Diary of an interim
After working in a permanent role in the pharmaceutical industry for eight years, Jane has decided to change her lifestyle - to become an interim manager undertaking specific assignments in a bid to achieve a better work/life balance.
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Episode Four - Making a real contribution and changing projects
Week three goes along swimmingly... made a lot more progress with the project which results in a really positive session with the person leading the project. He even suggests that when this particular task is completed, he will put me forward for others!
I love the positive feeling at the end of the day when you look back and assess what you have achieved and someone has actually taken the time to notice. It still amazes me how much you can get through without having to get involved in all the internal goings on. There's an impending EMEA inspection here that is taking up a lot of everyone's time, so inevitably I have been doing the lion's share of the project's tasks.
Met up for supper and a catch up with a girlfriend who's seriously thinking about making a major career change. She's working in IT but really likes the idea of becoming a contractor with truly flexible hours. One company she's approached allows you to go in at any time... or work from home. I extol the virtues of not having management responsibilities and I can see her decision to move is almost made...
Things were going a bit too well I suppose. Suddenly in week five, one of my children goes down with tonsillitis. Up all night with burningly high temperature... why did it have to be just now with only two days to go to the project deadline? At 2am husband and I consult diaries...and agree a plan for the next couple of days with both of us working at home some of the time and then going into the office. Talk about stressful...
Somehow complete the project... feeling very tired and ragged... but it's done and well received. The Project Leader has a quiet word and says there's another assignment in the offing which he'd like to put me forward for. Am I interested? Of course!
Things happen a bit more quickly than I'd hoped... was banking on a couple of weeks at home to sort things out before the next project... but life doesn't work like that. Corporate deadlines have a will of their own and so I get just one day to draw breath and then I am back to the office to meet the new Project Hermes team (apparently the project name is a classical reference to things medical and speed). All new faces, so I'll have to prove myself all over again (let's hope my reputation has gone before me).
Sounds interesting, but challenging, going for simultaneous FDA and EMEA registration submissions and I am looking forward to getting stuck in...but sense a major difference in terms of team culture. Whereas for the previous project I was able to work at home for a couple of days each week... sense this won't be acceptable here. Lots of references to team conferences... everyone playing a part... could be the fact that the entire team is male apart from me... but maybe not.
There's also a US dimension to this project... liaising with the company's office in Research Triangle, New Jersey, which might mean late night conference calls... 24/7 availability... handling potentially sensitive issues with people I have never met... I reassure myself it will be excellent experience on my fast expanding CV.
How is Project Hermes going to work out for Jane? Will she maintain the work/life balance she wanted? Will she be required to travel to the US?
See Jane's next diary entry...
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Next entry - What's a work/life balance?
Previous episodes
Episode Three - The First Assignment
Episode One - Initial Euphoria