Advice for a new manager suffering loss of key personnel.

Tell me this--

Was there a department manager before you or is it a new position?

If there was a manager before, what happened to him (quit or fired or promoted)?

Is what happened to this manager what caused the big staff turnover?

Do they see you as an interloper, a hot-shot, a what?

The "climate" of the department will be really important to figuring out the best way to handle the situation.

Also, how many people are working for you?

I don't think there are any glaring negatives, and as far as I can see it the loss may have been coincidental timing as much as anything else, but they happened to be key people all the same. But the company has grown, and there are some pains associated with fast growth and acquisitions, and the pressure to convert new customer etc. My team is roughly 10 people and I think the team is expecting and welcoming change. This is basically a new position, hopefully to establish some processes, manage projects better, mentor junior staff, etc. I think - or hope - they see me as someone than can come in and make there jobs a little easier. My fear and concern is how to fill the gaps in our knowledge and prepare for "predictable surprises" caused by the loss of institutional knowledge. I fear a ticking time bomb, and I'm not sure how to diffuse it.

Wow, tough situation and definitely a ticking time bomb. I'm not a manager, but here's how I would approach it. First, determine what the most critical parts of the app are. You said you have 10 people. Assuming they are all developers, find out what part of the system they have worked on. Of these people, make the most senior onew owners of the critical parts that they have the most knowledge of. Call it a promotion if you have to. Give them each a month to find out everything about their part that there is. Then team them each up with someone more junior to mentor in the same area. Grab anybody who's left and get them to help you document existing processes. I say "existing" for a reason. Now is not the time to institute new ones -- you'll end up with documented processes that nobody adheres to. Maybe one of the more junior folks can develop a wiki or some other centrally available portal to keep this documentation and any other relative docs about the system where everyone can find them.

Once you've got things under control, then you can start to look for ways to do it better. But right now, you're right, you need to diffuse the bomb.

Good, good, good.

Your situation is kind of crappy but not nearly as bad as it could have been.

To me, the secret of good management is to get people to do things while they believe it was all their idea.

This really requires stuffing down any ego you may have because you have to let other people get all of the credit.

What I would do is gather everyone together and say: Allen, Becky and Carol have all left. I need to figure out exactly what they were responsible for (even if you know, ask).

Chances are, if someone can explain what the others were doing, they have a really good idea of how to do it themselves.

This might require breaking chunks off and redistributing them among several people.

Anyway, it will let you know who can do what.

Then ask: We may have to bring in some new people. What tasks do you think would be easiest to get up other people up to speed on?

Take the "easy" tasks and create a new positon.

Tell everyone that their first order of business is to get documentation and protocol on paper. Give a deadline.

Oooops - bathtime is over.... gotta run....

I've never worked in computer stuff so I may be way off base. Does any of this make any sense?