Changes at Work

I am very close to completing 2 years with the organization that I am currently part of and as mentioned in an earlier post, this is the organization which I have served the longest after I qualified as a Chartered Accountant (I had put in less than one year each at 3 organizations before I joined this one). Ever since I joined this organization, I have been working with a single team. I joined the team as a team member, gradually rose to the position of Team Leader and took over as the Project Manager for the client later. I was managing a team of 40 members and over the past 22 months, had developed a great bonding with almost all of them. It was as if I had gone back to my school/ college days, such was the kind of relationship that existed within the team. The average age of the team was somewhere around 26 to 28 though we had team members as old as 44 on one hand and as young as 23 on the other. The production floor was FUN. We would make stories about each and every team member, teasing him/ her and would be all ears for someone to blurt out something stupid so that the same could be highlighted and the whole team could have a hearty laugh! I myself have been the butt of jokes more than once, but all of us have taken it in the best spirit till now. The fun used to extend to sending e mails making stories about people to meeting up during weekends for movies, shopping, eating out and the like. At the end of all this, it is time now for me to move out of the team. I was first given a hint on this a couple of months earlier. The decision to move me out was taken almost a month back (of course, after having discussed with me and obtaining my consent). From the time I was given a hint, I was preparing myself mentally for the change and trying my best to reconcile to the fact that I would not be with the magnificent and dynamic team for long. However, during the team meeting that was convened on Tuesday, August 28 to convey the decision to the team formally, I could not help getting emotional. Once the decision was conveyed to the team by my Manager, I was asked to speak to the team and this was one of the few moments in my life where I was completely at a loss for words. I stammered, started mumbling, slowly picked up courage and managed to say something. As at the end of last week, I have almost completely handed over my responsibilities to the new Project Manager (who incidentally was the old Project Manager with whom I had worked as a Team Leader. You can read more about her at http://ruminateatleisure.blogspot.com/) and shifted to a new seat very near to where my (erstwhile) team sits. I have not been given a new project and looks like it will almost be a month for a decision to be taken in this regard. Till then, I am supposed to be helping out my (erstwhile, again) team with whatever assistance they need. It definitely is difficult to be moving out of a team with which one has worked so very closely, but at the same time I am really excited and thrilled, looking forward to taking up another project. There is a chance that I might get a few team members from my earlier team to work with me on my new project in future. Till things fall into place, I am hoping that I would very soon be part of another exciting project and working with another team as lovely and lively as my earlier team. Hopefully yours,