The "I Just Went on Vacation" Effect in Dev Teams

09 Jul 2025 #career

After years of working in dev teams, I’ve learned one rule the hard way:

Don’t ask someone leaving to finish a critical task, even if they’re the only one who knows how.

Someone going on vacation, or worse, leaving the job already has their mind elsewhere. They’re already thinking about packing, buying tickets, or finishing paperwork.

Even if they finish the task, something will go wrong after they’re gone. Maybe it’s a requirement change, an unexpected bug, or a new scenario nobody saw coming. And they’re the only one who knows how to handle it.

Too late, they’re already gone. People who stayed will have a hard time catching up.

I don’t know if that’s ever happened inside your teams. But I’ve seen it more than once. Let’s call it the “I Just Went on Vacation” effect. And make sure we don’t fall into it, especially if you’re the one leaving.

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