Playing catch up in a job which is slightly above your competence
May 18, 2021 11:09 AM Subscribe
Finding aspects of my new job challenging. Please help me brainstorm practical ideas for getting up to speed quickly and without burning out. And also please point me to any good reseources on dealing with imposter syndrome, as I think I am probably magnifying my lack of experience in my mind. Would also love to hear others' experiences of a situation where they got through this and stepped up their game to good effect!
I didn't lie about my experience or abilities at all, but there is a much higher level of project management / budgeting / doing everything by processes / not actual delivery time than I was expecting, which is distracting me from the substance of the work. Also, the substance of the work was always a big step up, but because I've been freelance for a while and not working at an official grade I don't think either I or my manager would have realised this. Looking for tips for dealing with imposter syndrome and getting up to speed!
Situation not helped by the fact that it's a busy consultancy and for all of my projects I'm given ridiculously tiny amounts of time to do things because everything is on the clock - like 0.3 of a day to prepare a workshop on something really, really, fundamental to a big business's strategy. I might have a junior supporting me for half a day, but they don't know what they're doing and need a lot of direction, and I feel like I'm playing catch up on the topic sometimes whilst directing them.
I say I feel imposter syndrome, which is true, but I also have concerns about the abilities of the consultancy and feel that they underbudget to make projects get signed off and then deliver poor quality work. So I'm not that bad, compared to everyone else, including the CEO, but I think they are looking to me for guidance on how to be better and I'm really struggling when every single minute is planned for me and monitored in minute detail - there is no time to think, catch up or even read around the topics we are supposed to be experts in (and there's no way we could be experts in all of them).
Then there's the budgeting and contract aspects. Millions of those flying around all the time. This is not my natural forte and I keep annoying the Ops Manager by basically repeatedly overbudgeting and telling her I don't think our budgets are realistic (I'm not even massively over budgeting, it's just that they add 20% contingency, plus a CEO fee, plus an admin fee, plus their day rates are way higher than industry standard so a small amount of days means a lot of money).
I want to be excellent at this, and I'm being paid a good day rate. However, I'm worried I'm not going to learn anything from people in the agency (hadn't realised how junior they are and also not convinced on CEO's ability), and feel I need to make up for it in other ways.
I also don't want to burn out!
Possible thoughts are:
- Whilst getting up to speed, spend circa 2 hours every day actively learning outside of working hours about the latest topic I need to get up to speed with. Accept that I will be overworking for a while, and try and frame this as a great opportunity to step up
- Watch out for feelings of resentment when I'm working long hours, as that's a result of being less experienced in some of this (I'm noticing these come up)
- Try and address imposter syndrome (thoughts on how?)
- Any other ideas?
I didn't lie about my experience or abilities at all, but there is a much higher level of project management / budgeting / doing everything by processes / not actual delivery time than I was expecting, which is distracting me from the substance of the work. Also, the substance of the work was always a big step up, but because I've been freelance for a while and not working at an official grade I don't think either I or my manager would have realised this. Looking for tips for dealing with imposter syndrome and getting up to speed!
Situation not helped by the fact that it's a busy consultancy and for all of my projects I'm given ridiculously tiny amounts of time to do things because everything is on the clock - like 0.3 of a day to prepare a workshop on something really, really, fundamental to a big business's strategy. I might have a junior supporting me for half a day, but they don't know what they're doing and need a lot of direction, and I feel like I'm playing catch up on the topic sometimes whilst directing them.
I say I feel imposter syndrome, which is true, but I also have concerns about the abilities of the consultancy and feel that they underbudget to make projects get signed off and then deliver poor quality work. So I'm not that bad, compared to everyone else, including the CEO, but I think they are looking to me for guidance on how to be better and I'm really struggling when every single minute is planned for me and monitored in minute detail - there is no time to think, catch up or even read around the topics we are supposed to be experts in (and there's no way we could be experts in all of them).
Then there's the budgeting and contract aspects. Millions of those flying around all the time. This is not my natural forte and I keep annoying the Ops Manager by basically repeatedly overbudgeting and telling her I don't think our budgets are realistic (I'm not even massively over budgeting, it's just that they add 20% contingency, plus a CEO fee, plus an admin fee, plus their day rates are way higher than industry standard so a small amount of days means a lot of money).
I want to be excellent at this, and I'm being paid a good day rate. However, I'm worried I'm not going to learn anything from people in the agency (hadn't realised how junior they are and also not convinced on CEO's ability), and feel I need to make up for it in other ways.
