What a week. For a minute back there, I thought I’d been human-trafficked. It all started on Tuesday when I found out (from someone not even on the project) that the next phase of the project I joined only two months ago, and the phase on which I was scheduled to spend much of the next year, had been “indefinitely postponed” – generally a euphemism for “canceled”. This happened on my last project as well, and was one of the reasons I moved onto this project. (Now I’m starting to feel like the kiss of death on a project…) No-one in my management chain had mentioned this to me, so I assumed that there was still other work to do on this project, maybe by bringing another phase forward, or executing knowledge transfer to steady-state support, so I didn’t unduly worry about it. As long as they keep paying me, I’ll keep turning up.
Co-incidentally, I spent Tuesday and Wednesday in a long-arranged ‘on-boarding workshop’ for another project that is starting up in a different part of the company. Because that project and my current project have a lot of touch-points, I was asked to attend in what I assumed was an advisory capacity, and to ensure that my current project was fairly represented in any Change Management discussions. But in the workshop I was introduced as “the new Change Management Consultant for the [new] project”. Odd, I thought, as no-one told me about this. Never mind, just smile and nod like you knew all about it, and run around frantically later, trying to catch up.
So as soon as I got out of the workshop, I hunted down the Change Management Manager for the new project (who, it turns out, was also in the Workshop, but no-one ever bothered to introduce him so I had no idea who he was), and asked him what was going on. “Dirk! I’ve heard so much about you. Welcome aboard!” was his opening gambit. “Okaaaayy”, I hesitated. “But I’m not really sure in what capacity I’m advising your project.” “Advising? Nooo, you’re a key resource on our project. As from 1st July you’re on board 100% of your time. I assume you’ll be moving over to our building to be with the rest of the team? I’ll arrange a desk. Looking forward to working with you,” he concluded, and off he went again, leaving me just as puzzled as before. “Well, I need to check with my people here” I called after him, but he was already out the door.
So I sent a message to my current boss: “Do we need to talk??” I asked. “Can’t now. In a meeting with the [new] project”. The plot thickened. Well, if she knew about it, I reasoned, it must be true. Now, it’s nice that my current client is going out of their way to find more work for me, and keep me ‘within the fold’, and I know the IT group (of which I’m now a part) has a philosophy of “we have a pool of resources and we’ll plug them in wherever we have a need”, but shit, I’m not a server, and it would have been nice to be asked if I actually wanted to move to another project – especially when I’ve only just started to understand this one!
My boss remained difficult to pin down, so on Thursday I went to see my second-line manager, and asked him what was going on. I explained my recent dealings with the new project, and he looked at me incredulously. “Well, there have been some vague discussions, but nothing definite”. Apparently, I learned, the next phase of my current project had been postponed by someone high up in the company, but “indefinitely” turned out to be about 24 hours, before the project phase was reinstated by someone even higher up in the company. Although there had been some talk of my being “loaned out” to the new project to advise them on Change Management, that was irrespective of whether my existing project continued or not, and it probably wouldn’t be until later in the year, when I might have some ‘spare cycles’. “They’re dreaming.”, my second-line manager concluded reassuringly, adding a blunt “We’re not done with you yet…”.
So at the end of the week, and after a few very stressful days, I’m back where I was on Monday. And I guess it wasn’t so much a case of human trafficking, as outright kidnapping! The new project obviously thought they’d just co-opt me and hope no-one would notice. I guess I should be flattered, but first I need to get used to the idea of being a ‘commodity’ that can be (almost) abducted, swapped around, and pimped out as ‘master’s’ needs dictate. Suddenly, I feel very cheap and grubby…
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