Sometimes in the business world a company assigns a worker or (more commonly) an executive to a ‘special project.’ Companies call it by several names. They might call it a ‘special assignment’ or a ‘temporary assignment.’ They might relabel a person a ‘special adviser.’

Readers might wonder what all of this means. In short, it means one of two things. One, the company might be very gently firing the executive. As a nod to the phrase ‘quiet quitting,’ we might call this ‘quiet firing.’ In fact, this is the most common reason and one workers in particular should watch out for. If you’re suddenly relieved of all job duties and placed on a special project without much in the way of explanation or instructions, it’s probably time to brush up the old résumé.

Again, though, this applies mostly to executives. It often happens when a company buys another company. They, e.g., assign the executives from the other company to the role of ‘special adviser.’ That’s a very polite way to move them along. These days, companies usually just fire workers without warning. They rarely offer anything like a golden parachute or grace period.

Two, it might mean the company assigned the worker (or, again, usually executive) to clean up some sort of mess. Maybe another department has become dysfunctional. Maybe the company has a special need and put together a team to handle it. In contrast to the first scenario, this scenario offers benefits and career opportunities.

Readers who encounter this whole situation should first decide which of the two things is actually happening. That determination should guide next steps.

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