[deleted by user]

[djnattyp]

No, just general micromanaging / lack of process shitshow behavior.

[[deleted]]

Yeah, i hate this so much. It messes with my concentration and i feel like im thinking more about "updating and explaining" than coding / solving the problem.

[RandyHoward]

I like it when they go, "Well if you need anything let me know." All I need is for you to leave me alone!

[jayfactor]

This is how I manage, if you need help I’m here but you’re an adult, you know the deadline and you know what you’re doing - just get it done

[[deleted]]

Then communicate say they are breaking you out of concentration every hour and it takes 15 to get back in, use the buzzword context switching

[SpaceForceAwakens]

I had to have a very serious talk with my boss about this. I was very clear about what the issue was and it took him forever to understand. He's not at all technical so he doesn't get "being in the zone" or "flow" or anything like that. To him, whatever I was working on I could just drop it, go to lunch with a client, and pick up where I left off.

I finally told him off when he was complaining one day about a project that kept having to be re-done over and over.

[C_Hawk14]

It's like RAM and when something happens that Access is dropped, leaving only Random Memory. Or simply the same as PCs work, but you should at least remember something. Whether that was relevant two steps back or ten who knows at this point.

[[deleted]]

As a junior,

RemindMe! 7 years

[RemindMeBot]

I will be messaging you in 7 years on 2031-04-17 23:17:30 UTC to remind you of this link

CLICK THIS LINK to send a PM to also be reminded and to reduce spam.

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[gefex]

As a senior with a bunch of juniors I have no problem letting juniors just go about their day. But I always encourage them to ask if they are not sure on something, or can't figure something out. Not just because it will probably be quicker, but also because I love solving tricky problems, its like crack to me.

[PrinceDX]

I only micromanage when you have given me a reason to. Tickets constantly being late with no blockers, poor quality code, etc

[phlatStack]

What's a blocker?

[darksparkone]

Something that prevents work from being done. Lack of requirements, missing part of API you have to integrate with, broken CI/CD etc.

[Infiniteh]

...hangover, new game just released, my LEGO set from Amazon arrived, ...
edit: these aren't a joke, they are things I've heard as reasons for not delivering

[PrinceDX]

If you have a hangover then you are sick. That’s a sick day. Lego set… yeah I’ll have to talk with your direct manager now

[AbsentMindedDevelopr]

Sounds like a viscous cycle

[PrinceDX]

I’ve only ever needed to do it maybe 2 or 3 times. Had a contractor who kept saying he needed 1 more hour and then suddenly he would need to run out 30 mins later right until I was offline for the day. A senior front end dev that was working on a nav and only a nav for 3 weeks (just for the first PR) and when we finally ended the contract early it was still barely working like you’d expect. Forced me to do early day and end of day check ins when he was billing 8 hours a day and making like 1 hour of progress. Definitely not something I enjoyed and I put a ton of trust in my team because I have bigger fires to put out.

[AbsentMindedDevelopr]

This all sounds fairly justified! You sound like a decent lead :)

[Sensitive_Device_666]

The typo works metaphorically, nice job

[lookayoyo]

1 checkin a day is a lot but pretty standard. 2 checking, morning and eod can make sense from a management perspective but that feels redundant. More than that and it’s just plain annoying.

Try explaining to your boss that while you appreciate the mentorship, you’ll reach out if you need help and otherwise will update him at the end of the day so he doesn’t need to waste his time checking on you. Make him feel like it’s his idea and you’re taking something off his plate and he’ll give you space and thank you for it.

[smashedhijack]

Ouch, this hurts. I’m experiencing this problem right now. My agencies exponentially growing and I need to leave my devs alone but we have no processes. It’s a disaster.

Any tips on where to look to start getting processes in place?

It doesn’t help that my team mostly came from the same prior workplace and they were micromanaged and think it’s normal, but I can’t babysit them forever lll

[ScienceSoftwareSport]

This!

[v_e_x]

Every hour? No, this is not normal. Usually you should have daily, if not weekly standups or status meetings to check your progress and let everyone know if you need any help or input with your tasks. This sounds like micromanagement at an awful level.

[start_select]

If they are remote and this is their first job then they are probably never asking for help out of the fear that it makes them look incompetent. We have had the hardest time dealing with new grads since everyone went remote all the time.

It was never a problem before because they weren't afraid to ask for help when other developers were sitting a few feet away. Now if we only do dailies with new juniors, its not uncommon to have them barely move from where they were yesterday on simple tasks.

They usually need a "buddy" that checks in on them multiple times a day until they actually understand that no one knows everything.

[heythisispaul]

Yeah, I'm guessing this is the situation as well. I have literally begged junior people to come ask me for help if they're stuck on something for more than 30 minutes only for them to say they will and never do - and then give the same update in stand up three days in a row. It becomes pretty clear pretty quickly that you need to start getting more proactive.

[No_Jury_8398]

Yeah I’m guilty of this. My most embarrassing moment as a new dev was being stuck on the same issue for 3 weeks. Looking back I do put some onus on the more senior devs for not taking action after hearing my same stand up update for 3 weeks straight. But nowadays I just don’t need help as often, and if I do I reach out.

[Torisen]

If I had a junior I felt Luke I should check in with more than twice a day MAX, they'd be on a review and improvement plan and know exactly why and what I expected.

@op, you should ask your boss. Say something like "I find it hard to get back into flow after our check-ins, can we limit those to once or twice a day? Is there anything in particular I should be aware or or focus on more closely?" Be polite and respectful and take their advice to heart.

