A long first half of 2004

For the past several months, there have been some changes within my employer. This has included, among other things, a change in my day-to-day responsibilities. In some ways, it provided some clarity: It legitimized a lot of “extra” things that I was already doing anyway. On the other hand, it gave me some tasks and responsibilites that were not entirely familiar to me. While I’ve now got a few months of these responsibilities under my belt, I am still a bit outside my comfort zone.

Prior to these changes, I was overworked and stretched in a few different directions. However, I had the confidence in my abilities to perform the tasks, so at least I was comfortable. Now I am overworked, stretched in a few different directions, and a bit unsure of my ability to perform the tasks at hand. I’ve kind-of moved into the realm of management. Whereas before I was able to just “jump in” and fix the problem, now I have to do stuff like:

• Define the problem, using facts to prove it
• Write an official process for handling particular situations
• Submit a “project” with defined priorities to a systems group for evaluation
• Give presentations about what we’re trying to accomplish and solicit feedback
• Generate regular reports on the status of said projects and overall goals

These are gross oversimplifications, of course, but you get the idea. And they’re not stuff I’m used to doing.

Like with any job or “change,” it takes a period of time to get more comfortable and efficient at performing the tasks. And if I want my career to advance further, I’ve got to. The trends towards “outsourcing” means that there will be fewer and fewer technical jobs and more and more “project manager/coordinator” type jobs. If I don’t do it where I’m at now, I’ll probably have to do it somewhere else–either for another company or for myself.

Either way, it’s going to be a long, strange trip.