“We want it fixed, but don’t spend too much time on it”

I just love this one.  These kind of statements really piss me off as a developer especially when I have a task or two I’m already working on.  This has got to be one of the worst lazy ass one liners you can get from a manager these days in development.

So here’s the story:  You get a new request in straight up from a user (because unfortunately there is no proper ticketing system or any process in place at any time whatsoever).  Boss asks “what’s the problem”.   You explain shortly to your boss the problem that the user painted.  Boss tells you to take care of it.  But at that point, it’s too late in the day to really start tackling it and you have other more important tasks that you already started for your boss that day.

Next day comes, you now start on that task first thing in the morning.  Suddenly though you are invited and required to attend a 2 hour meeting that your boss never told you about...very nice.    He wants you to abruptly stop all you are doing to attend.  And granted this meeting was not an emergency.   You go to the meeting and get back.  Boss walks back from meeting and says “Hey, about that problem, we want it fixed but don’t spend too much time on it”.

Stop.  Lets rewind that again.  What’s wrong with this picture? A LOT.

1) First and foremost above all else, are were expected to get existing tasks done.  That statement throws a wrench into the engine

2) You were unprofessionally interrupted about a meeting everyone else was informed of days before except you

3) Worse, there is obviously no priority system here and that IS a major problem from top down

4) It’s complete chaos because it gives no conclusion on what your boss truly wants you to do.  It leaves the developer with questions, not direction.

“We want it fixed, but don’t spend too much time on it”.

If that’s not one of the worst contradiction a human can make, you tell me what is worse than this.  “We want it fixed”.  It’s the blind leading the blind because notice that your boss did not say when.  And he did not say now.  And yesterday when that came in he also did not say when it needs to get done.

If you want it done but you don’t want me to spend time on it then YOU put it in a bug request and put a priority on it for me Mr. Manager.  Otherwise let me develop and work on the tasks you specified that are already being worked on.

Isn’t it not the job of a manager to give direction?  Stating something like this just gives a developer indirection and that developer is left to figure out what the hell that manager REALLY means.  Or spend all day and night working overtime to do it ALL.  Whoops, there went your “work life balance”, nice.

And I find it unbelievable that it’s usually these types of “people” are the ones who are rushing you to get something done with an unrealistic timeframe. And then when you do get something done, you don’t hear from them for days, and you’re now sitting there with nothing to do!  So you’re being screwed on both sides of the coin.  On first hand, that statement tells you to rush to get it done “don’t take too much time on it” and then the other situation (sitting for a few days with no new work being passed onto you) puts you in a mindset “wtf, screw you”.

I say “people” because these “people” are not good enough to be “managers” because they operate in carelessness like this.

See your existing tasks through till completion.  Work on them and get them done.  Because if you do not produce results and you focus on that new task instead that your boss did not originally give to you and furthermore gives you contradicting statements on, you will not be producing results and ultimately your boss will not be happy in the end no matter what he had said about that “other” task. 

Unfortunately in code & run shops, sometimes you simply have to make your own decisions when you’re tossed chaos into your lap and constantly working in non-professional environments like this.  You have to be the manager because your boss is not capable in these situations.

This kind of thing happens a lot in IT shops which have no planning, organization, realistic deadlines or priorities.  This is code & run and most likely a shop you do not want to work in.

Go home and live your life, spend time with your kid, your spouse and stop worrying about it.  Spend time on it another day when your boss finally clears his head on that task and tells you to spend time on it, making it a priority in his disoriented mind.