Anonymous
Hello everyone,
I just joined the community and decided to post anonimously, as I need advice about my current employer and do not want to risk them finding out about this post ;) I'll introduce myself in another discussion.
I am a young woman (30) and have been a Project Manager for roughly 3 years, since mid-2019. I have a previous background in Export Sales (5 years) and live in Europe. I'm currently studying for the PMP.
I have worked for 2 years in a big manufacturing company - my first true experience as a PM. It was very challenging and formative - the environment was very structured and fast-paced, my boss and customers were VERY demanding, deadlines were usually tight and I always knew what I was supposed to delivery, how, and when. It was a very stressful job but in retrospect I am very grateful for the expertise I gained; it taught me a proper working method and sound principles I will never forget.
Last year, I decided to move to a different town. I joined a much smaller company (50 people in total) in the same sector as a PM and frankly, after 7 months of observing and trying to understand how things work in here, I can say I'm having a lot of trouble fitting in, especially when it comes to company culture.
The owner and CEO, a woman, is also the founder of the company. She has a strong personality and identifies very much with the company and its brands. She has trouble delegating and is also very undecisive, meaning she changes her mind a lot even when time would not allow it, putting projects at risk. Her communication skills are also very poor - she rarely shares ideas about projects until the very last moment, when she needs other people's work and intervention, and that means everyone has to rush after her demands and work in a poor, unorganized way. To sum it up, I'd say she sees the company as her own creature and does not understand or admit that other people's input and competencies may be needed and that employees are not just mere executors of orders, but people with skills and ideas and talents.
Then, there's company organization and structure. There are no clear job descriptions when it comes to different departments, no clearly defined processes and work flows, it feels like everyone is just improvising based on the day's requests which, as you can imagine, is a very frustrating situation for a PM to be in. I have tried underlining these difficulties to other colleagues to see if they share the same impression, and the answer I got is: yes, it's true, we are unorganized and mainly act on the spur of the moment, but there's no way that can change since the boss decides basically everything and things have always been done this way.
Now, I mostly deal with new product launches and as far as that goes, I've tried to make myself a space in the company by demanding direct contact with customers, in order to be able to meet their demands and communicate with them without obstacles. I have also set up a work flow for this kind of projects and organized meetings with the entire company to validate the flow, with the boss' blessing - so something is changing after all since I joined the team. Problem is, while the CEO and other executives recognize the need for more structure and better organization, they are not willing to implement these changes upon themselves. It's as if they think that only employees have to embrace change and adapt.They are not setting a good example and this results in a lack of motivation for everyone, myself included.
Do you have any suggestions about how I should go about these issues? What I have noticed is also that my colleagues lack the courage to address issues and problems directly, leaving me the only one to do so. They come to me to complain about stuff, but then do not take any responsibility. I'm starting to feel like a nuisance and definitely do not want to be the only person in the room to always raise their hand and say "we should discuss this".
Thank you very much in advance for you help and forgive the long post :)
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