Full-time web dev; JS lover since 2002; CSS fanatic. #CSSIsAwesome
I try to stay up with new web platform features. Web feature you don't understand? Tell me! I'll write an article!
He/him
IMO, the thing to do here is sit down with your project manager and talk this all through. Based on your recounting, it sounds like A is having an actual detrimental effect on the quality of the project that is going unnoticed, and I'm sure your manager would like to know. It's helpful that you have documented some of the issues along the way via your DMs to A, and could pull them up for reference both of what specific bugs they caused and, perhaps more important from a business perspective, how much time (and therefore money/resources) has been spent on cleaning up behind them.
I know this can be a very uncomfortable thing to do, and it can feel (and sometimes be) risky. I don't know how your company is structured, but both large companies I worked for (and several others I know of through friends) split the management hierarchy between project management, those who handle actual development of a specific product and the team(s) working on it, and a different sort of manager who is responsible for working with a few employees as they move through the company, regardless of project (my first company called these "career managers", my second called these "branch managers", another company I know has called them "line managers"). This second management structure exists for exactly these sort of situations, where you might not feel comfortable approaching your project manager initially, because you don't want to create any tension with others involved with the project until you are sure it's worth pursuing; the career manager (or whatever title) is typically not associated with your project, and so can listen to your concerns and give you impartial feedback without any personal stake, but they also are in a position of authority such that they could help you approach the project manager if that is the right thing to do. If your company doesn't have a structure like this, HR would be another option; I would just approach someone in a can-I-bounce-a-problem-off-you sort of way, maybe discuss the situation without naming names initially, and see what happens.
The most important thing that either of these authority figures could help you do, aside from maybe actually mediating the conversation, is help you find the right approach if you do go to your project manager. This sort of thing can feel like a personal attack and can get heated if you present it the wrong way, so an HR rep or an experienced manager should be able to help you craft your complaint in a minimally inflammatory way.
this is a nasty approach, you have a problem with someone how they conduct themselves or what they deliver you bring it to that person first and you discuss it with them. Only afterwards, if there's good reason to do so, should you escalate to management. Be fair to people and treat people respectfully regardless of what they may have done.
Second, if this company seems to treat people with promotions because of outward appearance. You may want to look for another company that values output first above how someone can politically maneuver.
Full-time web dev; JS lover since 2002; CSS fanatic. #CSSIsAwesome
I try to stay up with new web platform features. Web feature you don't understand? Tell me! I'll write an article!
He/him
apologies he did say that. I was speed reading through it and missed that most obvious part for some reason.
At any event, my recommendation here is to follow the process of development and not circumvent that process by "helping" and "fixing" via out of band mechanisms. Problems such as these need to be made visible on the team boards and then they're signaled by testers and you can do proper fixing that way including educating him on how to do it.
That way you're completely transparant to the whole team and issues are clear where they come from and who needs to solve them.
IMO, the thing to do here is sit down with your project manager and talk this all through. Based on your recounting, it sounds like A is having an actual detrimental effect on the quality of the project that is going unnoticed, and I'm sure your manager would like to know. It's helpful that you have documented some of the issues along the way via your DMs to A, and could pull them up for reference both of what specific bugs they caused and, perhaps more important from a business perspective, how much time (and therefore money/resources) has been spent on cleaning up behind them.
I know this can be a very uncomfortable thing to do, and it can feel (and sometimes be) risky. I don't know how your company is structured, but both large companies I worked for (and several others I know of through friends) split the management hierarchy between project management, those who handle actual development of a specific product and the team(s) working on it, and a different sort of manager who is responsible for working with a few employees as they move through the company, regardless of project (my first company called these "career managers", my second called these "branch managers", another company I know has called them "line managers"). This second management structure exists for exactly these sort of situations, where you might not feel comfortable approaching your project manager initially, because you don't want to create any tension with others involved with the project until you are sure it's worth pursuing; the career manager (or whatever title) is typically not associated with your project, and so can listen to your concerns and give you impartial feedback without any personal stake, but they also are in a position of authority such that they could help you approach the project manager if that is the right thing to do. If your company doesn't have a structure like this, HR would be another option; I would just approach someone in a can-I-bounce-a-problem-off-you sort of way, maybe discuss the situation without naming names initially, and see what happens.
The most important thing that either of these authority figures could help you do, aside from maybe actually mediating the conversation, is help you find the right approach if you do go to your project manager. This sort of thing can feel like a personal attack and can get heated if you present it the wrong way, so an HR rep or an experienced manager should be able to help you craft your complaint in a minimally inflammatory way.
this is a nasty approach, you have a problem with someone how they conduct themselves or what they deliver you bring it to that person first and you discuss it with them. Only afterwards, if there's good reason to do so, should you escalate to management. Be fair to people and treat people respectfully regardless of what they may have done.
Second, if this company seems to treat people with promotions because of outward appearance. You may want to look for another company that values output first above how someone can politically maneuver.
The OP says they've repeatedly brought up these issues to the dev, no?
apologies he did say that. I was speed reading through it and missed that most obvious part for some reason.
At any event, my recommendation here is to follow the process of development and not circumvent that process by "helping" and "fixing" via out of band mechanisms. Problems such as these need to be made visible on the team boards and then they're signaled by testers and you can do proper fixing that way including educating him on how to do it.
That way you're completely transparant to the whole team and issues are clear where they come from and who needs to solve them.
I agree with this method.
Also talking with A beforehand could be helpful.