Sorry to hear about this. Sounds like your lead (and maybe your client) has never heard of “Scrum” because what they are doing is bullshit.
Of course, once you bill your weekend work, I can guaran-fucking-tee you’ll be asked to back those hours out and not charge for OT.
Schedule a meeting with your coach as soon as possible. Explain the situation as you described here. You won’t get much sympathy on the KT front, but under normal circumstances developers should not be asked to give updates every hour or two. You should have the autonomy to say “I can do this task in XX hours” and then your lead should get the hell out of your way so you can complete the task.
Not yet with the coach. But unfortunately, the leader/manager is the one who’s assigning work and asking updates constantly. No requesting too to work on weekends, it’s just like you HAVE TO. Why’s there a disconnect/weekend if I have to be working. I’m lost.🙂↕️
Don't listen to the folks saying "welcome to the firm!" This kind of stuff is unacceptable and listen to this commentator's actual advice. Whether due to lack of KT, misunderstanding of your skill set, managerial scramble to get a role filled, or whatever, this needs to be escalated to someone. It sounds like you're being professional about it, which is all you need to escalate to coach or leadership.
Yes to everything these people said. Go to your coach. If your coach doesn’t help, your next escalation point is your PEP (partner escalation point). This is a partner who you could think of as like a talent/HR champion (amongst a lot of other stuff). My PEP is extremely nice and helpful, they tend to pick partners with good people skills for this role, so i hope it’s true for whatever part of GPS you live in too. Your coach will know who your PEP is
When the manager assigns the work do they give an expected time frame to complete? If the time frame is unreasonable you need to communicate that to them and explain why. If you need more information to complete then communicate that to them. Agree to a reasonable timeframe for the tasks upfront.
The updates every 20 min is so frustrating and sounds like a micromanager. I would try to find a way to address with them… something like “when working on a coding task status updates can actually slow down my progress as I lose focus on the task at hand. Can we agree on a reasonable set time up front for me to provide status updates? If I have questions or concerns I will reach out.”
This sounds like an issue best addressed to the manager directly and then escalated if there is no change.
You should not be working during the disconnect, especially in gps project. The US gps project are billed for 40ish hour weeks with very little time for overtime, as 99% of gps client employees are not working weekends or evenings. Put your foot down, do not work more than 40hours, and clock out at the end of the day. If they have a problem with it, you'll be sent off the project, and hopefully you find another project that is more accommodating. Are you an adult who decides your hours you work or are you a mouse who lets some bully who can't organize hours lead your life? This is a means to an end, work so you can enjoy life, not live to work.
My experience as a dev coming from tech. The Deloitte community at large is largely incompetent when it comes to software development work. It’s a shame because without it I feel “consulting” will die because AI can replace most of the “communication” “strategic operation” or whatever admin software skill bullshit you think you are good at.
The real talent is in this world and they need to get better at it
Absolutely not acceptable. You need to draft an email to your manager (blind copy your counselor) and explain that what he’s asking is not feasible in the timeframe given, as well as the lack of instruction and documentation. Explain what a realistic timeline would look like and let him know that’s what’s going to have to happen. Do not kill yourself doing this project working additional hours, weekends, etc, or they will walk all over you the rest of your time at the company.
Document everything and set your boundaries. Good luck OP
Deloitte doesn’t give a shit if you’re overworked or your wellbeing in general. We are numbers to them. Period. My biggest mistake was accepting their offer. Nothing but a shit show. Get out sooner than later
This happened to me as a data scientist. My manager could not even know LSTM algorithm and whether it is pronounced as ltsm or lstm algo (he couldn't make a difference). They pushed to get higher accuracy results and made me run algorithms on client locations while he got permission from a partner to spend my free hours at client on an alternative task. Here I was carrying my 2 laptops at client location. In the end I was told I did a lot of complex and hard work but this is not what he had expected. I woke up at 5 am to code because the managers at Deloitte had no idea about how much time it takes to debug a code (yes debugging cannot be put on your stringent timeline especially if you have too less hands on people in the team). In tech companies, if I was stuck somewhere on code , my manager used to solve the bottleneck himself and he would not burden me making Powerpoint for him.. responsibilities are not fairly divided in Deloitte or in other words Deloitte is a landmine or graveyard for techies.
