Thank you. This is giving me some perspective

Sounds to me like you’re both kinda right….

Yes, if communication were better, the project manager and/or your boss would have made sure that you were involved sooner. However, if you want to ultimately work towards becoming becoming a higher-level player, you do need to find ways to be more “connected” to what’s going on (what new projects are starting up, what the priorities are for your team, division, and organization, etc.) and proactively inquire about new projects/initiatives to see whether/when it might make sense to get involved in them. Learning to see the “big picture” and take initiative is one of the things that typically separates more order-taking “junior” employees from more proactively involved “senior” employees.

I am in more or less the same situation. In my case, projects would be planned and my involvement in the project will only made known closer to the deadline. I have had to do rushed jobs, while colleagues had come prepared, and I had fallen short of the standard. When I raised the issue with my boss, she said that I should have known about these projects by finding out about it myself. Surely a manager cannot expect me to find out for myself? This poor communication system is evidence of a disfunctioning team.

I don’t mean to sound negative – to the contrary, finally surrendering (mostly) to the new reality has actually brought me some peace, especially since the demand for high quality has decreased as the demand for greater flexibility and shorter time frames has increased. (If that weren’t the case, the situation would be hopeless.) When I think about it, it does depress me (because I’m someone who really values quality and generally finds it painful to produce “good enough” work), so I just try not to think about it too often LOL!