Bsrhrki

The team I currently work in follows bad software development practices. The team is part of a big international company, but it is not primarily a software company.

The (bad) practices include:

• no version control. (infrastructure is in place, but my team does not wish to use it)


• no centralized issue tracker. (we do send spreadsheets to each other however, so this might just be a matter of preference)


• no clear development process. (at least, not clear to me).

I have been pointing this out for the past 6 months. My team's manager has left the company after a 3 month absence, and there is no replacement for him at the moment.

I have spoken to several people in management positions and they all agree that this should be solved. Some action has been taken to eventually solve this. But I am not certain resolving this will eventually happen.

I am not very experienced yet, and not in a position to structurally change this myself. I do try however, to set the best example wherever possible.

Should I let management know that I consider leaving the company due to these practices? Or at least let them know that I am growing quite frustrated?

Should I let management know that I consider leaving the company due to these practices?

Never say directly that you are thinking of leaving - as soon as management know that you're not committed to the company, that always puts you at risk of being out of a job without a new one to go to.

Or at least let them know that I am growing quite frustrated?

This is a much better idea - and an ideal topic to bring up in any regular 1-to-1s or similar that you may have with your manager. I'm suspecting that you may not have regular 1-to-1s (which is a different issue), but you can always schedule a meeting with your manager, or whoever is at least sort of acting as your manager, to let them know that your concerns.

You actually ARE in a position to change this. You lead by example.

You can start using version control locally for your changes. You can simply 'commit' everyone else change at the same time. You will always be able to recover previous versions and compare things to prior versions.

You can also offer to do this for the company. Setting up version control (on a smaller level) is fairly easy to do and manage. This may set you up for a promotion in the near future if it is seen as valuable.

You can do something similar for the issue tracker.

Don't let an "opportunity" to excel be a reason for leaving. Expecting a 'senior' person to do the work guarantees you will always be the 'junior'. Once the company sees you as an authority for solving systemic problems - you will have a lot more power to implement changes in the future. That is how you become the 'senior' leader. You have to demonstrate the competency.

From the sounds of the (bad) practices, this seems like a small company. I would say voice your frustration in a way that improves the company. Saying something like "Hey, Mr. Manager - I notice that we aren't following some best practices. This can effect my efficiency and others on my team. I was wondering if we could have a discussion, maybe with the team, about putting some best practices in place?" If at this point your ideas are falling on deaf ears and you plan to leave, do so quietly while searching for other jobs and give your proper notice (usually 2 weeks in the U.S)

You also mention the manager has been out and no replacement. what if you could be the replacement? I know you say I am not very experienced yet. But showing your company that you are passionate about leading the team to better practices goes a long way - especially in smaller companies. If you are worried about lack of experience, you can ask for training. At the very least you can have a discussion about the path of your career to move into a management role. Of course, only pursue this option if it is something you want.

One thing I noticed in my career is that if you expect a manager to manage anything useful, you're going to be disappointed :-)

What does work, particularly, in small teams is proactive improvement. You say there's no version control. So put some in. Get something simple and easy to maintain and free (whether its VisualSVN on Windows or git on Linux) just install it, show your colleagues how to use it, and hopefully you will all use it without problem. You won't be able to force its use, but really, if you can show a benefit without much cost (in terms of effort or time for the devs) then they'll use it. Chances are they already know its needed but don't have time or inclination to make the effort to put it in.

An issue tracker can be done the same way - if your VCS comes with one, use that, otherwise install a web tracker thing and show people how to use it.

The trouble comes with overcoming inertia from the others, but that's what interpersonal skills are for - explain, encourage, get them excited about going for it.

You don't need a manager for any of this. And you don't need to leave because your team has no devops environment. So improve things, don't just run away, and don't make assumptions that you can't change it yourself - you can, pick that ball up and run with it.

Your question is actually two-fold:

1. Should you tell management you're considering leaving the company.


2. How to improve/enforce best practices.

Now, these two have been answered plentiful on this site, but here are the basics.

1. Never tell management you're considering leaving the company before having a signed contract from your new employer. And when you do, don't accept counter-offers.




2. Be the change. Set up version control, use software patterns wherever useful, set up linters etc yourself. You will notice that this is as much fun as having your team do it or more.

1. If you are not 100% sure you want to leave, then you can try to solve the problems as already suggested. If the company is otherwise healthy, this could be an important opportunity for you to grow professionally. You may be in the fast track for (big?) promotions too.




2. If you are determined to leave, here are some discussions worth reading, just to be sure you do not shoot yourself in the foot:

What to tell when leaving

When to tell about leaving

Note: you added to the question that we talk about a big international company. It means that there is a big inertia for implementing changes. It combines with "team manager left" and with "bad practices". Therefore I would (kind of) forget option one.