TL; DR:
- Act with empathy and curiosity
- Generally people are not malicious
- No livestream this week, sorry!
When Teammates Stop Pulling Their Weight
Every engineer who has worked on a real team has felt it at some point. That slow, sinking realization that someone on the team isn’t delivering.
- You see tickets lagging behind.
- Pull requests sit untouched until someone else jumps in.
- Deadlines slip, retros feel tense, and suddenly, the whole sprint feels heavier than it should.
It’s uncomfortable, frustrating, and let's be honest here... it can be a bit scary. When a teammate consistently underperforms, it doesn’t just impact velocity. It eats away at trust.
So what do you do when it happens? Keep on readin', and make sure to check out this Code Commute video where I discuss it further:
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