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 Five - What's a work/life balance?
Day four into Project Hermes and I've already forgotten the concept of a work/life balance. My early concerns about the US dimension and 24/7 availability have come to pass very early on... I have already done two conference calls which ended after midnight and it's only the first week...
Stress levels have not been helped by previously supportive husband making comments like 'Isn't it a bit late for a conference call?' as I struggle to stay awake or 'This isn't what you changed your career for... it's unreasonable they should expect it'... Why is it always infuriating when someone voices what you think yourself?
Considering both projects I have undertaken are with the same company, it's chalk and cheese in terms of culture, working practices, expectations. As I lie awake after one of the conference calls which was a bit unpleasant with people in the US team making unrealistic demands in terms of timescale... and I think one was drumming his pen on the desk... why do they always seem to be eating whatever time of the day the calls take place? I wonder how I am going to cope with this level of stress and time commitment. The project is scheduled for three months and I am not sure I can do it.
In the morning, feeling bleary eyed I decide to call the interim agency for some moral support. I remember their Buddy Scheme where you can be put in touch with an experienced interim to talk through any issues that have arisen. No time like the present for needing a Buddy...
It's a relief to share my concerns with the agency who are really sympathetic and get one of their Buddy 'mentors' to call me. In the meantime I wonder if this is a female problem. Men don't seem to mind being endlessly available to the same extent... am I just being weak?
The phone rings... it's Anne... my Buddy in shining armour. I spill out what is happening and in talking it through with her, I realise that it's one particular guy who is always insisting on late night calls, text message updates on the project at weekends and calling team briefings just as I am leaving the office. We talk through a few ways of dealing with his demands such as 'I can't do that conference call at that time - could we do it earlier' and turning my mobile off at weekends. Funny, one of the pluses of being an interim for me was not getting involved in personalities and politics and largely that's the case but when you are part of a team, sometimes you just get drawn in.
I feel much better and decide to hang on in. And I'm glad I did because the next week, the workaholic guy with no family ties is transferred overseas with immediate effect to lead a team where the key person has been taken ill. The new head for Project Hermes is a different personality and although the work and the timeline is challenging, there's more of a team spirit and I start to enjoy it all again. Obviously I wasn't the only one who was feeling the heat.
Just starting to think the work/life balance is back in view when I get an email out of the blue telling me that I am required to travel to the company's New Jersey office the next week to present our project. Aaahhh! Couldn't have come at a worse time as my husband is also away at a conference and my son is playing the lead part in his school play...
How does Jane sort this one out? Will her interim credibility be shattered if she can't go? Where should her loyalties be?
See Jane's next diary entry...
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Next entry - New experience and an old face
Previous episodes
Episode Four - Making a real contribution and changing projects
Episode Three - The First Assignment
Episode One - Initial Euphoria