While you’ll find tried, tested, and true elements of project management, millennials are bringing fresh perspectives – leveraging technological advancements and placing additional focus in areas like economic, ecological, and social factors.
Alex Shootman, CEO at Workfront, a cloud-based enterprise work and project management solution provider, said understanding how to help millennials is vital since “digital natives now rule, and will rise in power and influence over the next many years.”
“Just like every immigrant and native in a society, you’ll find differences, the ones differences changes the workplace,” said Shootman. “Differences bring that digital natives view the workplace as egalitarian vs. hierarchical, they like telecommuting and flexible hours and also the opportunity to make-up work remotely, (i.e., from the cafe with a weekend or while on vacation).”
“Natives like multitasking or task switching and like to understand ‘just-in-time’ and only what’s minimally necessary.” Shootman said millennials “interact and network simultaneously with lots of, even hundreds of others. Egalitarian, flexible, task switching, just-in-time skills and highly networked. This is simply not the actual office.”
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Why the main objective on the role of millennials in projects?
“By 2020, millennials will make up half the global work force, through 2030, they’ll be the cause of 75%. Millennials’ aversion to hidden agendas, rigid corporate structures and data silos along with a willingness to explore new opportunities will fundamentally customize the nature of training or severely cost businesses,” said Eric Bergman, second in command of Cheap Project Management Books at Changepoint, an experienced services automation company. “Gallup estimates millennial turnover costs the usa economy $30.5 billion annually.” Bergman believes organizations will focus more extensively on employees along with their needs as a way to address the negative impact of churn on productivity, quality, fix.
Simply what does this mean for project activities that support business goals?
Bergman declared that last year, businesses realized their survival hinged on embracing digital transformation. Now, transitioning to shifting expectations means delivering IT capabilities that complement business priorities. Even most agile, tech-forward corporations are rewriting their playbook in the face of evolving expectations.”
Marianne Crann, director, hr at Changepoint adds “Millennials are disrupting traditional business models. We’ve seen this in HR for decades. These days, everyday processes has to be updated to accommodate new generations of talent. They work differently and also have different expectations. Companies that discover that sweet spot-the one that attracts talent without detracting through the success with the business-will gain happier staff and happier stakeholders, whatever the generation.” Changepoint has even gone into greater detail on millennials and project management inside their new 2017 trends report.
At GlassSKY, a firm committed to the empowerment and growth of women, founder Robyn Tingley believes millennials differ inside their way of timelines, collaboration, and communication. “Millennials have a very more effective a feeling of work/life balance than Gen Xers,” she said. “This does not mean that they won’t devote an extension cord when the situation demands it, or react to correspondence after hours, but they will most certainly expect that to be the exception.” Tingley declared that much more than other generations, millennials are drawing boundaries more clearly and that this new state of mind is a odds with the old ‘all nighter’ mentality of project management deadlines. “It’s making project leaders rethink deadlines, how to schedule work and wins, key milestones what is truly realistic and achievable whenever your key players clock out prior to when the best, and prior to when anyone from the older generations expect,” said Tingley. “It entails making decisions should be placed on steroids…if the associates will be productive for just 8 hours, you cannot keep these things spending 2-3 of these on a daily basis in meetings presenting powerpoints and flow charts to obtain consensus around change requests and scope adjustments.”
When considering into collaboration Tingley said millennials excel: “They are true team players and want to solicit inputs and views and therefore are natural connectors.” And they also expect tools to keep pace. “Static whiteboards that can’t be seen if you don’t have a snapshot, SharePoint sites, Excel spreadsheets, companies that don’t have adequate video conference solutions are dinosaurs to them,” said Tingley. “Project managers must embrace and support modernized software that may handle collaborative brainstorming, real-time updates, multiples readers and users, integrated video, voice plus more.”
Regarding communication, Tingley said millennials are “the true tech generation; gadget-friendly, always on, highly responsive tech connoisseurs, and they also communicate to put it briefly bursts of emojis and splintered spelling. Email just will not work to align teams, manage inputs, and drive performance.” Together with the rise of virtual workers and geographically-distanced teams, Tingley predicted that project management apps will become the new norm. “The future just may entail millennials working with the local cafe, uploading a visual chart they just drew or even a photo they snapped of something inspirational, and also the entire team is able to see it and build about it, click to vote yes/no, drag it to another location two-quarters out for the future phase, etc,” she said.
How can millennials see their role in projects and effect on business goals?
“The millennial generation has become dubbed the ‘selfie generation,'” said Daniel Malak, who works for Motionloft, a service provider of hyperlocal pedestrian and automobile traffic sensors. “I want to think it’s more the ‘self-starter’ generation. Young professionals recognize that in settling education loans, advancing inside their career, and establishing relevant experiences for growth needs a decisive attitude towards dealing with and leading new projects.”
Malack, a millennial, believes his generation has an interest in not only meeting expectations of an project, but exceeding them as well. “Millennials are nimble which enable it to adapt faster to changes superior to others,” he said. “Younger associates can oftentimes be a little more going to deliver, and that presents a fascinating situation through which projects become opportunities instead of hurdles…deadlines are managed from the implementation of the latest communication methods, which could both expedite the project and increase the main point here at the same time.”
What should companies remove using this?
Millennials would be the future, bringing newer perspectives plus more innovative approaches. Companies must harness their contributions and recognize the actual potential they possess.
Technology is almost wired into the DNA of the tech savvy group with techniques the prior generations may not completely understand and appreciate. This will make millennials a hybrid solution in of themselves and a strong source of projects.
Millennials must not be automatically mistaken as ‘not as experienced’, or unaware. They’ve surface via a business climate that is more diverse, complex, dynamic, company, more stressful than other generations. This will make their experiences and contributions highly valuable. Project teams should leverage their varied insights for improved outcomes.
When companies can harness the full combined potential of previous generations and millennials, the results may offer a sustainable solution than depending on just one or the other.
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