During this entire period, I felt that folks on my team took my work for granted. I wasn't losing my mind. They did.
The woman who has been doing half my role finally realized that I do a lot of work. I had invited her to a meeting on what to do after a release is over. She decided to waltz into this meeting 1.5 hours later.
It just shows that when folks aren't responsible for a task, they don't care. When they are, it matters and they panic when they don't have the answers.
It's happening now.
With my manager, he makes me the representative for everything. I had a good talk about this issue again this past Tuesday. It needs to be spread around the team. If I'm not available, the knowledge is likely lost when I do not have a backup.
Folks are listening. In a team meeting on Thursday, this woman thanked me for always being there for her when she has questions and I quickly reply. She called me a "data bank," which is a fun nickname.
My manager decided to nominate someone else to represent our team for development work. He said that normally, it would go to me, but he said that I am pretty busy. You think?
My manager also said that for the last seven years, I have been handling all these release activities "quietly and flawlessly." I complete my work. I communicate well. I don't complain, other than when things are completely stressing me out and I need help, or when someone is holding up the process.
Progress is good. It's important to vocalize how you feel. It is also noticeable how valuable you are as an employee when you no longer do a specific task and your manager worries about the folks (yep, plural) who are taking it over.
Unfortunately, most companies seem to stumble along, held together by a small group of responsible people. It's hard to image what they would do if all the responsible people suddenly left. You can take pride in being one of the responsible people, but wouldn't it be nice to be recognized for it, especially if that resulted in money?
ReplyDeleteI know for a fact that if I were to leave this company, my department would be screwed. None of my peers seem to be able to decide to take any course of action. They are always looking to me for approval or guidance.
DeleteIt would be nice to get recognized in a monetary manner. I did get that recognition late last year, which was nice. I wish that I had stronger, more responsible folks on my team.
to a lesser extent i get the same thing at work. I can't go on leave without prepping everything to hell and back, and then setting up contingencies for this that and the other, and moving appointments to after i get back, and then leaving a number (and available timings) that I can be reached at in the event someone needs me. I'm only grateful they don't take it for granted.
ReplyDeleteI can completely relate to making sure that people on my team knew what to do while I'm away on vacation. I no longer have an intern reporting to me, but when I did, I'd have to prep a list of tasks for him to do while away.
DeleteI'm sorry that you have to leave your number while you are away. However, I'm glad that they appreciate what you do and don't take you for granted.
I am fortunate that I don't need to be on standby. My manager once asked me to do that. I said no because I don't have a life-or-death type of job.