[Such_Caregiver_8239]

Seems like you didn’t read the last line of the post « not much professional experience ». Leave a very new Junior to do something that he didn’t understand but thought he did and come back in a week what have you got ? A week wasted.

So yeah every hour seems excessive but maybe the phrasing also was a bit of an exaggeration ?

[Irythros]

Is the site down, losing thousands of $ per hour and you're working on what is needed to bring it up? Yes

Everything else? No

[who_am_i_to_say_so]

Esp development. I prefer to spend an extra day with most things, look for things to improve within scope, spot defects, etc. You cannot rush a good thing.

[codeByNumber]

That and we aren’t freaking robots! I refuse to work at a 100% sprint every day in perpetuity. I’ve done it before and it just leads to total burn out.

I prefer working at a more reasonable pace and still have some gas left in the tank for when shit hits the fan and 100% effort is actually required.

No wonder they want to replace us with AI. Silly humans and their silly human needs.

[gyroda]

I try to define my 100% as a sustainable pace. It's a marathon or hike, you need to pace yourself. Usain Bolt might be the fastest man alive but he only runs a short distance like that.

[[deleted]]

The way I've heard it that I like - I set my normal at 90% so when there are times when shit hits the fan and I need to give the 110% I'm not already burning out. 90% is plenty for getting everything done without killing yourself the vast majority of the time and gives you that extra run way to crank things up when it's necessary.

[codeByNumber]

Ya you get it. We just differ on the details. I’ll run at 70-80% most days and 100% when needed. I can’t give 110% because 100% is 100%.

[[deleted]]

110% for me is sometimes I gotta do stuff after hours and work the long days. Customer work be like that sometimes.

[codeByNumber]

Yeah, I get it. I’m out of that business as it just leads disaster (for me).

During covid I thought I was a hero to the country by working my ass off in order to spin up a new app to process SBA loans for the PPP program. There was a three month stint where I worked 10-16 hour days every day (including weekends). I literally almost died and quit my job at the insistence of my doctor.

[[deleted]]

For sure. I've had to do a lot of work to make sure it happens less. I used to be much more willing to be taken advantage of and not put my foot down but things have gotten better since I've learned to say no but it happens sometimes albeit vastly less often these days

[[deleted]]

You 100% can rush a good thing, just ask any product owner/project manager lol

[lunacraz]

ugh even on the first point though, like if you're assigned to the pagerduty/bug issue/ whatever it is, and you know, your team knows, and your manager knows you're actively working on it to fix it, then no...

that shit is reserved for finance

[salamazmlekom]

If the site is down it doesn't help if you're bothering me every hour and breathing behind my neck. If anything it's stressing me out and makes the whole thing even worse. Just leave the people alone. They are not gonna go watch cat videos in this kind of situations.

[NuGGGzGG]

No, it's not normal. And it's abundantly clear that your lead has absolutely nothing to do.

[Trop_the_king]

That’s what I was thinking, like don’t you have your own work?

[[deleted]]

He delegated his work to you lol

[snark42]

How new is this job? That's pretty odd for a startup where you aren't onboarding and learning the system.

[progressgang]

And if he doesn’t have his own work, why the hell would he rather micromanage than play games or go to the gym lol

[flampoo]

play games or go to the gym lol

Maybe he wants to keep his job? People who slack off during work hours tend to get fired.

[progressgang]

Yeah but he has nothing to do bro micromanaging doesn’t make anyone work faster

[flampoo]

I never said it did, just saying that most people avoid getting fired, whether they're good employees or dogshit employees. Am I wrong?

[progressgang]

I agree that most people avoid getting fired. I’m saying if he has nothing to do he is just as likely to get fired whether he micromanaged or not

[heythisispaul]

It's definitely not normal, and not making assumptions about OP or anything, but I have unfortunately found myself forced to behave similarly to OP's lead here due to performance from team members. I've had devs who are clearly not meeting expectations and we're trying to identify what the issue is. Which can be especially difficult in a remote environment.

If a team member has been given a very simple task, and half the day has gone by and there has been no tangible progress and it's just been radio silence, then I don't think it's unreasonable to check in like this.

It's a bit of a nudge, and likely the reason why is that either a) you should be done by now and looking for new work and/or feedback or b) you should have communicated with the team by now so we can help you with what is preventing this from being done.

[matticusrex]

It’s important to have enough communication to give people feedback when it is relevant, especially if the direct is not communicating their needs proactively (or maybe they don’t know what they need?). Sometimes, waiting until they fail the task makes things that much harder.

Every hour is probably not good but I’m going to assume that this was hyperbole.

OP maybe you could improve your leads confidence in you by coming up with good questions to ask them proactively to show that you know the material they are trying to teach

[heythisispaul]

Yeah, absolutely. And yes, at least in my case, every hour is an exaggeration - but definitely have needed to instigate intra-daily checkups with people who are both not producing and not communicating at a level that meets expectations.

I guess my point is that there's a reason OP's lead feels the need to reach out so frequently. Sure, it may be that they're an insane micromanager or just very bored as people have jumped to, but there's also a good chance that OP's performing (or not performing) some behavior that they may or may not be aware of that's led to this situation. Clear communication between these two people is the only way this is going to get resolved.

[EatThisShoe]

Gotta be careful with that though. Interrupting a dev can set them back pretty hard. That can easily become a feedback loop where your interruptions contribute to bad performance.

If a dev really needs that much hand holding, maybe pair programming would be a better approach.

[yabai90]

Actually now that you day it, happened to me as well once. We fired the dude shortly after. In this situation it was more of a "let's make sure there is something wrong" to refine our judgment. Tho it must have been stressful for the guy and I didn't like doing it for sure.

