Expedia – “Challenging Environment”

Pros

Savvy technical staff, strong product, and some incredible people.

Cons

Issues with upper management not readjusting project timelines with the business and/or CEO/CFO/CTO when the requested work is unobtainable in the timeline specified. Lots of political games that distract the staff and promote incompetency. Needs to be more focus on establishing a few key objectives and seeing them through to completion. Always 20+ priority #1s which leads to the staff never accomplishing anything they start. Company demands too much from its staff, providing no work/life balance. They ask staff to cancel vacations, work weekends, and holidays to make up for the overall lack of planning. The primary reason the company is successful is that it has several incredible individuals that carry the rest and kill themselves in the process.

Advice to Senior Management

Prioritize the overall workstream to keep the teams focused and producing.