I've quit my job several different times without anything lined up because of the working environment. It is never on a whim or because of a single incident. It is the result of months of trying to make it work and realizing that I am only being set up to fail on purpose.
Toxic teams do not think they are the problem. They just have this bad luck in hiring new people, none of them last. Maybe they think they are the cream of the crop, the elite, you just have to be as dedicated and hard as them to survive. This is false, their behavior and attitudes are driving away anyone that isn't like them.
Things I watch out for at work
There can be a honeymoon period when starting a new job with a toxic team. There may be space and time given to learn and settle in. This is when I have historically started to notice the difference in team culture from what they said in the interview and what I see.
-
No one uses vacation time or sick leave
Having unlimited sick or vacation time is great. But if you are highly discouraged from ever using it, it is worthless.
-
It is always crunch time
This is usually why members are discouraged from taking time off.
-
Everything is urgent
If everything is urgent, nothing is. Tasks and projects cannot be prioritized. The priority of the day shifts to whoever is screaming loudest.
-
Professional development budgets aren't allowed to be used
There is money for you to go to the conference, but you aren't allowed to go because it is crunch time.
-
Socializing with other teams is frowned upon
Once again, it is crunch time. Why aren't you eating lunch at your desk?
-
Minimal or no on-boarding
There is no time to have you shadow someone to learn the job. Questions are frowned upon, you are just supposed to know it.
-
No documentation
They also didn't have time for any documentation, everything is in their heads. You are left alone to learn as you go.
-
Little or no recognition of good work
Everyone likes to feel appreciated and that they matter. I like the idea that praise is a vitamin and everyone deserves good actionable praise. If recognition is not given, how do people know if they are meeting expectations?
-
Check-ins are constantly skipped
I use check-ins as a time for a conversation with my lead or manager on how I am doing and what direction the team is going. If these conversations are not happening, I do not know if I am being effective or how to prepare for later projects.
-
Roadblocks are ignored
Ignoring a roadblock does not make it go away. It makes it a bigger problem.
-
Jokes or put-downs against me or what I do
There is a difference between making fun of a tool (e.g. jokes about how hard it is to quit Vim) and making fun of the users of that tool. Making fun of the users is not cool.
-
It isn't safe to fail
Failure is part of learning. Failure is a consequence of being on the edge of technology. There should be safeguards to prevent failure from being catastrophic.
Things I watch out for in myself
There is often an internal equation or algorithm we use to justify actions we take and our place in the team. Sometimes we explain away everything happening to ourselves without seeing how it really is affecting us.
-
Having to will myself into work every day
Everyone has off days, but if I am dreading work every day there is usually something wrong.
-
Feeling like I ran a marathon every day after work
If I only come home and crash every day, either I am really sick or something else is happening.
-
Crying because of work
Being passionate about work is a good thing but being frustrated enough to cry at the walls and roadblocks that are happening every day is not.
-
Doing everything possible to not be at my desk
If I feel like I don't have control over my job, I often end up volunteering for several committees or groups so I feel like I have something I can do and get direction through them.
Creating an action plan
Having a good support network is key to surviving a toxic team. Whenever I spot several of the above symptoms happening over a week or so, I reach out to talk with someone. I have talked with my partner, colleagues in other companies, mentors, family, friends, and mental health practitioners. Discussing these actions always helps me to figure out the best plan of action.
-
Take a break
Use that vacation or sick time and get out of the office for more than just the weekend. Take some time to think and discuss with others about the work environment.
-
Look for a new job
There can be too many things wrong and or no support from management and HR. In those cases, I start looking for a new job while continuing to work.
-
Stay with the team
Sometimes, the job is not what you were expecting it to be but you have support through management or HR. In those cases, you can try working through it. This option requires a good personal support network.
-
Quit with nothing lined up
Sometimes the best option is just to quit. The job is too stressful and is a danger to your health. This option requires having enough money to support yourself while you look.
You are not responsible for fixing the team.
Each time I have ended up quitting without a job lined up, I had been working to try to fix the team but ended up with pushback and was labelled the trouble maker. Some teams cannot be fixed, they have to be destroyed and rebuilt. Don't sacrifice yourself trying to fix them.
Oldest comments (31)
I recognize a couple of our own red flags here as well as items I think we should be proud of.
Really hits the nail on the head.
I've wound up with a bunch of health problems with some problematic teammates.
After one engineer joined, we frequently butted heads, and after a few months, I started to get heartburn whenever I had to talk to that person. That person was laid off for unrelated reasons, and my heartburn went away. I was pretty shocked that it could affect me like that.
Later on I started grinding my teeth, and have slightly chipped a molar from the grinding. After that I started prioritizing my health instead of work, and coincidentally the problematic person left the company, and things vastly improved after that. I would have left the job, had that person not left.
Thanks for sharing your experience.
Thank you for sharing this.
One that's related to what you shared about what to watch out for is the only people who get rewarded are working ridiculous hours and also very unhappy.
I give up on getting recognition for those places because I have gotten to a point where I refuse to sacrifice my health for any job. I'd rather get my "promotion" from moving on. I can show I am right for a promotion without working myself to the ground.
I've experienced the what to look out for in myself as well, I've experienced almost all of them at certain jobs I've had. Really sad proud that I know that's not how it has to be.
