Widgets Update; Mentoring

Widgets: Just an update for Widgets expatriates. The Production department is slowly splitting up--programmers will go to the technology group, Admaster to Sales (and I assume the SPCs too), project managers and other capable people to new product and partner management jobs. I don't know what's going to happen with the designers but getting broken up in to multiple groups organized around areas of work (sales, application development, ?) is likely.

It's likely that this won't be the end of the changes but I think this change (which they've needed for several years) will be an improvement. The next big change they need, something I offered an opinion on in my exit interview (I think she kept a copy if you want to check), is the hiring of an Operations Manager to keep the company running day-to-day by coordinating resources in a planned way according to company priorities. Oh yeah, you have to set priorities...well, it's still a good idea.

Mentoring: A few months ago I got an email at work asking for volunteers to be mentors for new employees. I wasn't sure if I was company-ready enough to mentor but I asked my manager about it and he encouraged me to do it. The people to be mentored are in a special program that lets people right out of college rotate between three jobs in the company during their first two years of work. They get different job experiences, meet a lot of people and create big networks, and have a chance to figure out what they might like to do.

About six weeks ago I received an email saying that a new programmer had started that I could mentor and I would receive two twenty-page books explaining the mentoring program. After I lightly skimmed the material I set up a first meeting during his second week of work.

We've met three times now. I think our last meeting hit the right mix of suggestions from me about training and ways to find information with friendly talk about families and vacations. I also helped him find an expert on some software he had been told to research. The company doesn't demand too much of the mentors (meeting every two or three weeks) but I hope to be helpful.

BTW, the company is celebrating the mentoring program with a lunch next week. We get a ten dollar voucher at the cafeteria (way too much for lunch) and then meet in the special events room for discussion and prizes. I hope I don't wind up with another company lunch bag!

My Ex-Manager Quits

I just can't wait for the official announcement. My former manager, the guy who asked me why I worked there in his bitter-sarcastic way, has put in his resignation. His job was essentially eliminated in the company's big reorganization and I doubt any executive positions were going to be offered to him. Or maybe any position at all.

I have a lot more I want to say but I think I'll wait for the complete story.

Still Alive

Me and the blog are still alive.

Where have I been? It's been a very busy summer between graduations, moving people, major construction, minor construction, soccer and more. There's just no time for blogging in that mix. Thanks to the folks that have asked why I never completed my big sumup entry and created the new blog.

I'm going to stick with this blog theme for two reasons. One, as I approach ten months at my new job I'm probably going to start looking for my next job at my company. Changing Jobs Again will still be appropriate.

Second, I'm embracing change as the only constant in a workplace. I've really learned a lot in my new job and I continue to learn. There's no plateau to relax on, just a long uphill walk. Notice I said a walk, not an insane run.

I'd also like to invite the other Widgets expatriates to add their views on changing jobs from IB to somewhere else. I can paraphrase your stuff or give you rights to log in and blog under any name you choose.

So what's happened this summer?

-- My daughter was hired as a intern after I asked if she could shadow someone for a day. She learned a tremendous amount, got great job experience and a reference, and they paid her a decent wage.

-- I was assigned to my first high-profile project and things didn't go as expected. More on that later.

-- My first major project is closing in on it's release date but the testing will go to the very last minute. While that's scary (we could find something at the last minute that would mean fixes and delays), we did test the hell out of this software so I'm not too worried.

-- My group had a fun afternoon outing at Cedar Lake Farm. I mainly did horseshoes and some boat riding but the highlight of the day for everyone was the water ballon fights.

-- I did not have an exciting vacation at an exotic place. Just some local camping and a nice trip to Madtown. I will, however, easily burn all my vacation and personal holidays this year.

So you're caught up! I promise to keep on blogging. As always, please comment or email me your ideas and comments.