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Half a year ago I was moved to a project because of my expertise in a technology. The idea was to teach the team and focus mainly on using that technology from now on... But that project was rejected for various reasons. So I stayed in that project working on something that I was total newbie at. But now we finally received a project based on technology that I am expert with and surprise surprise my boss gives it to some one who have very little idea.

Should I talk to him ? How can I ask why without questioning his decision?

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    General tip: Never ask why you did not give me X? Rather, ask, why am I not part of X? Takes the offesive "edge" off the questions.
    – Sourav Ghosh
    Commented Mar 11, 2019 at 10:04
  • How was your own schedule? Are you needed for something else more important? Have you ruled out that your boss gave the task to a 'newbie' to help them learn the technology involved?
    – user34587
    Commented Mar 11, 2019 at 10:28
  • @Kozaky nope I quite bored (I look at what I can impruve in alredy existing proceses) I tell hime that like several times every day. No I was tol that by him and my supervisor also I am the only one with experience in that.
    – kifli
    Commented Mar 11, 2019 at 10:42
  • @SouravGhosh thanks for adivice but I cant ask that in these case as this project will requiere just one person.
    – kifli
    Commented Mar 11, 2019 at 10:47
  • Even better than being assigned the right task is choosing the tasks you find to be urgent and/or interesting, based on your expertise and your knowledge of the team's plan. Do you think your boss would be open to a more modern approach to management, e.g. one of the Agile frameworks?
    – Bill Horvath
    Commented Mar 12, 2019 at 7:03

2 Answers 2

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Should I talk to him ? How can I ask why without questioning his decision?

Yes. You should not question about his decision, question about plan for your future work and assignments in way that "hints" about your interest.

If I were you, I'd probably start a conversation saying:

"Hey Boss, I noticed that we got a new work assignment / project which is based on XYZ and it's good. It just happens to be there that after the last movement of mine into the current project, I am learning PQR and since it's been 6 months now, I can say I grew certain level of fluency and a natural interest about working with PQR.

However, as you know, my primary skill in on XYZ and I was wondering about any possibilities of new work assignment with XYZ in near future? Also, If I am able to help in the existing project in any way, please let me know".

This should get the job done without "questioning" the decision about the allocation. Also, this will serve as a reminder about your skill-set, and your willingness to work with your preferred technology, in case it fell through the crack. In case there is a valid reason for not granting you the new task - you'll be enlightened about that, too.

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    @Erik Right, updated my answer, I too seem to have missed one point.
    – Sourav Ghosh
    Commented Mar 11, 2019 at 11:56
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Should I talk to him ?

Yep. It bothered you enough to post the question here, I would think it is worth a conversation with your manager.

How can I ask why without questioning his decision?

Well, any way you go about this step, you are sort of questioning their decision. This should be okay, as long as it is done in a respectful way.

"Hey BOSS, I was curious to understand why XXXXXXXXXX?"

The key to this not going badly will be your tone. Keep it respectful, and you should be fine.

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