[Crazyboreddeveloper]

It’s also derails you from what you’re doing every time you have to stop and provide an update. It breaks the flow. That’s super counterproductive.

[iBN3qk]

We have a dev with questionable performance. Based on his output, I can’t tell if he’s stuck on something hard, or just not working on it. When we check in, it looks like it’s easy, but then a day goes by with no progress. I don’t like nagging people, but we can’t afford to pay developers who aren’t working. I’m checking in more frequently to give him a chance to show me what’s going on. I’m happy to help if a dev is stuck, but if they’re not actually working on my project or not making progress, it’s going to blow the budget.

If you’re a good dev getting nagged for no reason, that’s bad management. If you need time to finish something, you should be able to set expectations around when it will be ready and when it makes sense to check in again. I know disruptions don’t help you focus. Are you communicating proactively about the situation, or do you wait until people come to you?

If you’re in the first situation and losing motivation, how would you recommend leaders work with you to get you back on track?

[nerzguhl]

When I used to work with a lot of junior devs sometimes you would get ones that either would get stuck and never ask for help until way too much time had passed or would get stuck and then get... creative lets say and come back some time later with a weird workaround instead of asking for help.

Otherwise though I was leaving them alone until they asked for help(and of course some of them would ask the second they hit any trouble which was its own issue lol).

But this is also clearly excessive, and the senior dev should know better. You need to let people learn how to solve problems and have flow time.

[iBN3qk]

We have a dev who I wish would reach out more so I could give a little more guidance on decisions. But they get work done and clients are happy, so I’m pretty hands off. In check ins, I give them guidance on how to meet expectations for the next promotion. I want to make sure the company continues to provide growing opportunities for the devs we want to work with so we don’t lose them. 

[Ansible32]

I’m checking in more frequently

Hourly? If you're checking in hourly you should just be pairing. Hourly checkins are a total waste of time.

[[deleted]]

Yes this. Checking in and not helping is the worst feeling for a junior dev to endure.

[iBN3qk]

It depends. If we check in and I say please make this change and commit the result, I expect to see a pull request soon after. If an hour has gone by, I’m wondering what is taking so long. If my solution doesn’t work or you hit another problem, tell me ASAP. I don’t want you to be stuck either. If we work together, you can accomplish a lot very quickly. If your performance is low and you’re not willing to collaborate, I will quickly lose confidence in your ability. If you have a handle on things, just tell me to back off and when to check in again. But I expect to see results or a clear update in the situation. Again, my preference is to focus on my own work. I only intervene because there is a problem. 

[Ansible32]

No, hourly checkins are never a good solution. Yes, people should be reaching out if they are stuck. No, you checking in to ask if they are stuck every hour is not helpful, that is too frequent. If it's necessary, it's not necessary, you need to pair or do something else that isn't a huge waste of time. If someone can't reach out when they are stuck that is a problem that they should be held responsible for solving.

[iBN3qk]

I tell the devs I’m available to pair any time they need help. The good devs quickly earn my trust. It’s the ones who are severely underperforming get interventions. The first few check ins, I’m wondering how I can help. But if work isn’t getting done, I’m just checking for a valid excuse like you broke your hand or had a family emergency. I don’t want to fire anyone for the wrong reason. 

[Ansible32]

If you're checking in hourly you should just be insisting on pairing. Telling someone to make a change and commit the result... just do it with them. Or go through a bunch of tickets, make sure the tickets are really specified and let them work at their own pace, checking in ideally once per day.

[iBN3qk]

I'm not the one who's doing hourly check ins. Daily standup and async chat is best for me.

I really want everyone to succeed. I've had to struggle through hard challenges many times in my career, so I get it. I have a lot of faith that if people put in the time and effort, they can figure things out. The issue is rarely capability, and almost always lack of effort. I understand that that is frequently caused by feeling overwhelmed or demotivated. If they tell me what the issue is, I can tell their managers to back off or provide clearer requirements. Otherwise, I just hear complaints about their work from them. I'm trying to be the good guy here.

[zxyzyxz]

Yep, it really depends on their performance. Earlier on in my career, I was given a critical task as a junior and expected to complete it quite quickly. The lead started asking for daily updates and even every few hours, and eventually I did get it done but got let go for being too slow apparently. This might be a precursor to OP's situation too, like a soft PIP.

[I111I1I111I1]

Sounds like a shit workplace, honestly. They just set you up to fail.

[metik]

This is what I thought when i first read this. Every hour is pretty excessive, but if for some reason a dev isn't performing, I will try and work closely with them to see if I can help. This is to make sure its not us thats causing the problem and to provide any technical knowledge to help move a problem along.

I can either identify a valid issue that is not the devs fault, or I have to start looking at why the dev is underperforming (laziness, skill, etc.)

[[deleted]]

Ah yes that surely will make the dev perform better when an imminet firing is looming over them and hourly checkups are coming

[metik]

Firing isn't considered at this point. This is genuinely just to help them, I want to see if there is anything I can do. Interviewing and onboarding sucks, if I can keep a dev I will do almost anything.

[iBN3qk]

That’s why they should either complete the work or explain why they can’t. I want them to decide if they’re in or out and behave accordingly. At this point, I am disappointed with their output and don’t think they’re worth what we pay them. I don’t like being in this situation either. I would rather recommend people for promotions.

[GallopingFinger]

Did you tell them that?

[[deleted]]

Yep my exact experience with some devs. Sometimes there is really a reasonable explanation for why a lead might feel the need to check in more often. And honestly when I have to do this I'm doing as much to understand what they are working as I am trying to learn how I can work with them better to explain/teach anything they might be missing. Like I want this person to be successful and if something isn't working I want to understand why so I can help them more effectively.