I also don't want to burn out!
Possible thoughts are:
- Whilst getting up to speed, spend circa 2 hours every day actively learning outside of working hours about the latest topic I need to get up to speed with. Accept that I will be overworking for a while, and try and frame this as a great opportunity to step up
- Watch out for feelings of resentment when I'm working long hours, as that's a result of being less experienced in some of this (I'm noticing these come up)
- Try and address imposter syndrome (thoughts on how?)
- Any other ideas?
It’s not you. It’s them.
This is the part that stuck out for me: like 0.3 of a day to prepare a workshop on something really, really, fundamental to a big business's strategy
There’s an obvious contradiction there. Work of genuine value takes time as well as skill to create. Something that’s churned out in under half a day will not embody that kind of value.
I guess that your employer values superficially plausible bullshitters who can sound like they know more or less enough about any given topic. I mean, that’s fine. That’s an ok business model - they’re certainly not alone. It might even be fun to be part of it, for a while. But you would need to give up any hope or pretence of doing it properly. They only want you to do it quickly.
They’re all imposters, so you certainly don’t need to single yourself out - in private or in public. If it’s fun and it pays well, enjoy the ride. But I would also work on an exit strategy in the background.
posted by rd45 at 2:42 PM on May 18, 2021 [8 favorites]
This is the part that stuck out for me: like 0.3 of a day to prepare a workshop on something really, really, fundamental to a big business's strategy
There’s an obvious contradiction there. Work of genuine value takes time as well as skill to create. Something that’s churned out in under half a day will not embody that kind of value.
I guess that your employer values superficially plausible bullshitters who can sound like they know more or less enough about any given topic. I mean, that’s fine. That’s an ok business model - they’re certainly not alone. It might even be fun to be part of it, for a while. But you would need to give up any hope or pretence of doing it properly. They only want you to do it quickly.
They’re all imposters, so you certainly don’t need to single yourself out - in private or in public. If it’s fun and it pays well, enjoy the ride. But I would also work on an exit strategy in the background.
posted by rd45 at 2:42 PM on May 18, 2021 [8 favorites]
There’s often a consistent negotiation of how much time / resources it takes to get something done. Some organizations or people will just push until they get pushback (eg ask v guess culture). Talk to your manager about it but also don’t be afraid to feel out and assert for what you need to get the job done- you have more leeway now when starting then you ever will.
posted by artificialard at 3:10 PM on May 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
posted by artificialard at 3:10 PM on May 18, 2021 [1 favorite]
Agree with RD45 on all points. When I went from nonprofit management to business consulting I felt (and still do at times, 4 years later) completely in over my head with business jargon and tight timelines. I’ve realized over time that nobody really has any idea what they are talking about, they just have very rigid ideas and tons of confidence, making it sound like they know a lot more than you. My boss is exactly what RD45 described: a plausible bullshitter who can walk into a room with zero prep and host a “workshop” that wows C-level execs. And I have the opposite budgeting problem where we consistently under-quote clients bc my boss underestimates the actual work it will take.
My advice is this:
1. For situations like the one you mentioned (workshop prep), spend as much time as possible on the front end to make sure you understand two fundamental things: (1) What is the problem the client has hired you to solve? What are the reasons they've been unable to do this on their own, or the questions they need answered by an external vendor? and then (2) What is the the client expecting from your deliverable/end product? What specific recommendations are they looking for and how do they plan to use your work?
I know this sounds simple, but as an example: Let's say you're hired to lead a marketing team through a strategic planning workshop to develop a 3-year marketing strategy. My first instinct is to get overwhelmed with "ok, I need to understand this industry, then understand this particular company, then look at their prior marketing efforts and compare to their competitors'. I need to know basic marketing theory. I also need to know how to write a strategic plan AND how to guide staff through that process."
But ask yourself: Why do they need a marketing strategy? Are they losing market share in a particular segment? Can they not agree on a vision for their brand? Do they have lots of ideas but need step-by-step guidance on how to implement them? Often times they need specific help in one area, but only know that they need "a strategic plan." If you can get a meeting with the client prior to doing the work to ask tons of questions, you'll be clear on what they actually want. Use the workshop time to tease out the core issue, and use your junior staff to fill out (or BS) the rest.
2. Find templates you can use for lots of different purposes. We use this Business Model Canvas (or some version of it) for tons of different workshops. You shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel for every client unless your firm agrees to charge bespoke prices for it. Without knowing the work you do, I'm not sure which might be helpful, but feel free to message me!
