Losing a programmer, what steps to take? [closed]

Question

One of the programmers on our team is leaving for greener pastures. We will be going from 6 to 5. What steps should we take to ensure our development process continues to run smoothly, potentially while integrating in new blood.

We are currently working on a short release cycle with iterative development. Design - code - review. The person leaving was the most senior dev on the team, and would often give lots of feedback to the rest of the team, especially during the design phase.

Habitforming

Awfully broad question, isn't it? Wouldn't it be better to go into some more detail? – Sprinkler

Is the "new blood" going to be new senior developer or is someone in house going to fill that position? – Bendigo

Remember - Cemeteries are full of indispensable people. This is a hard blow but hopefully you have cross-trained and hopefully you can find somebody else. – Organology

Answer 1

There are few things you can do (in that order):

• Reevaluate your estimates, based on the experience of the remaining team members and the work items load balance
• Come up with a prioritized list of things you might have to cut
• Seek a suitable replacement (as aggressive as possible)
• Start a discussion with your company management on potential compensation package changes that would allow you to retain valuable human assets like the leaving guy

Update: Use this as an opportunity to build up your team. Throw a goodbye party for the guy that's leaving and make sure both he and the team are aware that his contributions were valued. :-) (And if you don't have a budget, just talk to the team members and you all chip in to get him out for a drink or two)

Williamsen

"Throw a goodbye party for the guy that's leaving and make sure both he and the team are aware that his contributions were valued. :-)" +1 I think the way you treat outbound employees speaks volumes about the way your company is willing to treat retained employees. I also think this sort of behavior encourages honest and open communication between employers and employees prior to being caught unawares that a valued member is leaving. – Dicephalous

Answer 2

I agree with Franci, with a modest modification to priorities:

Start a discussion with your company management...

Yes. By all means. Today. If your best is leaving, your second best probably isn't far behind. Talk with the remaining developers. Are they happy? Are you sure? Are they just talking nice to you out of respect for your authority but have mysterious "doctor's appointments" that crop up? If you were a member of the team, would you be looking?

Delladelle

The best developers want some challenge as well. It could have been their first job out of college that lasted 10 years. They could sense that the margins in this business have come down, and even if they are happy with an immediate package, they want to gain skills in a shiny new cross-industry between programming and something else. – Nuke

Answer 3

Pair-programming is a useful technique for mitigating the problems created by the departure of a skilled employee because it spreads knowledge. It's also useful for mentoring new employees.

Ingleside

Answer 4

You can find another senior developer who is generous with feedback to his coworkers. Good luck.

Congo

Answer 5

Avoid specialization in the first place. If you have more than 0 days for transition, it's a luxury. People get sick, die, run away, get arrested, get fired, etc., every day. So continuity of the project needs to assume that sooner or later, someone will unexpectedly stop coming to work. I know of a case where a guy was arrested at his desk, lead away in handcuffs, and his PC was immediately taken to a lab for forensic investigation. Not much time for knowledge transfer there.

Code reviews, design reviews, and problem ticket/research rotation will familarize the entire team with all aspects of the system.

Ejectment

Ah ah.. 100%. being paranoid always helps – Biological