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Is It Wierd? Or Simply Another Type of Person?

 
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This "Tech Lead" of the Company really makes me wonder if it is an indication that something is not quite right or it is simply because I am not used to this kind of personality:

First, my impression of a typical technical team is that everybody is busy with developing codes, solving technical problems. However, this Tech Lead spends hours talking and joking (maybe he is very fast in writing codes and works at home in the evenings to make up the time lost in office) during office hours (the team members must put off work listening to him). His topics of conversation have always very "personal"; for example, he owns four cars and two motorcycles; he has to choose which car to drive each morning; he was at a "certain theatre" or a "certain club" in downtown last weekend; his next door neighbor forgot to turn off the garden faucet last night; he gave one of his computers to his Mom and his Mom opens every single e-mail that possibly contains virus; the amazing reactions of his ex-wife on certain things (he always shows this unusual hostility toward and discontent with the person he once was married to); a team member broke his wrest and cannot drive standard shift for a while( and spent at least half an hour talking this one single event); the company does not observe a certain national holiday (and he can elaborate on that for 15 minutes); etc., etc. His world is never bigger than himself and this small company.

Second, he seems to think that he has lots of "sense of humor". He likes to joke all the time and his jokes include: a person opens a drawer of a desk, he immediately says that all the money in that drawer is his; when the group go to a restaurant for lunch, he says that whoever goes inside the restaurant first pays the bill; he says to certain team members that it would be great if they come to work this weekend (there is no work and no emergency); he says to certain team members that he is not going to sign their timesheets because certain technical problems are not solved; certain team members opt not to go out for lunch, he says that they are going to be in big trouble because he is the one asking; etc., etc.

I have never met a person at work who talks about something trivial and personal for hours and hours. And I have never met person so impressed by his/her own sense of humor while people do not really appreciate his/her jokes.

Please advise if the situation is normal or abnormal. I have lots of homework to do if this "Tech Lead" is normal.
 
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Well my first thought is that this guy must have a really small, um, view of himself. Yes, I've encountered this type of person. And what sucked for me was that I couldn't win because management already thought he was great.

I had to end up being a little rude to the person. When the chatting was about stuff that I didn't need to hear I would professionally but firmly tell them that I had to get other work done. Sometimes I had to fake a meeting or a bathroom break as these people would corner me and not get the hint.

No, this is not normal. It sounds like this guy is the bosses son or something and just really likes to hear himself. I'd tell him that you have work to do and you can't talk right now. If the his chatting is negatively affecting your work then you need to talk to a higher up about it. Be careful though - if the higher ups think that this guy is great then you're basically stuck. I ended up leaving a company because of someone like this.
 
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I think he's simply another weird person . you sure he does not drop by JavaRanch sometimes!!
 
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I have seen it with others but not with a "tech lead".
 
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And how good is he technically?
 
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We had the exact problem in my last job. The guy is charge of us didn't get the hint that we needed to do work.

At that point we were working 8 hours a day and we had a deadline planned out for a specific day, that we could reach without working overtime. So we didn't work overtime but because of this idiot boss we missed the deadline and his manager got on his case because of it. Now he doesn't bother us and rather sits and plays Quake all day.
 
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Originally posted by Daniel Gee:
This "Tech Lead" of the Company really makes me wonder if it is an indication that something is not quite right or it is simply because I am not used to this kind of personality:
...
Please advise if the situation is normal or abnormal. I have lots of homework to do if this "Tech Lead" is normal.



This is one of your usual office fauna. He spends most of his time socializing with his staff and smoozing with his management. He is probably highly regarded by those above him, so be careful.
 
Don't get me started about those stupid light bulbs.
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