Having a shorter week sounds like a good idea at the time, but it ends up being that you still have 40 hours of work to do in only 32 hours. I managed, but just barely.
In 2017 - 2018 I had the shittiest time at work. I had a small team and WAY too much work for a single team. Myself and another PM colleague spent hours, hours and hours at work weekly. For the first time ever, I clocked over 65 hours at a job for a week. I was getting tired. I was getting burned out.
I was short tempered with everyone. I had dreams of finding a new job - but God knows I had no time to find said job. I was in a hamster wheel and didn't know how to get out.
I spoke with my boss at the time about it. He didn't seem to hear me. He wasn't interested in how much work was on my plate. He was, instead, interested in the data and how we could use the data. He was in the office late each night and so it seemed it was natural. He was part of the problem and I wasn't aware at the time.
I read articles about how to communicate with a boss that wasn't listening. I tried those suggestions, and nothing. No change.
I was on the brink of just walking away. And then we had a reorg.
Saved by the reorg. I went back to work for a former boss and he heard me. He listened. He saw the hours and he got me help. Phew. Just in the nick of time.
This last week ... nothing like that. Not even close. But it had me thinking about those days now passed. I realized how thankful I was to just be "busy" not overwhelmed.
We're on the brink of a reorg at work too. I'm about to become the Director of Courseware Project Managers. Not quite a PMO, but close. I'm a bit nervous. A bit scared. And a whole lot of excited.
I'm going to be managing new people that I know, but haven't had much of an opportunity to work with. I'm clean slating it too. They all come with baggage - good and bad - and I'm going to do my best to just start with a clean slate for each of them. Including the two PMs I already manage who are staying with me.
The current company has invested in Advanced Leadership training for managers. I think this is a great time to put a lot of that to good use.
Next week will be busy just getting situated. The new team is going to enter the "forming" stage of Tuckman's ladder of new teams. This is the hardest stage for me if I'm being honest. I often want to just skip ahead to the "norming" stage where we are all just productive.
I'm going to be busy for several weeks moving forward too. I have to get to know these new employees and their jobs. On top of learning all that, I need to get to know them. That's the easy part.
All this to say, I'm ready for this challenge. I won't ever go back to working 65 hours again, but I'm ok with putting in hours and hard work for a company that values you. Not that the other company didn't value me, they just didn't seem to care that I was overwhelmed. THAT is what I won't let happen again.
In other none work related news, the Crabby Ladies went to see Boys in the Boat yesterday. We read the book in 2014 and it was one of our favorite books. The movie did it justice.
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