老婆放弃了单位组织的滑雪,独自带孩子。我则需要加班完成计划更新,并同上海的分包商联系安装支架供货。
项目的特点决定项目经理及项目成员必须经常舍弃家庭的需要。我干过的国外世行项目尤为典型:为了节约成本(中国公司喜欢在人力资源投入上节约成本,然后通过低效率输出方式来浪费成本),大多数项目成员长期不能回家,许多工长3年未曾回国。过春节、国庆聚餐时,大家习惯的敬酒词往往是“为老婆的情人干杯!”。我知道许多战友在项目结束回国后不久就同家属离婚了。
国外的情形也好不了多少(当然,他们的家属承受能力比我们要差)。Harold Kerzner 对此有着形象的描述:
There are severe risks that are not always evident. Some project management positions may require a sixty-hour workweek and extensive time away from home. When a project manager begins to fall in love more with the job than with his family, the result is usually lack of friends, a poor home life, and possibly divorce. During the birth of the missile and space programs, companies estimated that the divorce rate among project managers and project engineers was probably twice the national average. Accepting a project management assignment is not always compatible with raising a young family. Characteristics of the workaholic project manager include:
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Every Friday he thinks that there are only two more working days until Monday.
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At 5:00 P.M. he considers the working day only half over.
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He has no time to rest or relax.
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He always takes work home from the office.
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He takes work with him on vacations.