Yes and no. No because you're clearly concerned about it so there is hope (Dick managers generally either don't care how they are or actively see it as a good

Yes and no. No because you're clearly concerned about it so there is hope (Dick managers generally either don't care how they are or actively see it as a good thing), but yes because you seem not to trust them (you admit to wanting to know what they're doing). The nature of trust is not trusting them to get on with their work eight hours a day to a format you think appropriate, it's trusting them to deliver what's been asked on time and to know how they want to work to achieve that. You need to accept that there isn't a universal working pattern for programmers. Some are in at 8am, work diligently all day then head off. Others slope in late, are inefficient for large parts of the day but pull it out of the hat when it matters. There is little point in asking programmer B why he can't work steadily like programmer A because quite simply he can't, that's not how his mind works. It may be that the inefficient time is how he mulls over the problem, it may be that he needs the rush of the approaching deadline, it maybe something else entirely, but these things are rarely as simple as Person X does this so it will work for Person Y. Think of a programmer as a black box. You define inputs and outputs, they define what goes on inside the box. Your job is to give them the best inputs you can, monitor the outputs and generally leave the rest alone. In terms of your current style a few questions you might want to ask yourself: * What is it that means that you want to see what they're doing all the time? * Why do they want to hide their monitors from you? * What would you do if you saw them doing something completely non-work related? * Have they done anything in the past which suggests that they're not committed to the project? * How does your boss treat you and how do you feel about it? I suspect the answers might help you identify any Dick traits you might have. P.S. In terms of the guy craning - yes, you need to address that as you're likely liable for his working environment. But explain that to him and say he can have his cube how he likes so long as it's basically safe.