Where do you draw the line?

[guest2013-1]

I'm an IT Manager. Previously a programmer. I'm good at my job... actually bordering on brilliance (My previous boss can atest)

What is new to me is the whole managing business, however, I've had previous customer facing experience before as the Senior Research & Developer programmer. (Designing processes/ideas etc for clients based off of their business needs) I also have a wide range of experience in PC's, servers and general internet things (Google, running my own mail servers, web servers, firewalls etc)

Now, I took over several projects from a guy who really didn't know much about anything but managed to fool people into thinking he was the bee's knees. So I'm sorting out all this legacy crap he left over. I have 1 dedicated .NET programmer on a project and I've outsourced the other project to guys I know/trust to do the job right the first time.

My problem now is the current programmer is ****ing up royally. His 6 year experience in his CV (even though he claims he's been doing it longer than I have, ha!) has no server experience (poor chap can't even setup IIS!) and no general knowlegde of the web. He has NO experience in DNS etc... and the way he's doing things is making me doubt he even has the necessary experience required to do the job.

Now the project he is working on is seriously over deadline. I have several other clients I'm keeping happy including doing some projects myself that is set out by my company to do/achieve in a certain period.

The other day he showed his n00bness again and the client is getting very irratated and VERY pissed off with us. I'm thinking now maybe I should personally take over the project and re-write everything because I feel I can re-write EVERYTHING faster than he could do something as simple as fix a bug (another thing he doesn't do well TEST HIS OWN **** WORKS! If it "builds" in VS.NET he reckons it works)

So, where do I draw the line? Taking over re-writing this myself will take up most of my time which I don't have because I spend it in meetings with clients/prospective clients and generally fixing the previous guy's work....

Should I burn myself out and do this to keep the client happy? Or what should I do? I've discussed this with the General Manager and he said that I should get rid of him if I don't think he is performing, but I would feel kind of weird because the dude got his family over from Pakistan 2 months ago to come live here...

I don't know. The communication gap between him and the clients and him and me (HE DOESNT EVEN FOLLOW BASIC INSTRUCTIONS... this is after I've spent several hours explaining everything!) it's wasting a whole lot more time than it would be to actually just do the job properly the first time.

I'm really stressing about this. My heart rate is up a few hundred beats per second and I'm losing sleep. I know I'm stressing because my work ethic usually takes a knock (perform less)....

Not sure what to do or where to draw the line. I've spoken to this guy more than once about these things... and they're still happening...

 

[werner]

as a manager, you will come across "mediocre" types all the time.
jumping in and being hands-on doesnt always work best in the long run. it shows an inability to manage people-problems in P.C.-speak world....which YOUR boss may pick up as a weakness

guide, assist, mentor, then fire.

if you are a charity, then keep him on. by the looks of it though, get rid of him, you finish the job by hook or by crook with condition that YOU get to sit in on the interview and yay/nay the next applicant.

 

[HavocXphere]

IMO you should get rid of him. No point in having staff whose ability you doubt.

On the other hand, I think you shouldn't compare him with yourself. If you are "bordering on brilliance" then it is hardly fair to expect the same from everyone else.

Can't you drop him and then do damage limitation by outsourcing this work too?

 

[onebrickshort]

Fire his ass and try and outsource a little more to those you trust, just so you can cope while you clean up the cretins mess

 

[Fudzy]

Before firing his ass, make sure you have all the mishaps in writing, that he is aware of these mishaps and that you have given him atleast one warning. Given what developers etc earn these days you don't want your company having to fork out on CCMA hearings and their relevant legal fees.

 

[oober]

Yes better start building a track record before you fire the bloke. Otherwise it could get nasty if you don't have enough proof if it goes to court...

 

[Eyenstyn]

i am sure with his cv he can get a job somewhere else. one shouldnt mix home and business issues.i think u like being stressed. just outsource the work.

 

[gregmcc]

give him a verbal warning and then a written warning. you can't just fire him on the spot. he still have the ccma knocking on your door soon than you think.

but I agree - he does need to go. 6 years experience and never setup IIS and doesnt under stand DNS. What a moron

 

[Waaib]

When I was reading your post I was thinking to myself 'This guy sounds like an Indian/Pakistani programmer'. I've worked with about 50 of them over the past few years. All had incredible CV's (6 to 10 years experience and IT/IS degrees) and only ONE was actually anything like you'd expect based on the CV. I've even had business analysts with MBA's who can't use ms-word.

I hear you on the family issue and it's not easy to take the responsibility of letting him go. Unless you are willing to work with him in serious spoon-feeding / micro manager mode you won't get much out of him and you can't change him.

What I found worked best was:
- daily 15 minutes meetings to run through tasks on hand, progress to date and issues to date. Must be at the same time every day to create routine and give him something to work against. Today you must finish this so that tomorrow you can work on that etc.
- all instructions had to be in writing. Make ZERO assumption of initiative because it doesn't exist in their culture (in general). Even this is no guarantee, they'll still routinely change what you write down and do their own thing. I found I needed to FORCE them to show me what they had done vs what I had instructed (sometimes making them very irate).
- Never let them test their own work. It will fail. They do dev testing - i.e test it the way it is supposed to work and not the way a user will use / break it.

If the above is too much for you to handle or he should be able to work without the micro-management (based on salary etc) then you have to let him go. That's part of the downside of being a manager.

 

[guest2013-1]

Thanks for the advice guys, and I don't think I have to worry about the CCMA, I'm in Dubai

I'll take Waaib's advice first before making a decision, the client wants something working by end of this week.

 

[Ou grote]

When I was reading your post I was thinking to myself 'This guy sounds like an Indian/Pakistani programmer'. I've worked with about 50 of them over the past few years. All had incredible CV's (6 to 10 years experience and IT/IS degrees) and only ONE was actually anything like you'd expect based on the CV. I've even had business analysts with MBA's who can't use ms-word.

I hear you on the family issue and it's not easy to take the responsibility of letting him go. Unless you are willing to work with him in serious spoon-feeding / micro manager mode you won't get much out of him and you can't change him.

What I found worked best was:
- daily 15 minutes meetings to run through tasks on hand, progress to date and issues to date. Must be at the same time every day to create routine and give him something to work against. Today you must finish this so that tomorrow you can work on that etc.
- all instructions had to be in writing. Make ZERO assumption of initiative because it doesn't exist in their culture (in general). Even this is no guarantee, they'll still routinely change what you write down and do their own thing. I found I needed to FORCE them to show me what they had done vs what I had instructed (sometimes making them very irate).
- Never let them test their own work. It will fail. They do dev testing - i.e test it the way it is supposed to work and not the way a user will use / break it.

If the above is too much for you to handle or he should be able to work without the micro-management (based on salary etc) then you have to let him go. That's part of the downside of being a manager.

Good advice.
+ try to have a positive attitude when talking to them, if they know u want to get rid of them, they'll do anything they can to stab u in the back.