Anonymous names on a screen feel safer to talk to than RL people? Thinking about the problem deeply enough to write it out helps clarify the problem for the one having it?
Speaking of, I now have a big decision on my hands. A week or so ago, I got a heads-up that I might be moving to another department at work, with promotion to lead. Cool. Today, manager calls me in, tells me I have a choice of taking the move or staying put in my current department, also with promotion to lead. It’s basically a choice of which supervisor/department I want to be a lead in.
I like both supervisors, so that’s pretty much a wash.
My current area has me doing my 28 hours/week in four days, which feels like I have a lot more free time than I did on the sales floor (where the other department is), which has that 28 hours in five days. This works for a student. I’m assured that both supervisors will work with my class schedule as needed.
I have never worked in the other department, so would have to learn that on top of being a new lead. At least I’m well acquainted with the current department.
The few people I really know in the other department (they just got some newbies in), I think I could work with, but the majority of those people are strangers to me. OTOH, in my current group, we have a rather bossy type who claims to not want to be a lead, but does have a fondness for running the show (I think she just doesn’t want to be responsible for the results), and a newer girl who acts like she already IS a lead and barks orders at everyone (mentioned this to current supervisor, who assures me it will not be allowed to be a problem), so I’m concerned about pushback from them if I do take the promotion in my current department. The rest of my current team, no problem. Most of them treat me as an authority/guidance figure already anyway, since I’ve been there longer than anyone else except our senior lead, who remains in that position and in overall charge of the department (under supervisor, of course).
Tough decision here. I actually rather like the “helping customers” part of the sales floor, and working in an air-conditioned part of the building would be rather nice, it being August :). Not sure how good a lead I could be in an area I’m still learning myself, though. Current area has the virtue that I’m already up to speed there, but I do have the two self-appointed “leads” who have me concerned about whether they’ll listen to me.
I thought typing all this out would help me figure it out, but I’m still a bit stymied. I do have a little time to decide, so it’s not like the manager insists on a definite decision first thing tomorrow.
TL;DR: I have to decide which of two departments at work, one of them my current one, I would prefer to be a lead in. There are pros and cons to both possibilities, and I’m trying to figure out which direction the scale tips.