Work

 Its coming up to almost 4 months at my new job. I am ambivalent about it. 

While I like the extra pay, no travel and close commute, the past few months have been a roller coaster.

The first few weeks were utter boredom. I literally had to find things to do. I read up and researched work related content, dug into SharePoint sites to find documents, and ended up taking many certification classes from the company University.

Next came the lack of clarity in my role. The girl I was replacing had moved to another role/dept but did not seem to want to relinquish her responsibilities. To complicate matters further, last month in a re-org she is back in out Dept, albeit a different role. Therefore, we are both trying to get our footing on who does what. I really like her - she is smart and practical, so no issues there. But still its been a bit confusing.

My manager is nice, but could not be bothered with managing people and much less dealing with humdrum matters. He got himself a new title to do with Transformation, and wants out of the weeds related to our Dept. He is apt to call with a random request, no clarity, and we have to figure out what he means. He has a good opinion of me and feels I am above the team in my experience and aligned with his vision, which I am for the most part. I also think he likes my directness and common sense attitude.

Case in point, on my second 1:1 with him, I started the call by laying out the agenda - I will spend 10 min talking about my projects, and 20 min going over some recommendations. His jaw literally dropped and he said "Wow, nobody has even taken control of the 1:1.  Its usually me talking for 30 min". I think he appreciated the fact that I took initiative. 

As a result, within 3 months I now have a direct report, which is great!

The company is dysfunctional, which is surprising given how well orchestrated both the interview process and the onboarding was. The culture is to not make changes or improvements, stick with the tried and true and be stuck in analysis/paralysis where no decision is made. I am tasked with items that were discussed by others on the team 1+ years ago but came to nothing, which shows you that ideas go nowhere since there is no direction.  That is the 100% opposite of who I am as a person, and what I perceive my role to be. It has been frustrating to sit through multiple calls THE SAME TOPIC with nobody making a decision.

All this caused me to really dislike the job to the point that I relooked at my resume a few weeks ago!

Then things changed a bit....

 I got the direct report for one, and I am also getting to manage some projects where I feel I can begin to socialize the teams to follow process. This week has been super busy and coming into Month #4 I am beginning to slowly implement a tough love approach and to put down some governance and rules. It will be a bit of a shock since things have been loosey goosey for years, but its time to transform. My boss in on board so that is good!

Let's see how it goes.......