The part about vacation time, is I hate it. If I go on vacation its hard for me to get back into work mode. Also I think companies that allow employess to work from home also plays a role
💯
When you quit without anything lined up, how was your experience interviewing while you were unemployed? Did it come up during interviews? I realize there is a big fear around this - that you are "supposed to always be employed!" - but wonder if it's really as big a deal is it's made out to be.
Great post!
It's not the fear that surrounds
supposed to be always employed. There is the pressure of skipping bills and payments of the month which disrupts the financial management of the next month and starts a disastrous chain of events which is quite difficult to recover from.Both times I have been able to get a job after quitting without too much hassle. Shorter gaps (< 3 months) in my employment history I don't explain. Longer gaps I stress the open source online communities I worked with while searching.
If you have the safety net to quit a toxic environment without something lined up, I recommend it. In my opinion it is better to have a gap in employment than to bring the mistrust and stress with you into the next job.
In my country, half of that list is not toxic it is directly criminal.
Any sane person should have a list like that and not be miserable because some managers are tyrants.
I believe that we attract everything to our life, when someone is bad with us, we feel bad, and that's your inner self feeling bad, we create our own feelings and we're responsible for that.
Life is a long travel, and is so good to be/feel in charge, no one can hurt you when you deep understand it. Of course, we're not a machine, sometimes "shit happens", but the main point is how we deal with that, we have two opportunities, feel bad with the situation, or learn and get stronger with the issues.
And no one is bad, it's just their best, and everyone is trying to be better everyday, understanding that take us to a peaceful way of thinking.
The next stage is laughing.
I remember working to the bone at one of my jobs, being angry first at the inefficiencies, then crying about being exhausted and hating work, then laughing in the end because I probably lost my marbles. You should probably quit before you reach here.
I made it a point to make sure people who work with me don't contribute to this culture. People are really workaholic in Asia... I sometimes need to scold people for not resting when they are sick and tell them to chill because the work can be delayed or that other people in the team will help them pick up the slack. It is unfortunate that it's become a habit some people grow up with because of the unhealthy obsession with academic excellence here. It's also sad that some people relish in bragging about how busy -and important- they are.
"You should probably quit before you reach here." I'm not sure why this made me LOL.. probably because I'm already there. T_T
Thanks for sharing your experience with us. I find this reading comforting :)
My current job is toxic. I work in a small startup (we are 6 and one trainee) and the toxic ambiance it's because of of the choices of the two founders of the startup. They are always changing their mind about important decisions, and they never listen the advices of their employees (even when they know nothing about a subject). Since I am here (it's been one year and a half) there is 5 people who choose to left the company, and it's been 7 month that they try to recrute a developer but they don't succeed.
I planed to quit at the end of december but I sometime ask myself if my colleagues are thinking like me or if I am the only one in the current team who can't work like that anymore.
Thanks, Jenn.
This post brought about something I haven't considered when looking for a new job.
Would there be a way to find out if the team is toxic when you are looking for a new job?
How could one spot/smell the toxicness during an interview?
Any tips you would recommend?
Ask about things like overtime, time off, hour flexibility, and remote working and see how they respond. I've found these three things to be quite telling, regardless of your personal stance on them.
How often are people working overtime? What are the reasons for working overtime? How much overtime is being worked? How do you prevent the need for overtime from happening again?
How much PTO is available? If it's limited, are sick and vacation days combined or separate? When was the last time a non-management employee (or level to your position) took a week or more off?
How flexible are the working hours? Do people get reprimanded for coming in at 9:15? Is it frowned upon for someone to come in at 10 (if they're getting their work done)?
What's the remote work policy? How often do people work remotely? How many full-time remote workers are there? How often do remote workers get promoted in relation to their peers?
It's rather likely you won't get straight answers for most of these questions, which alone will tell you a lot (you're not just looking at the answers, themselves, but how the person answers them). Limited + combined PTO discourages taking time off. Clock-watching encourages presenteeism and a "turn the lights on in the morning, off at night" culture. Remote friendliness requires certain cultural elements that foster things like communication and breaks down very quickly under certain toxic elements, so even if you choose to be in the office full time, knowing their stance can be a good barometer for culture. Making excuses for overtime (things like "that's just how this industry is") is a huge red flag. Hour flexibility indicates trust in people's ability to do their job and work when they're most productive, instead of some arbitrary time (shift-style work notwithstanding), which indicates more focus on results.
Additionally, look for signs of discomfort when they go to answer these questions. How they answer the question can betray a lot about their trust level in their workers. Also, don't just ask this of the hiring manager, but of any peer-level employees you interview with. Remember, the interview is a two-way street. It's just as much about you assessing the company as the company assessing you.
Tour the office and make note of the environment. If they have the stereotypical "startup" perks like ping pong tables, see how much they're actually used (many times such things are recruitment bait, but people are discouraged from actually using them). Are the desks decorated with fun stuff, or are they sterile? Do the people look comfortable or on edge? Regardless of your position, find the tech people, particularly QA, documentation, production support, infrastructure, and development. These are the ones at the end of the production lines and who see all the nitty-gritty things going on, and the ones most likely to get blamed when things go wrong, even when it's beyond their control.
Great post, reminds me of: i.ebayimg.com/images/g/9yEAAOSw3yd...
Logical points. I agree with most of them. Because of stress, I have developed health problems and I am taking care of my personal health now.
Really well written! Kudos.
And what about abusing the knowledge silos created by toxic teams to take adventage and become "essential" for the company? It is using bad things to create worse things. ;)