tekBlueprint

I think we need to break up the technical articles a bit with some other topics. It might be controversial, as everyone has their own perspective on things. One way or another, all of this has happened in various companies.

Introduction

I won’t say that working in IT is particularly difficult or heroic, especially with toxic teams. There are much more “complex” professions with such a culture and attitude toward employees that no psychologist could help an IT specialist. A psychiatrist, perhaps. Therefore, we make allowances based on the profession and the mindset and personality of people (often introverts) entering this field.

Newcomers to IT from other professions are also a separate issue, with their own atmosphere and expectations. I suspect the vast majority of them come to the industry for the money, not out of interest or calling. All the courses from various companies emphasize this in their advertising.

Point by point

In the “what to do” section, I won’t list possible management actions for managers. Obviously, every company’s specifics are different, and a detailed analysis is needed. Besides, I don’t want to drag out the article. In short, let them figure it out for themselves; I’m not a free consultant :) I’ll only outline possible employee actions.

And a final word. As we know, there’s no such thing as justice, and business, ultimately, is primarily focused on profit. No company is perfect, but there are those that manage to achieve almost every possible outcome.

#1 Constant crisis

One of the most common signs is a state of constant crisis. In such companies, something is always going wrong, and these “force majeure” circumstances are almost always beyond the company’s control.

Manifestations:

• Daily “fires,” task/project deadlines are pushed back without logic or explanation, and urgency becomes the norm rather than the exception, as it should be.
• Lack of transparent planning and task prioritization. Attempts to change anything are met with resistance without clear justification. This is actually convenient if you want to shirk responsibility–it’s chaos, after all.
• Completely unexpected tasks constantly arise, pulling busy employees away from their current workflows. This creates the illusion of busyness and importance, but in reality, it undermines any attempts to build a systemic workflow.

What this leads to:

• Chronic stress reduces productivity, creativity, and the quality of work results. And it’s generally depressing.
• Such a culture often masks ineffective management and a lack of strategy. Management may appear “active” and “busy,” but in reality, the company is moving by inertia or deteriorating.
• Significant time is lost due to chaotic task context switching and mistakes made in haste.
• Even in teams that manage to establish effective work processes, constant interruptions and disruptions to plans destroy any system. This leads to employee frustration and demoralization.

What to do:

• Try to determine whether the chaos is the result of poor planning or systemic toxicity.
• If the problem is with management, look at their actions, not their words. If it’s clear they’re only talking and not changing anything, it’s best to leave. Words mean nothing, actions matter.
• If the problem is with the culture, leave, no choice. Changing a company’s culture from within is virtually impossible, especially if it’s deeply toxic.

#2 Lack of clear goals and expectations

This problem is closely related to the previous one and is often its consequence. First and foremost, it’s the most obvious sign of incompetent or lazy management, which is unable to clearly articulate and convey its ideas to employees. Or perhaps they simply don’t understand what they’re doing and rely on employees to figure things out on their own.

Manifestations:

• Tasks are often phrased as “do it somehow,” “see what can be improved,” or “let’s think about it.” There’s a lack of understanding of why this is necessary, what the success criteria are, and what the expected return is.
• There’s no understanding of when a task is considered complete and what specific results are expected. This leads to a situation where the same result can be evaluated differently depending on the manager’s mood.
• Even after the task is completed, there’s no constructive feedback on what went well and what needs improvement. This creates a sense of futile work in a vacuum.
• All discussions take place primarily verbally. Communication and approval via email and corporate instant messaging apps is avoided as much as possible to ensure no traces of any agreements remain.

What this leads to:

• Time and energy are wasted not on solving problems, but on guessing what’s really needed.
• The risk of burnout (I hate that word, but whatever) increases due to uncertainty.
• There’s no feedback and, as a result, no motivation to keep working—it can feel like unnecessary and pointless work.

What to do:

• Try to learn about goals, specific success criteria, and demand regular feedback. But this doesn’t always work.
• If management ignores attempts to implement clear goals and processes, this is a clear sign that the company isn’t interested in efficiency. They’re comfortable with that state of affairs.

#3 The management does not inform or explain

One of the most trust-destroying signs of a toxic culture is a lack of transparency in decision-making. The company becomes a “Pandora’s box,” where no one knows what to expect or when.

