What to do when you're workers tell you that they fell as though they are are stuck working on a program/project that is not the executives' current favorite? Do they feel as though you are stuck in your company's technical back waters and that their skills are growing older, staler, and more out-of-date each and every work day? Do they look enviously at their coworkers who are working on more glamorous projects and using cool new tools like various Web 2.0 toolkits to create shiny new beasts?

Well fear not, amazingly enough they are not alone. Most of the IT community is in their shoes -- they work to keep the critical systems up and running and try to make them just a bit better each and every release. "Project Envy" is a fact of life that they all live with. What to do about it?

There is no single magic cure for this affliction; however, here are three ways that I have dealt with this in trying to keep folks on my team motivated:

1. I.N.T.L.S: "It's Not The Language, Stupid" Lots of times jealousy of other workers and projects stems from the fact that they get to use a neat new toy that others don't get to use. Get over it -- good design is good design, no matter what language or tool they have to work with. Back in the day, folks were able to get Fortran to do some pretty amazing things that it had never been originally designed to do. Think about it this way: how boring must it be if the language / tool that they are using to solve a design problem does too much of the work for them. Instead, they should focus on creating the tightest, clearest code that is humanly possible. We all like a challenge and this will help them to overcome language envy.

2. Can Anyone Say "Soft Skills?": If they find themselves trapped on a back waters project, instead of spending their days surfing dice.com, how about if they spend some time working on those skills that they are going to need in order to make it through their entire 45 year career? Skills like communication, delegation, negotiation, etc. If their career eventually takes off, they will desperately need these skills so use this "pitstop project" as an opportunity to bone up on what they'll need.

3. Play the Metrics Game: Most IT departments have fallen in love with metrics and this offers them a great way to get some department wide recognition no matter what project they find themselves stuck on. Back water projects are generally in charge of older, stable applications or systems. They can use this to their advantage. Study what metrics the department is tracking and determine which of them are most important to upper level management. Then they should take a look at their project and ask themselves how they can make this project #1 in terms of department metrics. By doing so they'll rise to the top and will get noticed. This just might be enough to get them moved to another more popular project.

There are many more things that they can do should they find yourself stuck on a project that turns out to not be the flavor-of-the-week. Complaining, sulking, and surfing for a new job are always options, but there are much better ways to spend their time!

- Dr. Jim Anderson
The Accidental IT Leader Blog