I just started work at a new place 6 months ago at a government agency. I was asked to work on a new one-year project. 6 months in and there has been ZERO progress, not because I haven’t been doing anything but because management keeps changing direction. I can work on a deck of slides with over 10 versions, but I never ever get to present it to my Group Head because the direction of the project keeps changing and the slides become useless. This has happened more times than I can count.
The team is very lean, with just me, my RO (supervisor), and his RO, working on this project. My HOD is another flip flopper, with no backbone. He doesn’t fight for our ideas, but just floats around in whatever direction his boss pulls him in (which is why I work on different version of slides all day long).
I’m very frustrated everyday as my work has zero impact, zero meaning, and I’m just editing slides to the whims and fancy of management. I have been actively applying elsewhere and have an interview lined up this week.
I know I’m jumping the gun, but I’ve been thinking if I would look bad if I resigned halfway through the project, knowing that the team is already quite stretched? (Stretched not because we’re busy doing productive work, but because management always flip flops…) My RO has been swamped with taking on other people’s work cos we have had so many resignations (I have seen 5 people resign in my 6 months here, mostly because the HOD is a grade A asshole work-wise, but that’s a different story 🚩).
For my mental health, I really need to leave, but I feel bad for my RO… Crowd sourcing reality checks and words of wisdom please…
ETA: I suppose what is also pushing me out the door is the toxic work culture. Won’t go into details but some of the horror stories I’ve heard and witnessed in 6 months really scares me (e.g., asking a pregnant woman what she could contribute to the department when she’s away on maternity).