June 21, 2007

time to play dirty

i've been struggling with managing this project that i've been assigned to remotely from asia for a couple of quarters already. despite the project (in this case system) being developed in the US, i've been doing my best (ok, maybe not my absolute, more than 100% best) to manage the activities with the limited interaction time. the difference here is that it is quite a big project that involves more people that i have to work part-time PM and part-time BA. i've been mostly considerate, light-headed and a teamplayer through most part of the project and then this morning, people working on the project throws in questions to the effect that they needed clarity how what they're doing ties in to the overall picture (i.e. they didn't know what they were doing). Bam! just like that! it was nothing short of an ambush - i was super pissed off that i made sure they felt it from my statements. Geez, there are 4 other days in the work week to ask questions - asking those kind of questions during the meeting was just blatantly disrespectful and i don't believe i deserved that. whatever the intention was - i take full offense in it. I've always felt sorry for this person because everytime my previous manager (in a subtle but direct way) did not think that person was experienced or capable enough to handle some of the work required. And i've always believed in giving people chances and the opportunity to prove people wrong. clearly, my compassion has been misplaced in this case. so if rough is how they want to play it, i don't mind roughing it up and getting dirty. they haven't the dark side of me yet and if they're itching to have a taste of it, then i'm going to let them see how evil i can be. besides, with everything going in my life right now, an outlet for repressed anger might not be that bad.

No comments: