When I was the project manager in “somewhere in” and then “escenic (now Vizrt)”, many times I faced strange problems. Sometimes I could solve that alone, sometimes I had to take advice from my bosses. In such cases I got help mostly from Jana, then Espen and once from Arild (3 owner of somewhere in…). Then I really felt Arild knows how to handle situations where emotions are involved. Let me explain the situation.
In my team there are many young programmer worked. Sometimes romantic relations grow between them. I never interfere in these matters. I believe may be they are young, but adult. So, it’s their personal matter. Weather it’s wrong or right, they should take the final decision, what will they do.
But one day one mom called me. She was very anxious about her son. She was shouting, crying and sometimes requesting me to stop her son to make relation with a girl who is elder than him and not to mass up his student life. I tried to make her calm nicely. I told her they are working with different project in different rooms, here we all sit together and work, nothing can happen here. But I can’t say anything about his phone calls, sms and his night talking with a girl. It’s office. But she was not listening to me. She is saying that I am big sister for all of them, they will listen to me. Then she asked should she talk with arild? I said yes…. He can handle this situation better. And I was right. Arild really could make this situation calm.
Here what Arild told to her “i will talk to your son and with the girl, so that they keep interaction to office time and let the boy focus on studies, your son is 23 or something, and not a child, you mustn't keep him like a small baby... they have a good friendship, their chemistry is good, and we will ensure that nobody goes astray. difficult for me to discuss these things in bangla over a poor line, but i hope i can build up an understanding that as long as we can make them give each other space for studies and keep within family preferences, they must be allowed to work and have the freedom to mix at office. i will have a nice talk with your son and with that girl, and I will follow up with you. You are ultra conservative, but have to accept that your son is growing up, they cannot keep him as a baby boy now, and he needs guidance and support from them, not jail threat. I would never allow the boy to be sent to family jail, never! Well, seems this relation still very innocent to me, just some good feelings of getting a close friend. If I keep the watch, i can also give them guidance in how to take things slow and let time work. Studies first, proper job career and then where they want to bring things later must be fully up to them. I can pretend to be a "father", but what I love to be is a personal coach.”