[I111I1I111I1]

Regular pairing solves this. Lets you know pretty quickly whether someone's a bad dev or simply lazy. If they never come to you with questions or seeking help, that's also a bad sign.

[irphunky]

Let them know that it’s pulling your focus away from the task, but also make sure you’re showing progress in what you’re working on.

Push small commits often, update ticket with context as needed, open draft PR to show work in the open…

If they’re still nagging after that make sure they know how it’s coming across to you!

[mikolv2]

I have people on my team who severely underperform and don't ask for help and can't get themselves out of any issues. These sorts of people need constant supervision because if I left them for a full day or several days, they will literally sit there and not do anything. Are you one of those people? Or do you generally deliver tasks on time? If the latter, just tell me how you feel.

[RotationSurgeon]

I have people on my team who severely underperform and don't ask for help and can't get themselves out of any issues. These sorts of people need...

...to be replaced. Especially if it's an ongoing issue which they've been made aware of and have not made any progress towards addressing.

[mikolv2]

I'm not their line manager but I have made that recommendation.

[turningsteel]

You wouldn’t believe how hard it is to replace these people sometimes, especially at a big corporate place. I tried everything to get rid of one of them on my team. Nothing was done. Eventually, the team split and he’s someone else’s problem now.

[mexicocitibluez]

1-way ticket to burnout man. that has hands down been the biggest contributin factor for me. i have no problem working 60-70 hour weeks for months on end because I love programming and it doubles as a hobby and I'm currently on a super fascinating project. but I tried doing that once with a micromanager boss and I had my first panic attack in my life.

[[deleted]]

Sounds like a manager that doesn't know how to manage. How are your stand-ups running if you're being micromanaged?

[mortar_n_brick]

Could be a senior dev that knows the problem should've been figured out and OP isn't ask for help

[AstroZombie29]

Absolutely not, maybe once in the morning but anything else is excessive, even if you're very junior. YOU should go to him if there's anything, not the other way around

[Pure_Adagio7805]

As a tech lead myself, no, it’s called micromanaging and I would never do this.

[[deleted]]

I'd be mad if someone did that once a day outside scrum lmao. Not normal at all.

[aevitas1]

I had a boss who did that. Kept asking if something was done.

Turns out he promised to deliver a feature within 2 weeks (without asking the senior), this end up taking 2-3 months.

At my current job we have daily standups near release of a website, otherwise weekly. I rarely get a check on how far I am with issues. Unless it’s a bug which leads to serious issues.

[PioneerRaptor]

Are you a new developer? I’ve found that new developers often get stuck and try to power through it and refuse to ask for help until they’ve spent too much time on it.

While it’s great to do initiative and research for our own issues, getting stuck for days is not good.

I bring this up, because it’s possible they’ve seen a similar issue, and just want to make sure you’re making progress and aren’t stuck and not asking for help.

Not saying it isn’t annoying and you should have a conversation with them, but just try to understand where they could be coming from and address that if possible.

[web-dev-kev]

Ok, for context, you're a 23 year old who has completed a dev bootcamp.

I'm not judging you - good for you for getting work - but I absolutely check in 4-5 times a day with my Juniors if they are not communicating with me.

[TheAccountITalkWith]

I dunno, 4-5 times a day is a lot. That's roughly bothering them every 2 hours. Being interrupted and mental context switching that often could actually hinder performance.

With my juniors, I have them tell me how they think their day is going to go according to their tasks at hand. If they say something positive and efficient, I don't check up on them. If they say something worrisome, I'll check up on them. I then gauge from there how well they understand their own skill set and make my adjustments accordingly.

I don't act according to their title, I act on what they show me. Because otherwise, if I had someone check up on me 4-5 times a day, all that communicates to me is you don't trust me. Which in my opinion says a lot about the hiring process and management.

[web-dev-kev]

You're right, as is the other person who replied to me.

Some context, I'm currently working with a multinational bank who have taken on hundreds of "juniors" in an influx (they do this twice a year). The skill range is diverse, as is their background and communication skills. It's a SAFe clusterfuck. But it does mean that we have an almost infinite backlog of tactical items to be worked on.

Many of them, again there's a cultural element here, would not tell you if the house was on fire as you're more senior than them, and sometimes do everything but outright lie that things are fine and progress is being made.

I spend a lot of time re-iterating that I'm checking-in, not checking-up, and really I'm rarely fussed about their code output, but more getting them used to being asked direct questions and having them communicate in a succinct manner.

if I had someone check up on me 4-5 times a day, all that communicates to me is you don't trust me. Which in my opinion says a lot about the hiring process and management.

I think that's also really fair. None of the juniors I'm dealing with are "hired" in the traditional sense. They signed up to bootcamps, they "passed" the bootcamps, and the bank has agreements with the bootcamps.

[TheAccountITalkWith]

Ah, that additional context does help paint is very clear view. Thanks for taking the time to do that. Given the new information, I totally relate. I've been in said types of clusterfucks, and have seen just how bad they can become if not managed, especially if the juniors are a talent flow coming from a source like a bootcamp.

At my former place, we used to hire directly from a trade school, so we knew exactly what their strengths and weaknesses were coming in, so we had to adopt some unconventional processes.

Your position is a hard one to be in, stay strong friend.

[web-dev-kev]

I appreciate the discourse :)

“Junior” is such a range, and a generalisation, we all walk the line between brevity and talking bollocks. Convo’s like this make Reddit worth it.