3. Use your junior staff for secondary research on the client's company and industry. If you understand the following, you can generally bullshit your way through a workshop: (1) General industry landscape and current trends (2) Company background, business model, market share, recent news/changes, (3) the questions I mentioned in my first piece of advice. Use your own research time on the methods/theory/etc but remember...
4. A lot of this just comes with time. The more companies you work with, the quicker you'll be able to catch onto how their businesses work and what their true needs are. And a lot of the trendy methods/frameworks businesses use are just re-framing of older methods/ideas. Rather than spend an additional 10 hours a week researching everything you can about the industry, just do the minimum research necessary to understand how to fit the actual work to whatever language they want you to use.
I hope this helps. Just remember, most of consulting is being a confident bullshitter, and everyone around you has just gotten really good at it. You're every bit as competent and skilled as them, you just need to start building your confidence and find some shortcuts in the meantime.
I realize it's very focused on the type of consulting I do, so my apologies if none of this is relevant. But feel free to memail if you want additional advice!
posted by a.steele at 6:16 PM on May 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
My advice is this:
1. For situations like the one you mentioned (workshop prep), spend as much time as possible on the front end to make sure you understand two fundamental things: (1) What is the problem the client has hired you to solve? What are the reasons they've been unable to do this on their own, or the questions they need answered by an external vendor? and then (2) What is the the client expecting from your deliverable/end product? What specific recommendations are they looking for and how do they plan to use your work?
I know this sounds simple, but as an example: Let's say you're hired to lead a marketing team through a strategic planning workshop to develop a 3-year marketing strategy. My first instinct is to get overwhelmed with "ok, I need to understand this industry, then understand this particular company, then look at their prior marketing efforts and compare to their competitors'. I need to know basic marketing theory. I also need to know how to write a strategic plan AND how to guide staff through that process."
But ask yourself: Why do they need a marketing strategy? Are they losing market share in a particular segment? Can they not agree on a vision for their brand? Do they have lots of ideas but need step-by-step guidance on how to implement them? Often times they need specific help in one area, but only know that they need "a strategic plan." If you can get a meeting with the client prior to doing the work to ask tons of questions, you'll be clear on what they actually want. Use the workshop time to tease out the core issue, and use your junior staff to fill out (or BS) the rest.
2. Find templates you can use for lots of different purposes. We use this Business Model Canvas (or some version of it) for tons of different workshops. You shouldn't have to reinvent the wheel for every client unless your firm agrees to charge bespoke prices for it. Without knowing the work you do, I'm not sure which might be helpful, but feel free to message me!
3. Use your junior staff for secondary research on the client's company and industry. If you understand the following, you can generally bullshit your way through a workshop: (1) General industry landscape and current trends (2) Company background, business model, market share, recent news/changes, (3) the questions I mentioned in my first piece of advice. Use your own research time on the methods/theory/etc but remember...
4. A lot of this just comes with time. The more companies you work with, the quicker you'll be able to catch onto how their businesses work and what their true needs are. And a lot of the trendy methods/frameworks businesses use are just re-framing of older methods/ideas. Rather than spend an additional 10 hours a week researching everything you can about the industry, just do the minimum research necessary to understand how to fit the actual work to whatever language they want you to use.
I hope this helps. Just remember, most of consulting is being a confident bullshitter, and everyone around you has just gotten really good at it. You're every bit as competent and skilled as them, you just need to start building your confidence and find some shortcuts in the meantime.
I realize it's very focused on the type of consulting I do, so my apologies if none of this is relevant. But feel free to memail if you want additional advice!
posted by a.steele at 6:16 PM on May 18, 2021 [3 favorites]
"slightly above your competence" is expressing I think capitalist value extraction will extract exactly as many milligrams of flesh as are compatible with future value extraction.
"and I'm really struggling when every single minute is planned for me and monitored in minute detail - there is no time to think, catch up or even read around the topics we are supposed to be experts in (and there's no way we could be experts in all of them)."
This sounds like hell, honestly. If they're paying you enough, great, but otherwise be getting out before they destroy you.
posted by away for regrooving at 11:58 PM on May 18, 2021
"and I'm really struggling when every single minute is planned for me and monitored in minute detail - there is no time to think, catch up or even read around the topics we are supposed to be experts in (and there's no way we could be experts in all of them)."
This sounds like hell, honestly. If they're paying you enough, great, but otherwise be getting out before they destroy you.
posted by away for regrooving at 11:58 PM on May 18, 2021
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posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:21 PM on May 18, 2021 [2 favorites]