Manifestations:

• Important strategic decisions are made by a small group of people in huddle-room meetings. They are often based on personal preferences and agreements rather than a professional assessment of the situation. This creates the feeling that the opinions of ordinary employees matter little.
• Layoffs, reorganizations, and shifts in priorities are announced at the last minute or without explanation. Employees learn about important changes through rumors or by chance.
• In fact, the company becomes an extremely unreliable place to work, where there is zero guarantee that changes will not affect you personally. This forces you to constantly look for a “backup airfield” and not invest in projects.

What this leads to:

• Effective teamwork is impossible without trust. Many people stop feeling part of a common cause and go into survival mode. Without trust, there’s no engagement, and without engagement, any company is doomed to failure.
• Employees begin to view themselves as a resource, more like a piece of furniture that can be easily replaced, rather than as valuable professionals worth investing in. This directly impacts loyalty and work quality.
• Uncertainty and fear create constant tension within the team. People begin to suspect each other of snitching and intrigue, which destroys a healthy work environment. Incidentally, such suspicions aren’t always wrong, but that’s a separate issue.

What to do:

• Offer regular meetings (more than once a year) where plans and results are shared. Organize regular one-on-one meetings.
• If secrecy is part of the company culture, consider moving to a company that values ​​openness.

#4 The culture of clans and favoritism

Another top sign that’s best to be aware of before joining a company is the existence of informal clans and a system of favoritism. Changing this on the spot is virtually impossible.

Manifestations:

• Some employees receive better projects, more interesting tasks, and more opportunities for growth and development without any obvious reason. Bonuses and promotions are also distributed not based on performance, but rather on closeness to management.
• There are “secret” chats and meetings attended only by “insiders.” Information about important decisions and changes first reaches a small circle of people, and only then the rest of the team.
• “Inside” employees may break rules, be late, or fail to complete tasks, but they are not held accountable. Meanwhile, “outsiders” are subject to strict monitoring and punishment for the slightest infractions.

What this leads to:

• It destroys the motivation of those who work honestly. Honest and effective work is no longer rewarded. No matter what you do, you still won’t be able to outperform “your people.” This leads to cynicism and a loss of interest in work.
• Instead of healthy competition and collaboration, a struggle for management’s favor emerges. People waste energy not on solving problems, but on intrigue and sycophancy.
• Qualified specialists who aren’t among the favorites quickly realize that their value is not recognized in such a company and begin to look for other opportunities. This leads to the loss of key competencies and knowledge.

What to do:

• You can try to discuss this, but it most likely won’t work. The only option is for the owner to replace the management, if they aren’t involved and want to change something.
• Focus on measurable results of your work. Build your own portfolio of successful projects that can be useful in the future, perhaps at another company.
• If there’s no response, which is what will happen in most cases, accept it or leave.

#5 Appropriation of someone else’s work and devaluation

I’m not prepared to speculate on the motives behind such behavior; it’s more likely determined by the personality traits of specific individuals or their complexes—appropriating the results of someone else’s work and devaluing their contribution.

Manifestations:

• Removal from projects or work without explanation. Often, this happens after the main difficult part has been completed. In other words, we dump the hardest part on employees with a huge amount of uncertainty. And once it’s done, management comes in to “manage” and “correct,” pushing them into the background. This happens especially often with informal leaders and experts, whose contribution is most noticeable.
• Constant attempts to exclude them from work processes under various pretexts. I think it’s most often a fear of external criticism—there’s no irritating element, and it’s as if the problem doesn’t exist. Experience shows that this is often the case.
• Management or “colleagues” present other people’s ideas as their own. Often they do this behind their backs, in an attempt to hide their own professional incompetence from others by demonstrating the opposite. It’s especially cynical when ideas that were previously criticized suddenly become “brilliant” as soon as they’re voiced by one of the former critics. Sometimes it gets ridiculous: literally a few days pass, and a previously criticized “bad” idea becomes “brilliant.”

What this leads to:

• When it becomes clear that work and ideas are being appropriated with impunity, respect for management and the company as a whole disappears. Trust is destroyed, and relationships become more formal and businesslike.
• Loss of interest in work and projects. Why invest in projects and generate ideas if the results will be appropriated by others? This leads to perfunctory performance of duties without enthusiasm or initiative.
• Mistrust develops among colleagues. People begin to hide their ideas and are afraid to share knowledge, which ultimately harms the entire company and projects.

