Caught between a rock and a hard place- what to do?

[Anonymous]

I manage about 150 grants at the moment. I really enjoy about 25% of them (a specific program I'm passionate about), am neutral about 25% (a formula program which is not particularly time-consuming), and HATE the other 50% (discretionary program that's not going anywhere; it does good things but I just don't like managing those grants).

My supervisor called me and said that our higher ups want to transfer the program I like, plus 2 more programs that her staff handle, into another region and we would get nothing in return. Our division's workload would be significantly reduced in order to balance things out better, and she was calling to get my opinion b/c she knows how much I enjoy the program I'd be losing.

I feel stuck. Reducing my workload is obviously very tempting, but then basically I'd only be working on the program I dislike. I know you can't be 100% happy in your job all the time, but...

Any thoughts?

[Anonymous]

Any chance reducing your workload will lead to you being considered redundant?

[Anonymous]

OP here. No, not at all. My division carries twice as many grants as the other divisions due to the large programs we manage, so they want to spread out the wealth. My office is understaffed at the moment, as well. Two other programs would be transferred to a division they feel is more relevant to their mission.

[Anonymous]

Why not try to dump the programs you don't like onto the other group instead? It sounds like they are all the same category, so it might make organizational sense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why not try to dump the programs you don't like onto the other group instead? It sounds like they are all the same category, so it might make organizational sense.

I'm sure OP has never thought of that.

[Anonymous]

Do you like other things about your job? Quality of life, hours, coworkers, etc.? If so, focus on that and enjoy the reduced workload.