I recently started working with a new team, and I have to say, it’s been a real challenge. Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who knows what’s going on, or at least, who cares about getting things done efficiently. Every time I ask a clarifying question, I get another question in response. Nobody seems willing to take charge and provide a clear answer. I’ve had to reach out to my manager for even the smallest details, which thankfully, they’re happy to provide. What’s even more surprising is the lack of technical skills among my teammates. They’ve admitted to not knowing SQL, and it shows in their work. They’re struggling with docker, kubernetes, database concepts, and even basic unit testing. It’s like they’re learning as they go, which is slowing down our project. To make matters worse, our daily stand-ups often feature updates that are, quite frankly, ridiculous. Someone will say they’re “updating the tables in a database” for weeks on end, when in reality, it’s just a simple append operation. And don’t even get me started on the code they’re copying from other projects without understanding the implementation. Meetings often get hijacked by trivial discussions, and it feels like people are more interested in sounding smart than actually contributing to the project. It’s frustrating, to say the least. I’m not sure if this is what a normal functioning team looks like, but I know it’s not what I’m used to. So, I’m asking, how do you deal with team members who seem to lack the skills and motivation to get the job done? Should I just ignore it and focus on my own work, or should I speak up and try to address these inefficiencies with my manager? I want to deliver this project on time, but it feels like an uphill battle.
