FloatingHamster
FloatingHamster

Dealing with shit/toxic people in tech

How do you guys deal with toxic people in tech, especially when they are your seniors or you work with them everyday? We are a small team and the senior I have is an extremely shit person. We decide something while design discussions, and product discussion but he changes his mind and asks to completely revamp the solution after it's implemented. Extremely close-minded to new or different ideas or different ways of doing things. Also frequently insults people on the call.

I know one solution is to leave the company but that can't always be the case and when the team is small, sometimes these people become unavoidable. So looking for ideas on how other people deal with toxic peers/seniors in their workplace.

21mo ago
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WobblyPancake
WobblyPancake
Meta21mo

Best part about tech is that its objective. Since you implemented an architecture, load test it, record latencies. Implement his architecture load test it and record latencies.

Throw those numbers in his butt.

BubblyPenguin
BubblyPenguin

You are one of the few people who talk value on this app. Please engage more if its possible. I luv u

WobblyPancake
WobblyPancake
Meta20mo

@Frequency9379 thanks Its mostly weed talking

Or just do what is told but keep a record of what is told like in jira. After trying many things even fighting I have learnt this is the easiest. Just says yes and do it. Even if it feels wrong.

JazzyPenguin
JazzyPenguin
Nykaa21mo

Shitty people want shit, Give them some shit. Never say no, just respond in effectiv manner that things will take time. Argue less even they are wrong. If something is not possible then inform then once and tell them i need to rnd on this. You can play with them with the time lines and effort

CosmicPotato
CosmicPotato

If leaving isn't an option, then usually being a yes man is the only way to move forward.

Also on the other hand if you are actually interested in improving / trying different ideas, then I would suggest to involve people other than the senior in question during design reviews and implementations during conversations / meetings and basically have everything documented. It helps to have someone else backing you but usually in small teams from what I have seen, seniors and upper management don't really care about your opinions but rather would be a tight knit group of friends or ex colleagues. So I would say tread with caution, not every problem have a perfect solution and this is one of those.

FloatingHamster
FloatingHamster

Yes it's one of those situations where they know each other from before and I'm the new guy. There are no set processes hence, even if I do document things, it will be a waste because no one cares. Well leaving is an option but the market is very bad so I'm a bit reluctant to take that step as of now. Also I've joined only 3 months back so not sure if it even looks good on the resume.

FluffyPanda
FluffyPanda
Swiggy21mo

There isnt any.

ZoomyPotato
ZoomyPotato
Aurigo21mo

In the case of WFH, start the call recording whenever you think he's being unreasonable/insulting. It's amazing how it puts most of the people in their place

ZoomyPotato
ZoomyPotato
Aurigo21mo

Needless to say, only do it when you know you are right/calm, otherwise it can backfire lol

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