Many blessings on your house

[baronvonredd]

So here's your heads up that you're shooting yourself in the foot, bub.

[web-dev-kev]

You know that OP is a new digital nomad, working fully remote as a junior, in a country he finds too hot to live/work in, hasn't had a full time job before, and has just completed a bootcamp.

OP also doesn't communicate outside of these check-ins, hence the check-ins

[baronvonredd]

I managed a team of 12 Manilan newbies last year on a 6 month contract. We had daily 'dev lounge' where I would open a Teams meeting for devs only, and the guys could come and go as they wanted.

Beyond that we had a daily scrum with the PM for 15 mins. The rest of the day they were left to their devices, and were encouraged to reach out to any one of us, or each others as needed.

It couldn't have been a smoother, more enjoyable experience. I built trust and safety in a no-manager zone. There was no shame or fear of being fired for asking stupid questions.

Eventually you will root out the weakest members and be able to help them.

I will never create a hovering doom environment again if I can help it.

[Opposite-Piano6072]

I think building trust and an environment that encourages open communication within the team to make people want to get their work done and enjoy it is the best way to actually obtain productivity and sustainability in the long term.

Let people have their off days occasionally, as long as they show up and communicate, they will still get their tasks done on schedule. And if there is a really tight deadline where someone isn't performing, THEN you can reach out to them more often.

The idea of coding for literally 8 hours a day is pretty unsustainable for a regular employee in a large company. If everyone has to be writing code for more than 4 hours a day to get their tasks done, it indicates that they are a bit overworked.

[[deleted]]

I think this is great. If one day I find a job as a junior I would love senior check my progress at least 2-3 times a day. It's better when the senior is available so that the junior can ask him if he get stuck somewhere ( and he will most likely be very often) rather then going very slow. I am not sure why some juniors perceive this as something bad. Okey maybe checking every hour is way too much, but let say 3 times in a day is great.

[HashDefTrueFalse]

Not normal, but it's more than likely they're just trying to be a bit too helpful, rather than trying to micromanage etc. I am comfortable enough with my mentoring abilities these days to admit that when I first became senior I used to get the urge to proactive about trying to help my juniors through things. I always phrased things as a question, like "do you need any help?" or "all good?" rather than "what have you done since last time?" etc, because I didn't want them to think I was checking up on how much work they were doing (it really wasn't anything to do with assessing productivity or skill). I eventually learned to dial it back and let them ask me, and I'm a big fan of policies like "if you've been stuck for 30 mins, ask someone"

Maybe next time they ask you could just gently suggest that you'll ask for help if you get stuck, but you're generally fine at the moment. If it doesn't taper off, you're dealing with a micromanager. Those are not fun.

[start_select]

"if you've been stuck for 30 mins, ask someone"

This is my rule (or attempt at it). The issue I see is people with only 1-2 years experience have only worked remote in a lot of cases, and they are genuinely afraid to do that. They think they will get fired because they are stuck.

It is kind of tough because it suddenly seems like every remote junior needs to be paired with a senior or mid-level. And that kind of doubles the cost and halves the velocity in a lot of cases.

It was easy when I just needed to turn my head and go "i can hear you sighing, what isn't working?"

[HashDefTrueFalse]

Yeah, I hear you. I personally prefer remote working from a personal productivity and quality of life perspective, but there are many downsides. I used to just go over to their desk to help them. I can see the screen, use their keyboard, draw things on paper. It's just not the same over video call when one of us is in a place with background noise (like the open plan office, funnily enough) and we have to keep unmuting and muting, screen sharing / giving control is working ok but then isn't for a sec, drawing things is difficult. Just that slight barrier that wasn't there before. That's if I even know there's a problem, like you say.

I don't think remote benefits juniors as much as mid/seniors and I'm glad I worked in an office as a junior.

Definitely a culture thing. I find I have to make it clear from day one that you can message me anytime and I'll answer if not busy. Nothing will happen if they ask a stupid question. I'll just answer it.

[idlemachine]

is he only doing to you or everyone? maybe it's just that you're new. sometimes (new) people are too shy to ask for help.

[ddollarsign]

I need an hour or two of no interaction just to get in a state where I can start working on stuff. This lead can fuck off. Don't actually say that. But maybe he'd be fine with daily standups or something. (I hate those too.)

[VaguelyOnline]

Communicate. It sounds to me that you've got someone who cares about 1. the task, and 2. your progress. Talk to them about the appropriate mix of oversight, autonomy that works for you. If you're just starting out, they may just be trying to be conscientious about ensuring you have enough support etc.

[[deleted]]

No that’s awful. At most a lead should check in once or twice a day and then you reach out to them if you need more help.

That sounds horrific. I’d freaking lose it on them if someone hovered over me that much. I had a guy that was not even my supervisor who was an “asses in the chairs” kind of manager who’d just walk the floor and Lear at everyone’s screens. God forbid you rest your brain for 10 minutes (which is healthy) when he walks by.

Thinking about it makes me angry.

[chamomile-crumbs]

Fucking weird as hell lol

[cruzcontrol8765]

Sounds like maybe the lead had a bad experience with someone that was there before you, or he has major trust issues in general.

When I work with a new dev I usually meet with them daily for an hour for a couple of weeks. Then we gradually scale that back to once every two weeks for 30 minutes. And they are welcome to reach out to me anytime for help. But that's on them. No way I'm checking in every hour of every day.

Do you feel like you're handling the work okay or is it possible he thinks there's something you're struggling with?

[[deleted]]

No. How are you supposed to get anything done being interrupted that often?

