"What do you want to do?"

At work, we are currently going through a reorganisation that will mean that I will no longer be managing the team of people that I am currently looking after - the management positions will be amalgamated from three to two to free up one person (me) to work on other tasks.

My boss has put a positive spin on this, but to be honest, I am not sure whether this is really a slap on the knuckles (for no specified reason) or a pat on the back.

In relation to this change, my boss has asked me on a couple of occasions what I want to do and has been trying to find some tasks for me that will "interest me".

The difficulty I find in this is working out what that means for me. I think I want to "be engaged" in activities / roles that I also know / feel are of value to the company, and that make appropriate (full / good) use of my skills and capabilities. I don't want to be given something to do just to keep me busy. I don't want to feel like a loose end that needs to be tied off.

Unfortunately, that is exactly what I am starting to feel like at the moment - like a loose end. My boss sent me a list of things that he was running by me to do and has asked for my opinion. I provided a response thinking that this was a direction that he wanted me to take, but today (a week later) he rang me and said he was speaking with one of his peers who was going to need some help with the project that he has.

Although my boss sees what he is doing as trying to find the right job for me to do, what I am seeing is that he doesn't really have any pressing need or purposeful job for me to do (arguably, there is a deal of work that needs to be done and I can just do anything I like) ... and that I am more of a loos end for him that a necessary resource that he has a specific need for. This runs contrary to one of the stated reasons behind the way the reorganisation is progressing - to free up one of us for other duties.


Ironically, a similar set of behaviours may be part of the problem between Nina and me. I am often leaving things up for her do decide (because I have not clear preference), but she also doesn't want to make a decision. As a result, she often complains that she doesn't know what I want, what I am thinking, or what is important to me. Of course, when I do decide I want to do something, I am sometimes left feeling like I am being bossy or an unwelcome disturbance.