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Help: Everyone at Work Is Demotivated and Pissed
Hi, looking for advice.
The company I work at, we've raised a bunch of money but still haven't nailed a customer solution. The business and product strategy is always changing, leadership is pretty shit, we've rebuilt our infrastructure like three times in the past couple years. The product team and DevOps is constantly is disagreement and my product manager is emotionally tapped out. It's a sales driven company so sales is treated like heroes while engineers and designers are basically forgotten about. My team is losing patience with each other although we're not the problem. There's just a lack of decency in the way people treat each other, people are really demotivated and kind of pissed. There is severe fatigue is people's ability to deal with these issues.
Aside from just moving on - is there anything I can do to just get my team to get along?
- gcoda 9y agoLife is pointless and got no reason. You find your personal truth and reason, and suddenly all your suffering and pain worth it. Why are people work there, huge money, big potential opportunity? Whatever it is, talk about it, if it is true enough all your pain might go away.
- AnimalMuppet 9y agoThe problems go far beyond your team or your influence. So, no, you can't fix the problems. If you try, you're going to wind up burned out and/or depressed. You probably can't get your team to get along, either. The problem is that, in that situation, everybody's attitude is going south (with some reason). "Hey, everybody, the situation outside our team is garbage, and the garbage keeps landing on us, but lets all keep a positive attitude, OK?" doesn't sell very well. You might be able to encourage them to not actively fight with each other (admitting to each other what the situation is and what it's doing to you might help), but everyone's underlying attitude is still going to be crummy. It's a toxic environment, and it's not your team's fault, but you can't fix it. Get out before it destroys you.
- callmeed 9y agoI've been there. It sounds like there's enough red flags to indicate the company won't survive. Here's the way to approach this and what you can control/do: 1. First and foremost, have the mindset of "Even if this company fails, I want to come out the other side with better skills and new, positive relationships." 2. For the skill part, pick something you want to get better at and start doing it for the benefit of this company. Maybe its an in-demand/buzzwordy engineering skill (AI, the JS framework de-jour, etc.). Maybe its UX. Maybe even growth or sales. Ask permission if you want, but do it regardless. If you can, spend some of the "bunch of money" they raised (eg for online training, to attend a useful conference, or for some premium services). 3. For the relationship part, start doing one-on-one's with your team members. It helps if you're their manager or at least senior but not required. Make sure they know its confidential. Ask meaty questions ("how happy are you?", "what would you change?", etc.). Share your answers back with them. When appropriate, let upper management know the general feelings (just don't out people). 4. Do stuff with co-workers after hours or on weekends if you can. You'd be surprised how much teammates can bond over shared dissatisfaction with a manager. Anyway, that's what I would do. Of course, you should definitely also start looking for another job. You can't do the above forever and stay sane.
- lalotoa 9y agoYeah, this is really great feedback - thanks! Some stuff of these I'm already doing, but can push it a lot more. Want to be a positive influence. Thanks!
- eip 9y agoWorking at Soundcloud sounds pretty tough. Don't worry though. From what I hear you will only have a job for another two months or so.