Team lead having nervous breakdown

[craig1]

This is an opportunity being missed to fix everything that's been annoying you since you joined. If there's an idiot process that's slowing you down, abandon it with "I was happy to keep doing that process but our dear Team Leader told me that I could stop. He was right though because look how better my work on widget X is since I stopped". Same with nearly everything else that he had even slight powers to influence.

[DirtyDog]

Jesus wept. This could only happen to me.

Oh, I don't think that's true.

[DieScum]

I don't see the problem, how does it reflect on you that he is going off on one? If anything it's a good thing, project will go pearshaped and you will be there to step in and clean it up.

Well, it will be interesting to see what happens. It's a fairly ho hum contract that I am looking forward to be out of come the turn of the year.

Ach, we'll see. I just don't want the whole team to be tarred with the crazy brush.

[tomtomagain]

Wonder what will happen there. Thing is I don't really know many others here so scrabbling around to see who should be my reference from this gig. Trying to distance myself at a rapid pace.

Don't you think your behaviour is a bit odd?

Rather than expressing any concern about the individual you are worried about a future reference and want to get away.

Maybe he's had a breakdown. Might be for a relatively trivial reason but maybe he's found out his child has cancer.

Just because you are a contractor does not mean you should forget your humanity.

[northernladuk]

Jesus wept. This could only happen to me.

Came in to this contract a few months back. Mainly just come in to an office with two other blokes and don't see the rest of the business apart from chit chat at the coffee machine.

Team lead bloke seemed an incompetent David Brent character - and pretty redundant. Didn't really see the need for him. Makes a lot of mistakes. He seemed well liked in the business though.

Then last week he had a meltdown in a meeting. A bizarre argument about some meaningless graphic (was it the latest version - yes - no - I think you'll find) with a very senior manager. Then he spent the afternoon making collages of staff members faces on photoshop. The HR manager walked in and asked him what he was doing. Then he refused to go to a meeting.

Wonder what will happen there. Thing is I don't really know many others here so scrabbling around to see who should be my reference from this gig. Trying to distance myself at a rapid pace.

Did you know you would be working with Suity before you took the gig?

[DieScum]

Don't you think your behaviour is a bit odd?

Rather than expressing any concern about the individual you are worried about a future reference and want to get away.

Maybe he's had a breakdown. Might be for a relatively trivial reason but maybe he's found out his child has cancer.

Just because you are a contractor does not mean you should forget your humanity.

Actually, yeah, fair point. He his going through a divorce. I don't want to pile on the guy.

It's just unusual to see it all happening.

[tomtomagain]

It's just unusual to see it all happening.

Depends how old you are. If you are 40+ then unfortunately it's not. I've had divorce, depression and death in my teams! ( not to the same person ).

Ask him how he is, is there anything you can do? Take him out for a beer. Glowing-Reference-for-life sorted.

[DieScum]

Depends how old you are. If you are 40+ then unfortunately it's not. I've had divorce, depression and death in my teams! ( not to the same person ).

Ask him how he is, is there anything you can do? Take him out for a beer. Glowing-Reference-for-life sorted.

Well, I'm nice to the bloke, as I am to anyone, so that hasn't changed.

It's just hard because he has made a lot strange decisions and it's hard to accept that from someone leading the team when it reflects on your work. I didn't expect him to go full on bonkers.

I did lose the heid with him once after the fourth mistake of the day but I'm usually nice.

But yeah, you are right. It's the time to be supportive (as well as scouting out alternative references pragmatically).

[BigRed]

Don't you think your behaviour is a bit odd?

Rather than expressing any concern about the individual you are worried about a future reference and want to get away.

Maybe he's had a breakdown. Might be for a relatively trivial reason but maybe he's found out his child has cancer.

Just because you are a contractor does not mean you should act like an agent.

FTFY

[original PM]

Blah

Just because you are a contractor does not mean you should forget your humanity.

Yeah you need to wait until you get promoted above your competence into middle management for that.

(not you specifically TomTom!)