Another very common problem team member is the noncommunicator — the person who hides information from you, from his teammates, from his product manager. The person who prefers to work in secret and unveil a magical project when everything is done and perfect. The person who, instead of talking things out with teammates, reverts their commits, or takes their tickets and does the work for them. The person who doesn’t want to go through code review and who doesn’t ask for design review on big projects.
This team member annoys everyone around him. As the noncommunicator’s manager, you have to nip this information-hiding habit in the bud as soon as possible. If necessary, make it clear that he’s not meeting expectations for his work. This is often a sign of fear — the person is afraid that he’ll be found lacking, or he’ll be asked to do work he’s not interested in. Sometimes it’s a sign of a person who feels he should have more responsibility and who doesn’t respect his manager. Whatever the cause, this person disrupts team cohesion because he isn’t being collaborative with the rest of his teammates; he doesn’t feel safe sharing his work in progress, and his fear often sets an example for the rest of the team.
If possible, address the root cause of the hiding. If the hider is afraid of being criticized, does your team have a harsh culture that needs to be addressed? Does your team have that psychological safety in general? Is the rest of the team treating this person like an outsider, perhaps because he has a different background or skill set? If the team is rejecting the individual, you will need to decide whether to try to correct the team or move the individual to another team. Sometimes, moving the individual is the kindest thing to do; other times, the best solution is to work with the team as a whole to change the balance of culture and break the habits that exclude new people.