A new project manager is handling the project entirely through email and has declined the invitation to our GitHub repository, where the development team tracks work. Because she is not in the tracker, I cannot assign her issues, and I have to act as a go-between whenever I need information or client decisions. I am the sole developer and a contractor, so I need to be diplomatic and cannot delay the project, escalate to the owner, or simply refuse to continue. What is a concise, polite way to explain that the tracker gives us one place to record tasks, ownership, blockers, progress, and decisions while reducing repeated status emails? If she still refuses, what is the best practical way to protect the project and maintain a paper trail?
4 Answers
Before trying to persuade her, ask whether she already uses another planning or reporting tool. A project manager may not want to work directly in a developer-focused system, even if the development team uses it. You could keep the technical details in the issue tracker and provide a short weekly summary or a simple board screenshot for her. That separates her preferred reporting format from the team’s working records.
You may not be able to change her habits immediately, so do not turn this into a personal battle. Continue working in the established system, document every dependency, and send concise updates with links to the relevant issues. If she keeps asking for progress, point her to the same current summary each time. Eventually the duplicated effort and missing history may demonstrate the value more effectively than an argument.
Keep the pitch focused on saving her time rather than asking her to learn a new system. Something like: “The tracker gives us one place to see what needs doing, who owns it, what is blocked, and what has already been completed. It should reduce status emails and back-and-forth.” Offer to set up her account and give her a very short walkthrough, but avoid framing it as formal training.
If she still prefers email, use the tracker for your own records anyway. Turn each request or decision from an email into an issue or comment, including the information you are waiting for and who is responsible. Link the relevant issue in your email replies. That gives you a useful history, makes blockers visible, and protects you if someone later asks why work was delayed.
This also makes handover much easier because the open and closed issues contain the decisions and background instead of leaving everything buried in an inbox.