if I’m perceived as being a dick: the foreman was unwilling to deal with it, so I will. The division vice president caught me in the hallway, indicating he just saw Bucky ten minutes ago. After I uncorked, he said “Document it for the union.”

I didn’t need to. Bucky gave his notice on Friday.   [Option a) -- I called it!]  I am relieved this happened before his attitude spread to the rest of the team.