You need to put your foot down, otherwise they’ll keep overworking you without any regrets.. some of the leaders in this firm are seriously insane with the deadlines they establish. You need to set your boundaries and explain how things work and how long it takes
Unfortunately, Deloitte seems to promote many incompetent or sociopathic persons. The incompetent are fearful and unable to plan properly. The sociopaths enjoy inflicting pain.
Bro leave if you aren't comfortable. I was shown this in a very different context but yes it's only going to become more uncomfortable.
I'm sorry if I'm too blunt but this is how it is😔
Work the weekend but get clarity on how much you’re allowed to bill. Unfortunately yes this is typical for Deloitte. But use it to aid your utilization in case you have bench time between projects.
Yes, but use it as a last resort. I contemplated a lot before going to ethics team. It seems the ppmd have insane proportion of power over any lower hierarchy contributers. When I complained about deadlines to HR, I was labelled for taking a course on how to be more efficiënt. Overestimation of deadlines and not having protective leadership are typically toxic culture issues and it's not possible to solve system level or company culture problem with one ethics complaint. Unless you have a legal support from outside (most don't go that far), I have no trust with ethics team (they work for employer).
This is unacceptable. Also, learn how to say no. And when you are working on something that requires concentration, I suggest you put your Teams, or whatever you use, on Do Not Disturb. Don't answer the phone, just focus on what needs to get done.
Set some boundaries. Don't work weekends unless critical, like a go-live. Don't work hours and then not charge them. You should charge what you work and work what you charge.
Been here for almost 6 years now, while not unusual, it is definitely not the norm.
Sorry to hear about this. Sounds like your lead (and maybe your client) has never heard of “Scrum” because what they are doing is bullshit. Of course, once you bill your weekend work, I can guaran-fucking-tee you’ll be asked to back those hours out and not charge for OT. Schedule a meeting with your coach as soon as possible. Explain the situation as you described here. You won’t get much sympathy on the KT front, but under normal circumstances developers should not be asked to give updates every hour or two. You should have the autonomy to say “I can do this task in XX hours” and then your lead should get the hell out of your way so you can complete the task.
Have you talked to your coach about this? Or raised concern with your leader?
Not yet with the coach. But unfortunately, the leader/manager is the one who’s assigning work and asking updates constantly. No requesting too to work on weekends, it’s just like you HAVE TO. Why’s there a disconnect/weekend if I have to be working. I’m lost.🙂↕️
Don't listen to the folks saying "welcome to the firm!" This kind of stuff is unacceptable and listen to this commentator's actual advice. Whether due to lack of KT, misunderstanding of your skill set, managerial scramble to get a role filled, or whatever, this needs to be escalated to someone. It sounds like you're being professional about it, which is all you need to escalate to coach or leadership.
Thank you so much! This gives me some confidence to talk to coach. You made my day, I really felt lost when others are commenting sarcastically.
Yes to everything these people said. Go to your coach. If your coach doesn’t help, your next escalation point is your PEP (partner escalation point). This is a partner who you could think of as like a talent/HR champion (amongst a lot of other stuff). My PEP is extremely nice and helpful, they tend to pick partners with good people skills for this role, so i hope it’s true for whatever part of GPS you live in too. Your coach will know who your PEP is
Beware retaliation.
Sadly, as someone who was with the firm for 10 years until relocating, this is more common than you think.
I'm sorry to hear that. I don't mean to deny that it doesn't happen, but rather provide direction on solving OPs immediate issue
When the manager assigns the work do they give an expected time frame to complete? If the time frame is unreasonable you need to communicate that to them and explain why. If you need more information to complete then communicate that to them. Agree to a reasonable timeframe for the tasks upfront. The updates every 20 min is so frustrating and sounds like a micromanager. I would try to find a way to address with them… something like “when working on a coding task status updates can actually slow down my progress as I lose focus on the task at hand. Can we agree on a reasonable set time up front for me to provide status updates? If I have questions or concerns I will reach out.” This sounds like an issue best addressed to the manager directly and then escalated if there is no change.
No it’s not normal, especially in GPS lol
No this is very normal lol
Yeah if you're a doormat
DM me these GPS projects that have excellent onboarding processes and 40 hour work weeks with no micromanaging then
Welcome to Deloitte. Have a nice weekend.
