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Hello Guys,
I joined Cognizant recently, the project interview calls which I am getting is not from my base location.
I have the location constraint, should I wait for the right opportunity or raise this concern to ADP team so they can look in to it?
As per ADP policy, one should not have any constraints and take the project as FCFS basis.
Cognizant
Hi everyone,
I am looking for a job, in operations or project management background.
I have a total experience of 13 years, my last job was an assistant manager with concentrix.
Any help would be highly appreciated.
You can call me at 9632038124 or email me at Naren_306@live.com.
Regards,
Naren Sadarangani
Bowl Leader
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A leading Gaming organization located in Pune, looking out for Software Engineer - Backend with strong Java skills.
Share your profile at himani@dreamgamestudios.in
Experience - 1-7 years
Organization - Dream Game Studios - Part of Dream sports where there are other entities like Dream 11, Fancode, Dream Set Go
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Yep had this exact boss. Always send updates. The ppt is a great idea, I did something similar. I pinned an excel sheet with a project list and said “if you ever need updates, this has everything I’m doing with a current status both as a “on track/ blockers/ behind” and a notes section with what is going on and current next step.
She never looked at it of course but it was my CYA. Sometimes you have to stand up for yourself “if you’re not looking at my project tracker, how do you want to receive weekly updates to be in the know?”
Unfortunately with these bosses it seems you could do these things and they’ll still go to you and ask whenever they come back to reality of needing to check in. There’s not much you can do to improve the process but there’s a lot you can do to cover your butt and have documentation to ensure you’re never at fault (because these people also seem to be quick to throw others under the bus.)
I have a 1:1 tag up with my boss every two weeks that is bidirectional info exchange. I also send him a weekly status report with a rundown of what I’ve done that week, what I’m focusing on in the next week, and what my longer term priorities are. This report includes things like key meetings, deliverables, and planned PTO and work trips.
In the status report I identify any blockers and explicitly ask for his support if anything needs elevating (rare).
I am two time zones away from him, so these regular touch points are essential to keep us in sync.
He didn’t ask for either thing initially, but appreciate them enough that he has boss asked his other direct reports to do the same thing.
Your boss’s management style is disorienting especially when you don’t know what communication challenges he’s facing from up the line or why decisions are being made which means two things
1. Communicating your wins and updates need to go to a wider audience of stakeholders e.g their boss
2. It’s uninspiring for your team to only to get told they are only get attention when they have to fix something when it goes wrong rather than a positive acknowledgment when things go right.
My suggestion would be to start a success report- get your team to fill in their successes that you can communicate outside of your boss on company channels. You boss will want to take credit for these successes so it might encourage them to attend a few more of your 121’s since they are going to look stupid if they don’t know what’s going on with the team.
The second thing I would do is as you suggested do a 1-page slide update on progress this should if possible be linked to a dashboard so that everyone can see that what your working on aligns to company goals
And finally if you can try to build relationships higher than your boss (if possible) so people know what your working on and yours and your teams contribution is highlighted to a higher level.
Thank you. I love the success report.
Do you have any one on one touch points with him? If not, it may be worth trying to set those up
I am in full support of your consistent documentation, especially if it is a uniform format. the PPT may be good for details, but you may also want to consider a very brief (like they don't even have to scroll) - template format email with key bullets. I've had managers who won't review the attachment - but when I used a very simple red/yellow/green bullet identifier with a 1-liner summarizing a project - they'd at least review the red bullets and know that there were potential issues. Then I included a "details provided in attached file" so that way they technically had everything.
Subject Expert
I keep my manager (CTO) well informed so less maintenance. Brief key points and a heads up on potential escalations or when I may need support / air cover. Balance and brevity is key for busy bosses.
To clarify, we already have a meeting weekly with my team that shows project health as part of our reports, but he skips over that content. When it becomes a “problem” somewhere down the line, he wants an explanation when in fact he’s had the data the whole time.
He’s too busy to get in the details so if you ever feel like something won’t be to his liking bring to him. Managing up is all about judgment. Deliver good results and use your time with them to focus on any doubts to make the best use of time.
Even when he cancels 1:1s message him about the 1-3 things you wanted to discuss so he can manage it offline. He needs to be there somewhat and should be open to giving you some perspective but you need to know the right things to bring him and prioritize knowing time with him is limited.
I meet weekly with my manager & biweekly/monthly with managers of important stakeholders. PowerPoint, notes in email, etc can help, but the real challenge is it seems like he doesnt want to be bothered with things he feels you should be able to own. If a client is complaining/escalating to him about your team, then maybe its something you can work with the client directly on so they feel they can come to you first before bringing him in. If its other teams bringing up problems directly to him, I'd also focus on creating a relationship with them as well.
Thanks for your comment. That doesn’t apply in this situation, as I have run this department for years and everyone knows me, escalates through my team accordingly, which gets to me at the right times and he and I actively talk about the issues. Writing another PPT was something I didn’t want to do but I think it will help me point back to it for information and let go of my frustrations that he doesn’t seem to listen or was distracted. It will also let me direct some talking points during the 1:1s we do have.
80% of my job is to manage up