My last BA experience

2009-02-03T08:06:00.000-06:00

Working for a PMO office, I assisted defining Project Management standards, methodology, deliverables, and procedures. This entailed establishing procedures for the handling of Project Requests, defining Project Requirements gathering techniques, Project Costing methods, as well as Project prioritization and selection. The University implemented PMO processes to help manage and control the many project “silos” that have been in place for years with very little control. Additionally, I was assigned several projects to perform analysis to create all project artifacts as needed. Was this ever an eye opener! I had totally forgotten that academia is totally underfunded. Additionally, if a person has PMP certification you would think that they have learned something about managing! NOT! Bad assumption on my part. At any rate, things started off reasonably well. When given an assignment by the PMO, it was with a very cryptic description and with very little background each time. That was a warning right there. Over the short period of this contract, I was assigned 11 projects to perform Business Analysis on and create the project artifacts. Basically, she was jerking me around like a puppy on a chain and it was everything I could do to keep up. About 3 weeks into the job, the PMO invited me to her office after the scheduled weekly staff meeting. This was not to pass the time of day. She expressed disapproval of me for speaking up in the meeting to recommend potential direction and solutions, to try to help other BA's, without passing the recommendations past her first. This was just the start of it! In summary, it was one thing after another, week after week, from that point on. My problem is that it was always for very, very petty issues and I could not figure out what was going on. Un-believable! At any rate, 3 months into the contract, the state cut funding to the University, therefore, the PMO had to cut budget. She decided that I was making too much per hour on the contract so she approached the staffing company that placed me. One thing that I have not stated is that the placement contract was with the state, not the University, so, the PMO was totally out of line going to the staffing agency to tell them that she wanted to decrease my hourly rate by $20 and hour. You read it right, a cut in the contractual rate per hour without talking to me about it. You talk about brass, this lady had some! She should have gone to the state procurement office but decided that was too slow. The owner of the small staffing agency called me and told me of the issue. I was really upset. I was given an option of taking the cut or being released. So, instead of the staffing agency taking the hit on the rate, they decided to pass it along to me. Right, wrong, or indifferent, guess what I chose? On a Friday, the owner of the staffing firm called for my decision. I told them no, I was not going to take a cut in rate because I could not absorb the expenses of travel for rent, food, and gas if I did. Immediately after I hung up, I was called into her office. She, with a very timid look on her face, gave me a last chance to stay on the job. Again, I said no. So, in dramatic fashion, she excused herself and stated that she would be back in a minute. She, unknowing to me, went to get her boss to escort me out of the building. Do you believe this? Side note: As if it was needed. This lady reminded me of my ex-wife, constantly nagging about one thing or another that did not seem to be very important. I was glad to leave the presence of that woman. I was already packed up and walking out the door when they stopped me. I was approached by both, their arms folded in a very defensive manor. Her boss stuck out his hand, shook my hand and said, Merry Christmas! I actually laughed as I exited. Un-believable! Moral of the story: Expect anything from Project Managers and get nothing!

Blog of Business Analyst Experiences

My last BA experience