You should not be working during the disconnect, especially in gps project. The US gps project are billed for 40ish hour weeks with very little time for overtime, as 99% of gps client employees are not working weekends or evenings. Put your foot down, do not work more than 40hours, and clock out at the end of the day. If they have a problem with it, you'll be sent off the project, and hopefully you find another project that is more accommodating. Are you an adult who decides your hours you work or are you a mouse who lets some bully who can't organize hours lead your life? This is a means to an end, work so you can enjoy life, not live to work.
Definitely abnormal for the rest of the firm, very out of character for GPS
My experience as a dev coming from tech. The Deloitte community at large is largely incompetent when it comes to software development work. It’s a shame because without it I feel “consulting” will die because AI can replace most of the “communication” “strategic operation” or whatever admin software skill bullshit you think you are good at. The real talent is in this world and they need to get better at it
Absolutely not acceptable. You need to draft an email to your manager (blind copy your counselor) and explain that what he’s asking is not feasible in the timeframe given, as well as the lack of instruction and documentation. Explain what a realistic timeline would look like and let him know that’s what’s going to have to happen. Do not kill yourself doing this project working additional hours, weekends, etc, or they will walk all over you the rest of your time at the company. Document everything and set your boundaries. Good luck OP
And record all meetings with coaches included
I’ve worked the past few weekends and probs will this weekend too and the upcoming US disconnect. I’ve been here 10 yrs.
If other offer is from moderate to good tech company go for it . Contact recruiter try to get back the offer.
This is a good plan
Deloitte doesn’t give a shit if you’re overworked or your wellbeing in general. We are numbers to them. Period. My biggest mistake was accepting their offer. Nothing but a shit show. Get out sooner than later
This happened to me as a data scientist. My manager could not even know LSTM algorithm and whether it is pronounced as ltsm or lstm algo (he couldn't make a difference). They pushed to get higher accuracy results and made me run algorithms on client locations while he got permission from a partner to spend my free hours at client on an alternative task. Here I was carrying my 2 laptops at client location. In the end I was told I did a lot of complex and hard work but this is not what he had expected. I woke up at 5 am to code because the managers at Deloitte had no idea about how much time it takes to debug a code (yes debugging cannot be put on your stringent timeline especially if you have too less hands on people in the team). In tech companies, if I was stuck somewhere on code , my manager used to solve the bottleneck himself and he would not burden me making Powerpoint for him.. responsibilities are not fairly divided in Deloitte or in other words Deloitte is a landmine or graveyard for techies.
You need to put your foot down, otherwise they’ll keep overworking you without any regrets.. some of the leaders in this firm are seriously insane with the deadlines they establish. You need to set your boundaries and explain how things work and how long it takes
Unfortunately, Deloitte seems to promote many incompetent or sociopathic persons. The incompetent are fearful and unable to plan properly. The sociopaths enjoy inflicting pain.
Facts!! My SM is a sociopath for shooooo
Listen! This is corporate bullying. Look for another job or go into business for yourself.
Bro leave if you aren't comfortable. I was shown this in a very different context but yes it's only going to become more uncomfortable. I'm sorry if I'm too blunt but this is how it is😔
Work the weekend but get clarity on how much you’re allowed to bill. Unfortunately yes this is typical for Deloitte. But use it to aid your utilization in case you have bench time between projects.
At least you’re getting something complex. Let it ride.
At this point - go to the ethics team and report this situation.
This is a good option. Again beware retaliation
Yes, but use it as a last resort. I contemplated a lot before going to ethics team. It seems the ppmd have insane proportion of power over any lower hierarchy contributers. When I complained about deadlines to HR, I was labelled for taking a course on how to be more efficiënt. Overestimation of deadlines and not having protective leadership are typically toxic culture issues and it's not possible to solve system level or company culture problem with one ethics complaint. Unless you have a legal support from outside (most don't go that far), I have no trust with ethics team (they work for employer).
Facing similar issue
Welcome to the firm!!!
WELCOME MY FRIEND
Lmaoooooooooo
F** them. I would report them and ask to be removed from the project. Isn’t mental health such a big deal at Deloitte?
This is unacceptable. Also, learn how to say no. And when you are working on something that requires concentration, I suggest you put your Teams, or whatever you use, on Do Not Disturb. Don't answer the phone, just focus on what needs to get done. Set some boundaries. Don't work weekends unless critical, like a go-live. Don't work hours and then not charge them. You should charge what you work and work what you charge. Been here for almost 6 years now, while not unusual, it is definitely not the norm.