Losing a programmer, what steps to take? [closed]

Question

One of the programmers on our team is leaving for greener pastures. We will be going from 6 to 5. What steps should we take to ensure our development process continues to run smoothly, potentially while integrating in new blood.

We are currently working on a short release cycle with iterative development. Design - code - review. The person leaving was the most senior dev on the team, and would often give lots of feedback to the rest of the team, especially during the design phase.

Answer 1

There are few things you can do (in that order):

• Reevaluate your estimates, based on the experience of the remaining team members and the work items load balance
• Come up with a prioritized list of things you might have to cut
• Seek a suitable replacement (as aggressive as possible)
• Start a discussion with your company management on potential compensation package changes that would allow you to retain valuable human assets like the leaving guy

Update: Use this as an opportunity to build up your team. Throw a goodbye party for the guy that's leaving and make sure both he and the team are aware that his contributions were valued. :-) (And if you don't have a budget, just talk to the team members and you all chip in to get him out for a drink or two)