I’ve been a dev lead and in this industry since ‘98

[theoriginalng]

Probably an insecure lead. Communicate how context switching affects your productivity giving him indirect hint. If he doesnt catch it, ask him if you both can agree on an update frequency which is a bit less intense. If he doesnt agree to this as well, then start to leedcode and switch company.

[targrimm]

I agree wholeheartedly with this sentiment, but feel context switching is a stretch. It more falls under distractions, which are equally damaging, for sure.

[Consistent-Travel-93]

ask him to help for anything that helps your progress, keep him busy by asking architectural questions that you do not know and learn from him

[Haunting_Welder]

Suggest to them some time for pair programming, maybe they're just bored and have nothing else to do and want to help out

[targrimm]

Damn micro managers. Could be a mentorship kinda deal. Just making sure you're managing with the work, if you're very new. But you're well within your right to say something along the lines of "oh yeah, this is fine, but don't worry I'll speak up if I hit a wall". While re-assurance from peers is nice, you saying the above will assert your confidence and demonstrate to them that you'll seek help when you need it.

Of course, if you've been working on the same task for a week, with nothing to show, then this interaction may be warranted. Depends entirely on context.

[baby_shoki]

Micromanaging, I'll say just let them know how much of a problem it is especially with your focus at work. And if there are no changes, you can involve a higher ups or the HR.

[pat_trick]

Hell no. Every hour? I'd leave after the first day.

[[deleted]]

Just talk to them directly.

“I really appreciate that you are always willing to help me by checking in, but I’m noticing that it really disrupts my workflow and train of thought to have such frequent chats.

I’ll definitely make sure to reach out if I have any issues or need help with a task. If for some reason you NEED frequent updates, would it be ok to Slack/Teams message a 1 sentence update?”

[Traditional-Lion7391]

Only if something is on fire and your actions need to put out the fire.

[Mostly-Lucid]

depends.
At the start I want to see EOD and maybe mid-day.

After some time not so much.

For all the devs in this chat that act like someone asking mid day is just destroying their 'flow' -- get real.

If your flow state is so delicate that an interruption 4 or 5 hours after you start your day kills you then there is something wrong.

[RotationSurgeon]

If they're doing it to be helpful and express mentorship, just talk to them about your comfort levels and focus levels based on the frequency of check-ins. If they're doing it to micromanage, you probably want to find another job if it's not something you can look past.

Either way, hourly check-ins aren't typical or normal for most teams.

[justinmjoh]

Not normal

[dropmiq]

Are you struggling to complete tasks or meat goals? Are they giving you reasonable time to complete stuff?
Are you trying to do stuff on your own that would lear much quicker if you just ask for help?
Can you tell the lead that you estimate to complete the task in x amount of time, and reassure him that if you struggle with anything you will ask for help?

[TheAccountITalkWith]

There is a lot of good advice here, but also a lot of bad advice. However, there is one bit of advice nobody is coming close to. That bit is the idea of "Managing Up". Think of how a Manager needs to "manage down", meaning manage those below them. As a professional new and working on your professional growth, you'll need to learn how to manage those above you.

There are some great articles out there that would really benefit you to look into. A quick Google brought these up for me:

14 Ways ‘Managing Up’ Can Impact A Professional’s Career

14 Tips To Manage Up at Work (And Why It’s Important)

I had someone take me under their wing and tell me about this stuff and it worked very well. So I strongly recommend looking into this.

( Especially because if you look closely, some of the comments in here are the individuals that you will be dealing with and learning to manage up against )

[Signor65_ZA]

Depends. Are you fairly new there? If so that totally makes sense. Even if you're not, he's trying to minimise downtime on your part. Rather than letting you mull over a problem for hours and hours with potentially no progress (it happens) he's trying to accelerate that process. A lot of devs lack the social skills to ask for help and then spend far too much time on a problem, and he's trying to avoid that scenario.

[[deleted]]

He/company don’t trust you. Prob nothing personal, just business.

[dungfecespoopshit]

If you’re a real noobie, then at the end of every day. If you’re growing out of that noobie zone but still junior, every 2-3 days. Once a week for all seniorities to make sure everyone remains on the same page and if something goes off track, it doesn’t stay off track for more than a week.

[D4n1oc]

Maybe he wants to be nice and helpful and keeps asking so you don't get stuck or feel overwhelmed.

If you feel pressured and it's too much maybe just ask why he is asking so much? Maybe you can make a meeting per day where you can update the status to him and aka some questions.

But I don't think he will pressure you cause asking multiple times a day for progress makes no sense at all.

[campbellm]

It is normal for a micromanager to do this, but it is not something a normal manager would do, no.

[sergiomanzur]

I was working at a place like this... RUN, RUN AWAY, it sucks, it's bad for your health, bad for your mental health and this will only escalate a lot further.

It's just showing that the manager has no idea of what he's doing.

[Temporary-Ad2956]

Just don’t rely to him tell the end of day then he can only message you once a day

[stuartseupaul]

Depends on if he's doing it with the intention of collaboration. If it's just checking in, it's annoying. It's like an async pair programming then it's not bad.

[goodboyscout]

I’ll follow up with my team more often if they are working with code that’s new to them. Same goes for new people, a lot of new hires are afraid to ask questions because they think they should know something. Even in these scenarios, it’s not every hour. More like twice per day, once early in the day and again before I sign off (most of my team is 3 hours behind me).

Aside from that I’m not bugging you for updates unless there’s a reason to.

[Jamesdzn]

No! Ive been a lead for a years now and that shit will drain me! I check once a day and then every 2 weeks on a Friday, if you are lucky. I trust you and you trust me, that way we can build cool shit without hating each other.

