Team Lead

After a whopping 6 months with the company and 3 months of project experience I have been made a team lead on my current project. I don’t know what took them so long! I am no in charge of 3 client resources who are defining the requirements for the companies reporting requirements. Later we will be developing these reports in BW (that’s short for Business information Warehouse) SAP’s solution for business intelligence. Yeah I know that phrase – business intelligence – sounds like an oxymoron to me as well.

There are two aspects of being a team lead that make this new role interesting. The first is the fact that I have never seen, used, or studied BW. I am as new to the product as the three resources from the client team that I am to lead through the process. In fact the consultant I am working with has just as little experience as I do! We are going to training for the product in a couple of weeks. The only people who seem to know anything about this product on our team are the off-shore resources in India. Unfortunately their role is only technical; they have no experience on the business side of the equation. This means that I am will have a very steep learning curve.

The second interesting point to be made here is that the client believes that I have done this before. They are very obviously looking to me for guidance through the process – they may be doing this because the partner and manager on the project may have indicated a little more experience. This actually amuses me because the VP in charge of this client wasn’t sure to let me on the project originally in October because of my lack of project experience. Then they got upset when I was no longer free and they had to pay to keep me around! One thing that will certainly keep you on your toes in consulting is the great swing of expectations that occurs as you prove yourself.

Those items being said I am enjoying this new role. I have a lot more work to do, but I have a lot more control since I am directing the effort. Also my client team seams eager to get involved in the project and quite capable (we will find out how true this is Tuesday when I find out if they will make their first deadline). They are very knowledgeable in the business areas they come from and have been working for this client anywhere from 4 - 15 years. I also like the fact that they ask a lot of question to find out exactly what is required from them. I have worked with others on this project that only give you exactly what you ask for. This obviously slows down the project and is also a passive aggressive attitude that impedes everyone’s work. This team shows the opposite attitude.

I do have one large concern going forward. After being given this role I was asked to contact another DC resource out of Philly and request some information. When I did this he answered back with an e-mail requesting a phone call. During are call he quizzed me about the project my experience, the team’s experience and so on. At the end of the call he informed me that he was very concerned that there are no experienced resources on this project. It is his belief that we are going to run into a lot of problems because of the lack of experience. Hopefully this is not the case. I am optimistic and believe we will knock this one out of the park.