After over 14 months working on a major systems integration project for one client, I am finally coming to the end of my work. I have anticipated that I might well move into another role within the project but as my skills tend to have been around more infrastructural based elements, which are nearly concluded, it is a good moment to move on.
There are a few niggly technical things to fix before I can move on completely but I can probably do most of these remotely working with some colleagues on site. This will give me a chance to catch up on some things at home, do some training I should have completed ages ago and also sit back a little and check some things out on the "just in case" radar.
I changed which part of my employer’s organisation I lived in earlier this year so I could see as much I could be involved in more implementation work than had been the case for a while. Before, I was more focused on traditional consultancy around strategy and change work and often this meant only being with a client for a few weeks or so. At most, 6 months (and I was usually doing implementation work in those cases).
My background is primarily in IT in Engineering and Retail and I am used to to heading up large departments and major projects with a lot of operational responsibilities. Whilst I have enjoyed the straight consulting work I have been doing for the last six or seven years, it is not as satisfying as actually delivering change. I have a view that anyone advising on strategy and change should have experience of delivery that they need to top-up every now and then.
It will be interesting to see where the next project takes me to. The best and worst parts of my job are that you never know.
