Also some points to add:
- My manager and my two direct reports (PMs) have known each other for many years and are like a clique. In fact she directly hired one of my direct reports as they used to work together in a previous company.
- I, along with two other directors, report to my boss.
- I work for a nursing equipment company which is very low-tech. I am literally the only one who has both a Bachelors and Masters Degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering along with an MBA. Everyone else comes from a nursing/physical therapist background. They know the product and use cases better than I since I have absolutely no experience working in a clinical environment. However, they have absolutely zero experience in technology and I don't think they truly understand Product Management processes and phases. All decisions are basically made by my boss or my direct reports not based on hard data but by their intuition and opinion. They don’t seem to have ever conducted a UX or formative usability study.
- My manager hardly ever lets me make decisions and treats me more of like a project manager.
- I feel almost as if my boss is jealous of my credentials and basically treats me as if my direct reports are my managers. It's a really weird vibe…she will assign me menial tasks like creating powerpoint decks or emailing other stakeholders while delegating my direct report to be in a high-level business meeting with customers
Most of her interactions are with my direct reports and she basically tells them to lead the project. The only time she will reach out to me directly is when deadlines are drawing near and she needs to know what the project status…in other words, when someone's ass is on the line or she needs a fall guy, then she assigns me to be the person who must answer to other stakeholders.
It's strange…I do not feel like a director at all but more like a Jr. PM who sits in the background and does nothing except take the fall when deadlines come around. My direct reports make their own travel plans and set up Teams meetings at their own will, and I am completely in the dark as to what they are doing. Sometimes, they will set up a meeting about an issue or project of which I have had absolutely no knowledge. The communication is not going to me.
It may seem from reading the description of my day to day as though I am acting entitled. However, that is absolutely the furthest thing from the truth as I have never shown or hinted an inkling of any sort of entitlement or superiority to my team. In fact, it is literally the other way around – I go out of my way to be humble and turn a ear to all other voices but the team here just seems to think that they own the sidewalk that I walk on. Furthemore, all product features are decided upon whether or not my boss feels like it is good – absolutely no usability study or UX/Human Factors data input. It's such a strange paradigm to which I am not used.
The thing is, I am not the type to overhype myself but I really feel I am way more competent than any of the people in my group combined. Again, I lack the domain experience but in my previous life, I designed and launched hardware and SDKs that for microcontroller and DSP designs, Lidar sensors and parallel processing GPUs. Now, I am dealing with stupid stuff such as a surgical pump that has absolutely no high-tech in it whatsoever.
Also, the company completely changed its business model only a year ago after an acquisition of a manufacturer. Previously, a product organization did not even exist because the company did not manufacture or produce anything and was more like a distributor of products from other OEMs. Thus, my boss has absolutely way less experience in building technical products and my direct reports are almost 20 years younger than me and have been doing product management for literally half a year now.
However, all of them are former RNs and have worked in the clinical environment which I haven’t. It almost seems as though they discriminate against me because I don’t have that background.
To be honest, I really can’t stand the industry space in which I work because the products are so boring, low tech, and have no intellectual challenge. I come from the world of digital transformation, IoT sensors, cloud infrastructure, and cutting edge technologies and to be working with a bunch of former RNs makes me feel as though I am losing half of my brain cells everyday. I really only took this job because of the title upgrade which I thought would provide me with higher visibility and respect from my peers but obviously that is not happening.
Would love to hear advice and comments from others.