We Project Fewer Projects To Manage In Your Future

I work in a department that is connected to everything and we typically research where a process went wrong. I assist in updating procedures and cleaning up current FUBARs where someone didn’t follow procedures. I try to be as proactive as I can to assist departments when projects are going on or when new processes are launching.

I notice that a new project is going live in thirty days, so I check all of the entries to make sure everything is set up correctly. I see that the main entry has not been done yet. If this is not done, it will not work; the members will not be able to access the program without a lot of hassle. I have access to the system and can fix it with a couple of keystrokes, but this is something [Project Manager] has gotten on, saying they are the project manager and it’s their responsibility. So be it.

I send an email to [Project Manager] and their team stating that they have thirty days and this new step needs to be completed. I don’t get a response.

Two weeks later, I check on the project and show that it still hasn’t gotten completed, so I send another email to [Project Manager], their team, and their manager. No response.

One week before launch, it’s still not updated. I send a third email to [Project Manager], their team, their manager, and the VPs with “Urgent” in the title.

Three days before launch, it’s still not updated. I set up an urgent meeting with [Project Manager], their team, their manager, the VP, and my manager with a message that we have a project going live in three days and that it will not work correctly for the members.

At the meeting, [Project Manager] tries to throw me under the bus, stating that it is my responsibility to update a system that I technically do not have access to with the new steps as I was the one that required them in the security update my team set out.

My Manager: *To the VP* “Are you going to start paying [My Name]’s salary if they’re going to be taking over [Project Manager]’s duties?”

VP: *To me* “Why did you look in on the project if it was outside your role?”

Me: “It becomes my responsibility on day one of rollout to coordinate damage control and fix issues. As [Project Manager] is typically why I am called in at 2:00 am, I have learned to keep an eye on their projects.”

[Project Manager] suddenly dropped from the call, and the VP stated that they would have it taken care of by the end of the day, which they did. 

For the next few rollouts, I did not see [Project Manager] listed on any of them, which would have affected their bonus, all because they didn’t want to spend three to five minutes updating a system form.