My team and I never seem to get great projects to work on. I feel like we’re always assigned boring tasks that no one else wants to do. What can I do to help our chances of working on the good stuff?
I’m going to divide my answers into three distinct steps: a self-assessment, observations of others, and a gap analysis.
Before moving to this three-step answer, there is one underlying question that you must ask yourself. Are there any projects within your organization that you think you would find exciting, or do you consider all the available projects to be boring and uninteresting? The reason I’m asking you this question up front is that if there are no projects that you find engaging and challenging, perhaps you are working in the wrong place.
Regarding a self-assessment, you need to do some soul searching and consider the following questions, and questions like them, to see if you can surmise why you are not getting to work on the projects you would like. When answering these questions, try to be objective, not emotional. The more objective you are, the more insights you will gain toward attaining your desired assignments.
- Why do you think the projects you want are being given to other teams?
- Do you and your team have the right skills to take on these projects?
- Do you and your team have enough experience to take on these projects?
- Do you think your manager has confidence that you and your team can complete the tasks? If yes, then why? If no, then why not?
- Do you think you and your team can do as good a job on the projects as the other teams? If yes, then why? If no, then why not?
- Have you had a discussion with your manager regarding the types of projects you would like to work on? What was the response to your request? Did your manager give you any specific advice on what to do to position your team for these projects? If yes, did you follow their advice?
Now move your focus from an analysis of you, to an analysis of others. Like the last set of questions, it is very important that you be objective, not emotional. Thoughts such as “She gets the best projects because she’s lucky” or “He gets the best projects only because he kisses the boss’s butt” will provide you with no value. Answer these questions based on skill set, experience, office relationships, and other measurable factors.
- Who specifically is getting the projects you hoped to get?
- Why do you think they are getting the projects over your team from a skill set perspective?
- Why do you think they are getting the projects over your team from an experience perspective?
- Why do you think they are getting the projects over your team from an office politics perspective?
- What other objective and measurable factors are causing others to get the great projects rather than you?
Regarding the gap analysis, I have two not-so-simple and very important questions for you to contemplate.
- Based on your team’s self-assessment, what skills should be improved, experience should be gained, and political steps should be taken?
- Based on your observation of the other managers, what should you do that they are doing?
In closing, this type of analysis can be of value to you in many areas of work and in many areas of life. First, don’t underestimate the true value of personal circumspection. A deep and realistic assessment of your skills, abilities, strengths, weaknesses, and interests combined with an understanding of how others think of you is a very powerful asset when navigating your future career. Regarding an understanding of others, this is a huge advantage in all forms of competition, from who gets the best projects to who gets promoted.
(First published in ITworld)