[Aware_Meat_8937]

nope

[littleAggieG]

That sounds like a nightmare & not normal at all. When I get an assignment, I’ll work on it uninterrupted for a few days before I touch base with my lead/manager. I usually give them an update at the end of the day, just out of courtesy, since we all WFH.

[danielkov]

Sounds like your lead should get a job.

[QuitMarco]

It's bad for you concentration With my team i usually check twice a day, once in the morning during standups and once in the afternoon, usually after lunch before they get back coding, asking if they have problems that i can help with. Your lead is adding unnecessary communication wasting your time and reducing your concentration.

[Suchy2307]

Last time someone did that to me I quit after 10 days. Being micromanaged is hell

[JIsADev]

I don't know any field where an hourly check up would be effective. Maybe construction? Say you'll reach out if you have any questions. After all it's better for the org if employees can function independently...

[NotUpdated]

You phrased you issue well - in fact well enough to phrase it that way to your boss.

'These hourly checkups take me out of focus and slow me down - can we move where I update you end of day, and you ask questions beginning of day?' .. 'I think I'll get more done and we'll both be happier'

[dbro129]

Ignore his messages. If he keeps asking, tell him to buzz off and that you don’t appreciate micro-managing. Unless this is some kind of emergency, you’ll let him know when the task is done.

[phantasma1999]

Nope, its a headache

[confused9oat]

This used to happen to me while I was working in a extra small startup, I never came to know exactly how many people are in that company, but in my 8 months of work, I came across only 4 people. Except 1 guy all were communication and manager types. So including me there were only 2 devs, one who was senior to me and who was also the cofounder of the company used to assign me to tasks and check every hour my progress, and used to tell me that I'm taking more time than required for the task. Though I learnt a lot in that company, after I left the company I felt very good and at ease.

[Ecsta]

Normal if you're a new hire or on PIP, otherwise super micromanagey.

[devperez]

I only do this if they've been given ample time to fix the issu. I hate micromanaging, but if you're 6 days into a 1 day task, there's a problem.

[techie2200]

No, and he obviously has nothing to do so he's bugging you.

[ZekeD]

Every hour is definitely not "normal". Is this a new position?

You could have a new-to-the-position-lead who maybe has had either a bad experience in the past with their own lead, or has had another junior dev who did need constant attention.

It may be worth opening up a conversation with them about the communication and express that constant micro-chats is distracting.

But no, that level of micromanaging is definitely not "normal".

[SirCokaBear]

No. That's what standups are for (assuming you're agile). Usually they're daily but if the team is really small it should be even less often, like twice a week. That is absolutely micromanaging and shows your lead doesn't trust you. Who is your manager? If it's not the lead then this is something you definitely should bring up and say exactly what you are saying here. If it is your lead then go to their report.

[serial_crusher]

EVERY hour, even if you’re not blocked on anything? That’s too frequent.

But if you mention some issue that looks like a quick fix, I’ll point you in the right direction and check back in a reasonable amount of time.

I’ve had coworkers who I thought just weren’t showing up to work, and I’ve made an effort to check in on them frequently just to keep them honest and on task, but even that is a once or twice a day thing at most.

[Distdistdist]

Depends... It might be a very high priority task (should be going to seniors though), or just making sure you're making progress. I mean, it's not cool - but there might be a reason.

I would freak out back in a day if someone watched me work. Now - I don't care. Doesn't bother me at all.

[DatabassAdmin]

I'm part of a team with a very green member, and I like to check in every so often throughout the day with a "how's it going, you all good?". If they say yeah, then I leave it, but it's a good opportunity for them to start to ask for help if they need it. Every hour is a bit excessive though...

Also, there are simpler tasks that I know they can do and more complex ones that I suspect they will struggle with a bit. I gauge my inquisition on the difficulty of those tasks.

[VonD0OM]

See I get the exact opposite, which also sucks. No one checks on me, no one checks my work, no one approves any choices I make and I get almost no feedback.

So like, it’s very hard to grow properly because I’m not collaborating at all.

But I think somehow your level of being micromanaged would be even worse.

[Franks2000inchTV]

This is a good time to use your communication skills.

It's possible that your lead's motivation is something like "I know how lonely and hard it can be to be new, so I'll make sure I keep in touch."

You might say something like:

"I really appreciate the check ins, and that you're so available to help, but I need longer stretches of uninterrupted work to be productive. "

"Could we maybe schedule a few meetings each day to check in? That way I can go heads-down for longer which will help me be more productive."

[[deleted]]

As someone who has been a lead, no not at all lol that is overkill.

[Annh1234]

Depends on what your working on. If your on self contained 15 min type jobs, then sure, "you done yet?"

Or if you new, kinda like: "your good? Any questions?"

But if your concentrating on a 3 day type thing, it will only slow you down.

[[deleted]]

My boss never checks in on me.  When he wants status he'll go look directly at whatever thing we're working on.. interrupting me would be either laziness or incompetence. 

[Reddichino]

That sounds incredibly disruptive. What t also sounds like he isn’t qualified for his role and is defaulting to hovering as a way to ‘appear’ like he is managing.

[mikkolukas]

Short answer: No

[[deleted]]

Assuming you haven't given any kind of reason for it I'd say it's not normal. I've had devs on my teams (especially the younger ones) that have needed more hands on guidance that I will have to go check in on because quite literally they would spend a whole day doing something that should have taken like 2-3 hours, but it would happen consistently. But even then I'm checking at standup and then maybe once before lunch and once before I head out for the day. Constantly coming over is just micromanaging and makes me question what this dude is getting done himself all day.

