Work Related Stress – A Personal Story 5

After meeting with the trade union rep, he sent me some material that he thought would be helpful. Looking through it now, I wish I had taken more notes. The leaflets were :

• Appealing against a performance appraisal
• Harassment and bullying
• Work-related stress

I used one of the pamphlets and wrote a counterstatement to my appraisal. I asked for a written list of my responsibilities. I pointed out that work experience does not equate to project management, and I wanted training in this area. It’s surprising how no one reads these things.

I was signed up for one of the toughest projects I had been involved in. Communication was a real issue in this project. The first thing I did was change that. There were still a few blips. Most notably, I was told I had achieved nothing at the end of an afternoon of crisis. I was so motivated, I got up and walked out! Glenlivet was my drink of choice that night, and it was kindly provided by the customer in appreciation of our excellent work. The next day, I improved the team’s atmosphere and decided to take a leadership role.

In my next “Improvement Plan” meeting, I was given a little more notice and was invited to bring the union rep, much to everyone’s surprise. This made no difference. The outcome had already been decided at a meeting with HR, to which I was not invited. Each point in the plan is gone through. Overall, I was gradually improving:

• Speed – I successfully delivered two projects and impressed the customer. To read the recommended book, I should stay behind after hours, unpaid, and read it in the meeting room.
• Accuracy – Before starting out, I designed effective test plans. There is only one issue with project delivery, which is unacceptable. 
• Colleague Communication – I found it difficult to tell a colleague I was busy. They would often come over for a chat about the project I was on. I needed to get better at saying I was busy.
• Customer Communication – I got much better at keeping the customer informed, though there were a few instances when I should have said I would get back to them later.
• Problem Ownership – I have successfully delivered and taken charge of a few projects since the last meeting.

Overall, this seemed OK. My union rep asked if there were any set procedures for delivering projects. No. There are too many procedures already, and having procedures slows things down.

I was progressing, or so I thought!

Read on for Part 6