What to do:

• Create documentation and share knowledge with the team so that contributions are tangible. “There’s a well-known technique. Keep records of your ideas, work results, meetings, and decisions. Save letters, reports—anything that can prove your contribution. But if you’re here, it’s probably worth looking for another job; this is a temporary solution.”
• Find ways to avoid working with such people. If possible, work in a way that makes your results as independent as possible from specific people.
• If there’s no way to separate within the company, then leave.

#6 You are expendable

In this discipline, the champions are companies practicing the outsourcing/outstaffing business model and large corporations. For some, it’s elevated to the level of corporate culture; you’re officially considered a resource :)

Manifestations:

• The company doesn’t care about work-life balance, employee health, or emotional well-being. Overtime is considered the norm.
• Layoffs without notice or explanation, especially if their labor is expensive or the company is experiencing financial difficulties. Key employees leave, and management doesn’t react at all, as “there’s a crowd of people waiting outside the gates.”
• Employees are actively sold on external projects, while the company doesn’t invest a penny in their training and development. This creates a situation where employees are expected to grow on their own time and at their own expense, while the company uses existing skills.

What this leads to:

• The employee stops feeling like a valuable professional and begins to perceive themselves as a resource that can be easily replaced. This directly impacts self-esteem and attitude toward work. When an employee feels that they value only their current contribution, rather than their development and potential, they lose loyalty to the company. They work from start to finish and are uninterested in long-term results.

What to do:

• Look for companies with a human approach: concern for employee well-being, flexible schedules, and respect for boundaries.
• Choose companies with strong internal training processes. Large outsourcing companies often have a rich knowledge base and courses, as they are primarily interested in the professional growth of their employees.
• Remember that good IT companies invest in people—not just technology. They understand that their greatest asset is qualified and motivated employees.

#7 No support for growth and development

I don’t know what to comment on here. It seems to me that the root of this is a lack of understanding on the part of management about people and their needs. They’re fixated on their own misconceptions and assumptions about how to effectively use “resources” and what they actually believe these resources need.

Manifestations:

• The company doesn’t provide opportunities for training, mentoring, or allocate budgets for conferences or courses. If such opportunities exist, they’re only available to a select few, and the selection criteria are unclear and subjective.
• Refusal to participate in interesting projects “due to lack of experience” without providing the opportunity to gain that experience. This creates a vicious cycle: without experience, you can’t get interesting tasks, and without interesting tasks, you can’t gain experience.
• The company has unspoken rules that only “insiders” or employees who have years of service (that same length of service) can advance their careers, regardless of the employee’s actual results and competencies.

What this leads to:

• Professional stagnation – in IT, where technologies change monthly, a lack of development is tantamount to professional death. A specialist who doesn’t learn and develop quickly loses their value in the labor market.
• Even if the employee stays with the company, they stop growing professionally, which will ultimately lead to dismissal or getting stuck in one position. This may sound harsh, but such an employer certainly doesn’t wish you well.
• You’ll have to take additional training and try to do something independently, at the expense of your personal life. Ideally, you should be doing this anyway, but now let’s increase the volume by 2-3 times.

What to do:

• Request an individual development plan (IDP) from management. Good companies have such a plan for each employee and update it regularly. It should include specific goals, steps to achieve them, and the necessary resources.
• If growth is impossible, start looking for a new role that will provide the opportunity to develop. In IT, professional development is not a privilege, but a necessity for survival.

#8 Work is exhausting

If you feel like your work has stopped bringing you pleasure and has become a source of constant stress and negativity, it’s likely the final stage of the cumulative effect of all the previous problems. At least, I don’t recall any cases where I was able to change the situation. Although, another year or two could pass. For example, due to the desire to complete commitments, the result is the same – leaving the company.

Manifestations:

• There’s no desire to go to work in the mornings; meetings and conferences leave you irritated; tasks cause apathy rather than interest. Even successfully completing complex tasks brings no satisfaction.
• Work begins to consume all your time and energy, leaving only room for rest and recovery.

What this leads to:

• Mental exhaustion leads to burnout, depression, and deteriorating health. This last point is very familiar to me, and I strongly advise against ignoring it. Your health will never return, and your next employer will be completely indifferent.
• When your work ceases to interest you, the quality of the tasks you perform declines. This could lead to a loss of reputation and professional skills.

