Here, have a new team

I don't usually post about work here, not just because it's often boring, but because I really don't want to get fired over something stupid like "you put your company in a bad light on your blog" or something :).

So, excuse this gap in my fitness blogging as I talk about some interesting work happenings.

Early this week, one of my developers came to me and told me he was leaving the company to pursue a great opportunity at a Big Software Company. I'm going to miss him a lot, but I honestly hope he does well where he goes. He's a young guy, just started a family, has a lot of promise and potential. I think he's gonna make his mark no matter where he settles in.

I went to tell my manager about this, and he let me in a day early on some bigger secrets that finally were broadly communicated within the group yesterday. A peer of my manager is moving within the company, and the "decision was made" (I hate that phrase, god, could you be more transparent about shirking responsibility?) to not replace him, but to re-organize the group. The re-org makes sense, but it's still very disruptive to people.

The end result is I'm going from my team of 5, to a team of 10. Granted, one of those people is leaving in a week, but I will (hopefully) be able to replace him eventually. Not only that, it's not like I have 5 and am adding 5. I have 5, am losing 2 to another team, and getting 7 new people (who all come from the same team, so have strong pre-existing relationships).

Anybody who knows anything about managing people will tell you the interpersonal issues with a group of ten are much more complex than with a group of five. It's not just "twice the work," as these combinatorics get ugly much quicker than that. Add the complexity of their pre-existing relationships and the fact that the "legacy" team members are only going to be two out of the 9 (or 10). It's ... interesting, to say the least.

Not lost on me is the fact that I'm now responsible for two distinct new areas of the application.

Several people who have seen the news have said "congratulations" to me. The ones who "get it" say, "Oh, wow, you're gonna have a crazy month." Month? Try quarter.

See you when I come up for air in January of 08 :).