An interesting situation

03/11/07
Rather naturally the last entry leads on to the next, so you're going to have to forgive me whilst I take a step to one side and look at something else for a while.

I've been avoiding really talking about work for a number of reasons. For a start it's really not that relevant to what I'm trying to achieve here. However I find myself in a situation that bears some thought.

For various reasons my job is changing and I'm taking up a new role. My current role still needs to be filled though, so two new people have been drafted to cover it. The fact that they thought they'd need two people probably says more about how well I'm doing than anything, but nevertheless they're supposed to be taking over.

Now I get that they don't know the system as well as I do, they've only had a few weeks to learn, but they're not... trying is the wrong word. They're not taking responsibility for it. They're not driving it forward.

It's kind of a shock to realise that I have been. I'm fully aware of the state of the system. I know what's been done, what needs to be done and where each of the problems have got to.

In other words I'm fully in control of it and know what needs to be done. I'm working out in my head the next steps and what needs to be achieved to reach them. I'm foreseeing problems and working out solutions and I'm molding and shaping the people around me to achieve them.

In short, I'm acting like a manager, and I'm pretty sure it's being noticed. The problem I have now is that I've got to deal with the new guys. To be a manager you've got to be a manager. It's not my job, it's not even my role, but I've put myself in the position.

So, how to sort this out. I'm not used to criticising people, and I'm not used to motivating people at the same time. It's an interesting pickle. If I do it right it'll be a huge boost to both their careers and mine. People are watching, and their looking to see how I do.

If I get it wrong, I'll create a bad working environment and end up having to do more work to fix it. Or even just to keep it going as well as I have been.

So no pressure or anything.