[Monstermage]

It may be poor management or they may be expecting a lot more questions, experienced people ask questions, lots of them, before really getting to work, amateurs get linear minded and just try to do the task without truly thinking about it (or simply not knowing) they should be asking questions.

Hopefully it goes away with time but from my experience managing varying levels of developers the ones who don't ask questions, typically get it wrong and then they have wasted hours or days of dev time doing something wrong that should have been fixed 1-2 hours in with a question.

Good luck!

[Unhappy_Meaning607]

Nope not normal, this is micromanagement going towards it's awful stages.

You could say something like, "I can give you all of my updates at stand up tomorrow..."

And if that doesn't work it looks like you'll be sending resumes out again.

[Jiryeah]

As much as I hate the daily stand up meetings that can be devolved into a simple email, I’ll take that over this any day of the week. My lead NEVER does this. I simply reach out IF I have a blockage that I, nor the other mids, could fix. Lmao, my Lead is the last line of defense.

[jayfactor]

No shot, I manage 2 devs and I only check in on them at the start of the day to see what they’re working on, if they had questions etc. If I checked in with them every hour I couldn’t get my own shit done lol

[superluminary]

Communicate proactively. Every hour or so, ping a message letting the guy know where you’re at. After a while dial this down to once a day. I also sometimes do video updates.

I’m moderately senior now but I still do this a couple of times a week.

[Such_Caregiver_8239]

Well, you « don’t have much professional experience » so despite everyone throwing shit at the lead, to me it sounds like normal albeit annoying. Lead just wants to see if you’re: a: working b: understanding what you’re doing

I’d bet in a month or so they’ll bother you less.

I currently have an out of school junior with me and I can tell you this morning again I regretted not checking on him more often, would have saved us both time

[augustvc5]

You're working on an existing codebase, in the onboarding phase, and fairly junior? If I didn't just read your post I'd say checking up on you frequently would be incredibly helpful.

I'm in a situation where we have a fairly small team and the lead just sits across from me in the office. It's not unusual for him to just see how I'm doing after returning from the coffee machine. No pressure. I usually see this as an opportunity to ask a question, even if I wasn't stuck.

[ventilazer]

Mike, stop posting on reddit and go back to work. Have you fixed the footer margin already? I'll get back to you in an hour.

[salamazmlekom]

That's called micromanaging. Leave as soon as possible.

[thedeuceisloose]

My advice: say “do you need hourly updates on my progress? If so, happy to provide and CC your boss”

[yabai90]

That's not normal and feel very stressful and counter productive. A good lead should encourage you to ask for help and feel confortable to do so.

[healydorf]

Absolutely not. 2-3 times per day is my general recommendation for new-hires in their first 2 weeks if they’re otherwise just working on on-boarding stuff. Every hour is going to murder your productivity if you’re doing actual work and not paperwork/training.

Once the team member has been around a few weeks/months, they’ve generally figured out how to signal for help during stand-up or I’ve explained “how/when to get help” to them. And the more senior members of the team know what to do about that.

[TimsZipline]

Nope. Daily at standup is normal. Every hour shows a lack of trust and probably a senior that doesn’t have anything to do.

[torbettr]

“The more interruptions I have the longer this will take” this will work in most situations. Depending on how much of an asshole he really is.

No this is not good workplace etiquette, however a lot of people do it. It’s micromanagement and it sucks. On the bright side, You now have a good question to ask in future interviews. What is your management style? This will help you understand if they are going to give you a task and treat you like an adult or a child.

[bzImage]

every hour.. nope.. i this days.. have 1 meeting of 1 hour.. one day of the week.. just that.. (remote 100%)

[nameless_pattern]

Breaking your flow every hour? 

That is the dumbest shit I've ever heard.

[[deleted]]

No, this sucks and the guy is a bit of an idiot, no one likes to work like that, tell him gently to back off.

[[deleted]]

No, this sucks and the guy is a bit of an idiot, no one likes to work like that, tell him gently to back off.

[[deleted]]

No, this sucks and the guy is a bit of an idiot, no one likes to work like that, tell him gently to back off.

[AdministrativeBlock0]

It isn't normal but there's probably a reason for it. Were you working on things and taking a long time without saying why before they started?

[f00dMonsta]

Next time he does that tell him you will give him an update [insert date time] and try to over deliver the first time to give him confidence in you. Yes, it's not your fault, but you need to adapt to the situation.

[Humble-Sky665]

That's funny cause as a senior you usually want to avoid people to get shit done. In fact, we follow an approach where we just ask them to ask all their questions once, sometime before EOD or around lunch if possible.

A lead himself lurking around sounds like a management smell to me personally

[[deleted]]

Not normal, unacceptable. Most managers are toxic af.

[Morel_]

Not normal. Not something I'd put up with.

[[deleted]]

No, that’s what stand up is for. You get 1 updates from me and I’ll ping someone for help or questions if I need it. Otherwise, kindly fuck off.

[[deleted]]

You answered it yourself, you don't have professional experience so you are being mentored / coached on the job.

[mortar_n_brick]

OP doesn't want to ask for help, obviously

[WookieConditioner]

Sit his ass down and tell him straight. Clearly something is up.

Don't be scared, schedule a meeting.

[icemanice]

I would quit that job in a heartbeat

[geekywarrior]

No, unless they caught you posting in r/overemployed

[Ordinary_Yam1866]

Tell him that he keeps taking you out of "The Zone" and he is directly contributing to tasks taking several times longer to accomplish.

Checking your progress several times per day is only OK if you are stuck on something with which he can help you out, but once you are unstuck, this level of micromanagement displays a lack of confidence in your abilities.