What to do when there’s nothing to do

Dear Bob,

I find myself stuck in an unfulfilling situation I’m not sure how to get around. If you could help me shed some light on it I’d be grateful!

I’ve been working in a new job for three months. I was hired to work in the project of replacing an important but obsolete application. My responsibilities include analyzing and documenting the current software’s features and specifics to provide an input for the purchase of the new one, and then assist in the follow-up of the migration process when the new software’s vendor is selected.

The team is two people – my boss (the project leader) and me. He’s a nice, outgoing person who’s been working here for several years and is almost the only one who’s able to control and keep the old software working every day, both technically and from the point of view of modeling business logic into the software.

The problem is, I completed various tasks dictated by the lifecycle we are required to follow, and have had no tasks to work on for more than a week. Lifecycle indicates that my boss has to review some of the deliverables I produced, work on getting buy-in from users to our project, and so on. He doesn’t make progress with these tasks. I see him working on maintenance activities for the current software most of the time, when he’s not having a coffee break chatting with people he knows from years of work here (which is fine, but makes me wonder about his level of interest in the migration process).

I have nothing to do all day. Besides, it’s obvious to nearby people (including my boss’s boss) that I’m doing nothing. So I’m wondering, what can I do to get myself out of this negative situation? I considered (and in some cases tried) the following:

– Talking to my boss. I think he’s unwilling to deal with this subject, i.e. me: what can I do next? Him: we need to have our users review the material in order to keep going. (Is that an answer to my question? After that I didn’t want to push and ask “OK, but what can I do in the mean time?”)

– Talking to my boss’s boss. I’m not sure about this. She didn’t let me see she would be receptive to suggestions/concerns/whatever. In fact, I perceive her as distant from we “working bees”. Also, I guess my boss wouldn’t like me doing that.

– Getting another job and leave. I feel quite a lot of drive to do this. But the thing is, I signed a six-month contract with this company, which I’d like to keep. When I got this job I was glad and optimistic that my career would improve here. I wouldn’t like to miss that opportunity by leaving.

– Getting transferred to another team. That would be great. Question is how can I. I’m doing my best to get close to people outside my team. In doing that I’m striving with the fact that I’m new here, don’t know the culture yet, and don’t have many opportunities to demonstrate the professional value I know I have.

I guess you know of situations like this one, surely it’s nothing new.

What do you think? Your advice would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Bored to Death

Dear Bored …

Your situation isn’t new, but it’s surprisingly hard to deal with. The root cause of it all is that you’re reporting to someone who either doesn’t know how to be a manager, has lost interest in managing, or is in a position where he isn’t permitted to manage. Kind of like what Shakespeare said about greatness, but in reverse.

And he might have lost interest. Since the project is retiring a system for which he’s the guru, it would be understandable if he’s something less than enthusiastic about the whole thing.

You’re right that jumping over your boss’s head without his permission would be a bad career move, too, and that limits your choices. My best advice is to take one more run at him. Let him know you’re bouncing off the walls. Express your understanding that sometimes, in a project like this, there’s nothing productive to do until others make a decision. (If it isn’t clear why you start this way, it’s because before you can make your pitch you first have to establish that you empathize with his situation.)

Then you make your pitch. Ask if, since you’re sitting around anyway, there are any next-phase tasks you can get a jump on. Sure, they’re logically dependent on the decisions you’re waiting for, but if there’s no harm in it and nothing else for you to work on, why not?

If the answer to that is no, ask if he’d mind your shopping your services around to other project managers to help with short-term tasks – interviewing as part of a requirements process, helping with testing or whatever. Emphasize that you’d only take on short-term assignments.

If that answer to that is negative as well, share your problem – that you’re concerned about your career safety, since you’ll have several months of employment with no work product to show for them. Ask his advice, and do your best to not let him off the hook until he gives you an answer.

And if nothing comes of that either, there’s no harm in floating your resume around. You might have to start doing so anyway.

Might as well get a jump on it.

– Bob