We are about 5 data scientists and 1 dev and no one is happy on this project. I won't go into too much details but basically we are implementing a rule engine but we are so limited in what we can't do that it's pretty useless. Even teams that we are building it for don't understand how it will help them. It is also not really data science so all of the data scientists want to move on to another project where they can do some modelling or at least work on something modelling-related. I want to change project too but I've only been here 6 months so I don't think they would let me change when more seniors member of the team probably already asked to switch... Any advice? :(
#Everyone on my team wants to leave the project...
solemn quest
spring dust
It sounds like you are building a project that will harm the business rather than help it. How can you prevent or modify this project so that it helps? Who came up with this project? What is their vision?
broken plinth
What did the team lead and PM have to say about the concerns?
solemn quest
Not sure who came up with the project, it was about 2 years ago, and the team had a different manager then (they then had a 2nd manager who left, 2 months without a manager, and now a third manager). For now, the vision seems to be to just continue developping the same thing for different provinces and line of business. Ideally my manager's manager wants us to add features, but he says it's blocked by other teams not wanting/not having the time to implement the front end changes that would go with it.
IMO at this point this project should not exist anymore and we should switch our focus on other projects. I know another team wants a rule engine and we could help them with that, but helping them is nowhere on our roadmap...
We do not have a team lead or a PM. Our manager's philosophy is to "let us do things", he doesn't even come to all our planning or refinement meetings. We used to have a "tech lead" but he was more like a consultant, helping a bit with technical decision and asking us to work on a few technical debt stories, but he was working with 4-5 teams ad he has been away for a month now (not sure what happened, maybe burn out? 😦 )
broken plinth
That’s your problem. Your manager is so out of touch he may not even be aware that the teams that are suppose to use your tool don’t plan on using it. Have you talked to him/her directly about that? If so, what’s his/her response?
solemn quest
I have not talked about it with him directly, I guess it's hard for me to be that blunt about it when I've only been here 4 months :(. Could be that there is things that I don't see that makes this project worth it. How would you suggest talking about this with him?
spring dust
Yes it's quite possible, probable even that you don't have details or a bigger picture. If you have regular 1 on 1s you bring it up to them then. Otherwise schedule a 1 on 1 to talk about this.
solemn quest
Thank you, I do have a 1 on 1 next week 🙂
old void
Tell them you want off this project. You should indicate your feelings clearly and early, don't pretend things are totally good.
Signalling you think it's not happening isn't a bad thing.
solemn quest
Tell them you want off this project. You should indicate your feelings clearly ...
I am considering doing that, but I'm kinda afraid of how that would make me look like 😦
solemn quest
Yeah I'll think about how I can bring it in a 'positive' way, thanks 🙂
spring dust
The way I approach these things is I'm looking to understand what others are thinking. Often these kinds of situations are due to a lack of understanding on someone's part. In general, if someone wants me to do something I don't agree with, I'll do it, as long as I understand what they are thinking, and they understand my concerns against it. I'm also in a position to address concerns directly with the decision makers though. It's a lot more difficult if you have to play telephone.