Back in the Game

I will be meeting the boss man again in a formal meeting tomorrow. I will essentially be doing the same thing as in the past - reporting on the status of change request and maintenance. I will be with the project office and the new auditor in the meeting. But it will also be without our usual contact in the company. So the rules and actors have changed except me. What comes around, goes around I think the saying goes.

The project I am working on for a factory in Thailand is delayed for 3 weeks. What bad luck I have this year? Project was delayed because the testing server was done for more than a week, pushing back all activities. We had a lot of problems and I had to request a technical resource from the head office to come over and help. He came and helped us but came into conflict with the local team especially my good friend from India. It was an awkward time and I had to explain a lot of things to my boss, project team, stake holder, support team in head office as well as the contributors in Philippines and India.

We are also going through a transition period were all outsource activities will be transferred to a single company in the coming months. The support office has been sold and all contributors will move their work to the new support company based in Bagalore, India. The hardware and infrastructure support has also been outsourced to another well-known company. So work will be a bit messy and confusing in the coming months. A few of the internal staff will be transferring to the outsource as well. So times are really a-changing. What an environment to work in while delivering projects and solutions!

I am really working on multiple roles - a point that was driven to me during a recent seminar I attended in project management. I have often blamed myself for not living up to the standards of other project managers in the company but I suddenly realized that I am overworked not unskilled. In fact I am doing all the roles of project manager, systems analyst and business analyst all at the same time. Also, most of the time I have spent coordinating with multiple contributors and parties in Thailand, Philippines, Singapore, India and France. So it's quite a struggle and I should not be too hard on myself.

I guess the pressure is coming from my friend who is also working on this project. I got into an argument with him but we still managed to go out having fun and drinking a few beers. But I realized my personal relationship with him may have caused some problems as well. But the difficult environment we are in have contributed to the stress and pressure as well. All these difficulties has made me look into myself and I have tried to find out my strengths. To move forward in a strength based framework. I admit it's a new way of looking at things which keeps my perspective fresh.

I have also been listening to audio books about writing from Stephen King and Ayn Rand as well as investing books from Robert Kiyosaki and Donald Trump as well as Charles Schwab. I love the audio books revolution because it helps me learn about these diverse topics without reading. It has lessened the time for me to learn and absorb new things. I guess listening involves a different set of mental muscles as compared to reading. Understanding and synthesizing all these topics will still be the challenge which I can work on by journal writing here.