Workplace Restructure

My workplace is undergoing a restructure/layoff of 30% of staff due to shortfalls in fundraising, which is an area I work in. Last week my manager told me that the restructure means that my role is changing and I will be overseeing three new fundraising program areas (I currently manage one).

Initially when my boss told me the news about the change in my role I felt very flat. I reflected on this and came back to him to say that I did not want to take on more responsibility without a better title and compensation. He agreed. So that’s a win.

The other factor here is that I’ve come to realise that I do not want to work in fundraising. That’s also a win, I guess. I applied for a non-fundraising role with another organization at the start of this year. I didn’t get the job but they gave me positive feedback and said they’d shortlist me for other roles (they since came back and offered me a fundraising role…) When I didn’t get that job, I decided to give it one more year in my current job/workplace so I could focus on my primary goals for the year (TTC, setting up my business, & settling into my new city/apartment).

Yesterday the new organizational structure was shared with all staff and an overwhelming thought came over me of “I can’t do this” – My thoughts are “I don’t want to be responsible”, “I’m not interested in this” – and underlying a lot of this “It’s all my fault” (that the fundraising program is failing). (Writing this out I can see that there is over and under responsibility going on here.) I feel unmotivated, and right now I feel frozen/stuck. I’ve spent the last two days barely doing any work. I feel pretty useless. It’s C28 and my period is due, and I feel this dam of pressure building up in me that I just want to be released.

I know I don’t need to make any decisions right now, but where I am feels so uncomfortable, I just want a clear plan/path forward. I’ve decided I need some extra support through this work restructure. I’m going to try using Ask A Coach every day, and I’m going to speak to some of my trusted colleagues to talk through how I’m feeling.

I think what I want coaching on here is around decision-making. Deciding to stick to my original plan and give it another year in this job, or seeing this change as a giant push to get me to seriously seek out a non-fundraising role. Both feel like really hard prospects right now, and maybe accepting that it will be hard either way is the first step.

 

 

Answer:

You could accept that it will be hard if you like the results that gets you. Check in with yourself. How do you feel? Where does your energy go when you think this way?  You can always play with switching things up by asking yourself: What if this was easy? What if you knew exactly what you wanted to do? Your previous decision doesn’t matter. Stay present. Given what’s in front of you now, start over. Look at your reasons for staying or going somewhere else. See if you like them. Be curious.  If you knew you’d be fine either way, what would you do? Love your goal to use AAC!