What to do:

• Assess whether your values ​​align with the company’s. If you feel forced to constantly pretend or go against your principles, this needs to change.
• If your job is draining you, the only reasonable option is to move to a place where the work will be interesting and enjoyable. There’s no point in waiting until the situation becomes critical, escalating into open conflicts – it’s better to plan your transition in advance, maintaining a financial safety net.

What to do?

If you still don’t want to change jobs or simply can’t, you can try to at least locally protect yourself from such situations. But I’ll say right away that you need to consider the other party’s adequacy, as many issues can easily lead to conflict.

Naturally, there are always other options besides those that remain within the professional realm of interaction. But these are precisely the ones that create a toxic atmosphere.

Clearly document requests and decisions

• Record all requests for goals, success criteria, task status, and decision reasons in writing (email, corporate chat, task managers).
• Formulation: “Please clarify the success criteria for task X and its deadline. This is necessary for my work planning.”
• Directly counteracts the lack of clear goals and expectations by creating a formal record and demanding transparency.

Setting clear time and availability boundaries

• Clearly define and adhere to your work schedule (e.g., “I work from 9:00 AM to 6:00 PM, with a lunch break”). Outside of these hours, respond only to critically urgent messages (having agreed upon the urgency criteria beforehand). Use “Do Not Disturb” statuses.
• Protects against “chronic stress” and “wasted time due to chaotic context switching” caused by constant, unorganized requests.

Refusing to complete tasks without clear specifications and deadlines

• Politely but firmly request a written statement of work (SOW) or a clear description of the task, the expected outcome, and the deadline before starting work. Work should not be started without these.
• Wording: “To complete this task efficiently and effectively, I need a clear SOW with the goals, requirements, and deadline.”
• Risks: The answer is likely to be something like “I need it anyway; there’s no additional information.” Unfortunately, some people are so accustomed to this that they consider this supposedly valuable skill of working in a state of uncertainty to be the norm and even pride themselves on it. In reality, this may be useful and normal only for short periods, not as a systematic approach.
• Counteracts “ineffective management” and “chaos” by demanding consistency and clarity.

Constructive Refusal Practice

• If a task is added that conflicts with your current priorities, deadlines, or competencies, politely decline and offer an alternative.
• Wording: “I’m currently working on task Y. Starting work on Z will push back the deadline for Y. We need to discuss priorities and my effectiveness in completing this task.”
• Risks: Ignoring any refusals, meaning they initially come with a specific goal in mind, and everything else will be discarded under various pretexts.
• Prevents “frustration and demotivation” from impossible deadlines and overload.

Creating a “buffer” between reaction and action

• Don’t respond immediately to emotional, unconstructive, or unfair comments/demands. Pause (15-30 minutes). Analyze:
• Is this really my mistake?
• Is the criticism constructive?
• If the criticism is unfounded, respond calmly and with facts, without excuses.
• Helps maintain psychological balance in an “oppressive” and trust-destroying culture.

Focus on your own development outside of work

• Actively develop your professional skills through courses, personal projects, and community. This will strengthen your value in the marketplace and reduce your dependence on your current environment.
• The direct opposite of a toxic environment that drains, suppresses, and hinders growth. This is an investment in yourself and a kind of safety net.

The main idea is to create structure and predictability in the chaos and uncertainty characteristic of a toxic culture.

From the opposite perspective, it’s worth looking for companies that adhere to the following principles:

1. Transparency and openness.
2. A fair incentive system.
3. Investment in development.
4. Work-life balance.
5. Openness to employee opinions.

Заключение

As I said at the beginning, such an atmosphere and work doesn’t make you stronger or bring any benefit—it’s destructive over the long term. There’s no such thing as justice, and it certainly won’t get better. Almost everyone always pursues their own goals and interests; that’s just how humans are. It’s important to remember that for most people, words mean nothing; one must always consider and judge by actions.

It’s clear that IT is currently undergoing a turbulent period (2025-2026), but I’m sure there are companies that maintain a healthy culture even in difficult conditions.

P.S.: I believe there are people for whom such an environment is natural and comfortable. For them, the above-mentioned issues can be considered “useful notes.” :)