Dealing with the QA guy...

[Anonymous Monk]

Monks,

At my programming job, I am having trouble dealing with my QA (Quality Assurance) guy. The man is a jerk. I have never done anything wrong to him, at least nothing that I can remember. But he just doesn't like me.

He tries to build a wedge between me and my boss (and anyone else who would listen). Any chance he can get, he is always trying to make me look bad. For example, if my code doesn't work right, he well shout it out:

"Hey, it is not working!"

Instead of IMing me about it, etc. It's little stuff like that. I don't know what to do other than try to be perfect which is hard enough. He is friendlier with other coworkers. I just don't like what he is trying to do with me.

I am new to the company and so is he. So I don't feel I have the clout to complain about him or make this an "issue".

I am wondering if I am a scapegoat for him. My boss once said that he is very annoying. But as a new person, I have also made some mistakes.

What should I do to diffuse the situation? Part of me feels like inviting him to lunch or something and seeing how it goes. I could take him out and spend some time chit-chatting. The other part of me wants to run him over with a lunch truck.

Considered by dragonchild: Retitle to "Dealing with a coworker issue"
Unconsidered by Arunbear: Enough keep votes; Keep/Edit/Delete: 21/24/2

[dragonchild]

First, this is general coworker issues, not issues with QA people in general. QA people aren't a special subspecies of Homo Sapiens. They shit, shower, and shave, just like you.

A few points, in no particular order.

• You are uncomfortable with one of your work partners. This needs to be brought to your boss's attention, if for no other reason than it is making you uncomfortable. I am of the opinion that your boss exists to make your worklife easier, so that you can get your job done. If something might impede that, it's his job to make the impediment go away, whatever that means.
• Have you tried taking the guy out to lunch and just asking him "Hey, I feel you might be treating me differently than the other guys. Is there something I can do to make you feel more comfortable with me?" Always frame it as "What can I do to help you?". Don't attack him; all that does is make him defensive and that leads to one thing - a fight.
• Don't make mistakes. Maybe, this means you have to ask the QA guy "Hey, would you mind explaining to me where I'm going wrong so I don't make the same mistake again?" Maybe, this means you spend more time unit-testing and building a testsuite of your own, so you can at least document what you tried to test on your own.
• If all else fails, go talk to HR.

[Anonymous Monk]

Its not like we hate you or want to smash you over and over again with embarrassment. We feel that being a good companion it is our duty to keep you away from people who would shout "who built this crap" so we take a stand and try to save you from such situations and tell you now and then to keep you work in good shape. "Oo... coffee ... i like hazelnut latte, which one should i get for you."

[Ultra]

he well shout it out: "Hey, it is not working!" Instead of IMing me about it,

Maybe it's time to talk with your boss about your procedures. The QA guys isn't supposed to IM you the problems he found, nor to yell at you, nor to tell his friends how bad the code you wrote is.

He is supposed to use a defect tracking system to report problems. You don't have one in place? Forget about the jerk, try to convince your boss that it is a must. (maybe Bugzilla?) ;-)

[aufflick]

What that guy said! As much as they can suck sometimes, clear processes about how you interface with other people/teams like QA save you from a world of hurt. Sometimes it's an IT system (like a defect management system), sometimes it's an agreed way of exchanging emails, sometimes it might just be agreeing who does what.

Process is your friend, as long as the process is not so rigid that it gets in the way or clouds your creative thinking.

[pg]

Before I read the details of your post, I was about to say that the QA guys are always right. It is not about whether they are really always right, but you want everybody to follow and respect the procedures and standards, which is more important than any single person.

Then I found out that, you were not really talking about a QA guy, but could be anyone that is annoying.

You know what, try to work with him, but there is really no need for you to make friend with him or love him. Everybody has his/her own way of working and living, you are not required to love any one, yet no one is required to love you.

The best things you can do are 1) don't pay too much attention, if that guy is really a jerk, don't let him destroy your days, jerks always live very happily, their days will not go down with yours. If you pay too much attention to those jerks, you become an accessary to them against yourself. 2) to improve the quality of your work, and gradually reduce the mistakes you make. However nobody is perfect, if that guy is really a jerk, you will never be able to stop him from doing what he likes to do. So forget him.

If your boss and those other people around you understand you, you really don't need to worry about that guy. You can never make everybody love you, like Raymond did ;-), so don't waste your time to attempt. You are not the only person who has 1 or 2 jerks around.

[leriksen]

In my working career, which spans (gasp) 23 years, I've met 3 people I just couldn't stand - from minute 1. And I know there are people who couldn't stand me.

In my whole life, I've met 3 people I have loved completely - and with one of them, I made 3 more people.

I'm sure that both of these are a side-effect of meeting enough people.

What I'm trying to say is that in the vast tapestry of human kind, some threads a gold, some threads are broken, and there are innumerable different kinds of threads in between. All you can do is try to make your part of the tapestry (the bit with your thread and all the threads you've met around you) as beautiful as possible - broken threads included. The best way to hid a broken thread is to bring it very close yo your own, so that they weave together.

Bring your work closer to his QA, and his QA closer to your work.

When its time to have your work QA'd, call him over, sit with him while he does it, show you want to learn from him and let him know that his goals are important to you. Ask him if he wants to take a coffee break with you after an hour or so...

And if that doesnt work, you can always take his broken thread and wrap it round his whinging QA neck till .... ah, I can feel your hatred growing, my young apprentice, turn to the dark side....

[Anonymous Monk]

"Hey, it is not working!"

Been there, done that.

My co-worker was just like that. I did go to my manager eventually to gently explain that this was really quite disruptive. It can be tough to deal with someone you dislike right off the bat, but it's one of those things that becomes a bigger deal if you ignore it.

One co-worker a while back had the next door cubicle to mine, and an amazingly loud voice. I responded the only way I knew how, by speaking softly to him .. he adjusted his volume down to a reasonable without even realizing it. :)

(Posting anonymously for obvious reasons.)

[ErichTheRead]

You are not the scapegoat for this guy.

Your code is.

So write flawless code, and be friendly with him. Better to invite him to lunch and get him to help you write better code.