What does it mean if you only work special projects?

I started this BA role about 5 months ago and everything is going great. However it seems like I am always put on special project, I literally do 0 operational work. I am supposed to be a backup but if that resource is out the files can sit until he gets back. I deliver complex projects, but it's weird not having any operational work. I think some people are confused about my role here.

Have you ever gone through it? I really like it, operational work is horrible.

Is this normal? Sorry for the bizarre post, I am a little insecure being in this favorable situation.

Side not management is always very complementary and I haven't missed a deliverable since I started.

Oh well I suppose

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Comments

networker050184

It happens as you go up in your career. No offense to the lower level people, we've all been there, but you can find operations folks a dime a dozen. You pay extra money for smart people to come on and handle the special projects. It's a waste of money to have those people busy in operations work.

fuz1on

Perfectly normal. Don't be insecure, you worked hard to get there! Team leads/managers start picking people for upward mobility based on their performance, credibility and work ethic. No use wasting your talents...

Doing what you do is tough; it's ambiguous work that takes serious self-monitoring and time management. People either got it - or they don't.

210mike

I'm getting to that point in my career as well. My boss tags me personally for many of our new projects and initiatives and I tend to focus on those. I do very little day to day routine administration as my boss has delegated that to other team members. He sees me in more of an architect role in the future.

Honestly I don't know if it's the ADD or what but I perform much better when I can analyze a problem, devise a solution, put together the plan, implement, and then hand off. I get bored easily and this has really rejuvenated my enthusiasm for my work.

shodown

networker050184 wrote: »

It happens as you go up in your career. No offense to the lower level people, we've all been there, but you can find operations folks a dime a dozen. You pay extra money for smart people to come on and handle the special projects. It's a waste of money to have those people busy in operations work.

This sums it up right here.

philz1982

210mike wrote: »

I'm getting to that point in my career as well. My boss tags me personally for many of our new projects and initiatives and I tend to focus on those. I do very little day to day routine administration as my boss has delegated that to other team members. He sees me in more of an architect role in the future.

Honestly I don't know if it's the ADD or what but I perform much better when I can analyze a problem, devise a solution, put together the plan, implement, and then hand off. I get bored easily and this has really rejuvenated my enthusiasm for my work.

That is completely me, I am very ADHD, and I prefer the architect role. I suck as a PM, I simply don't have the focus past a couple months.

kohr-ah

This isn't a bad thing at all. This is a very good thing because they trust you greatly.

This is all i do at my current job is projects. I went from network engineer to Lead Network Engineer for Projects essentially.

Networker couldn't of said it any better. This is very good for you and your career and is better than daily operations work.

the_Grinch

Where I come from this is a great thing! As others have stated, anyone can be a keyboard jockey, but when you're the go to guy for solutions it speaks volumes about you.

N2IT

It's a lot of fun, there are some down falls though like people making quips at you because you aren't seen as a valuable resource. (Always my peers)

I come up with projects and either I do them, which usually happens or I manage a development team to get them done. My boss and her boss are very technical so we all can code and deliver solutions through VBA, SQL etc. The best part is we work as a team so if I run into a road block they knock it down immediately for me or show me how. It's a great way to learn.

JoJoCal19

networker050184 wrote: »

It happens as you go up in your career. No offense to the lower level people, we've all been there, but you can find operations folks a dime a dozen. You pay extra money for smart people to come on and handle the special projects. It's a waste of money to have those people busy in operations work.

Exactly this and like others have said. I was brought into my current job as a Sr Information Security Administrator and I'm not handling much of the day to operational tasks. I'm the highest level position on the security administration team and my manager leaves all of the daily operational tasks to the regular and intermediate information security administrators. Since my second day (the first was showing me the day to day operational tasks they do) it has been project after project put on my plate.

NOC-Ninja

N2IT wrote: »

It's a lot of fun, there are some down falls though like people making quips at you because you aren't seen as a valuable resource. (Always my peers)

I come up with projects and either I do them, which usually happens or I manage a development team to get them done. My boss and her boss are very technical so we all can code and deliver solutions through VBA, SQL etc. The best part is we work as a team so if I run into a road block they knock it down immediately for me or show me how. It's a great way to learn.

I only deal with operations now whenever others cannot fix it. Other than that, its all about projects. Projects that cannot be fix just be anyone. In my experience, it was handed to me due to my cert and the trust" that I can make it happen. You build this reputation to your peers that you make things work. The worst thing is that everyone will go to you asking for help when they find out that you are really good.

Pertaining to your co-worker making quips. I would pull them to my projects, let them lead the project, so that they can see how hard it is. LOL They are surprise when I can make it work and they couldnt.