the smart pms blog http://thesmartpms.posterous.com Most recent posts at the smart pms blog posterous.com Mon, 25 Jun 2012 17:04:00 -0700 Work to Live or Live to Work? http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/work-to-live-or-live-to-work http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/work-to-live-or-live-to-work

Working with multigenerational project teams has taught me that commitment is a common attribute for team members of every generation. 

But every team member approaches commitment in a different way. Different generations place different values on pursuing work-life balance. 

A strong work ethic is a characteristic of the older members of the project team, part of the silent generation. Members of this generation tend to want to work a reduced number of hours to be able to devote time to personal activities.

Baby boomers, the generation referred to as workaholics, consider work a high priority and greatly value teamwork. In my opinion, they are focused on their achievements and are willing to work long hours to achieve project success. 

Generation X is good at controlling their time. This generation has a desire to control and set a career path, personal ambitions and work time. 

Generation Y is driven by a strong preference for work-life balance. Many Gen Yers look for jobs that provide them great personal fulfillment.

In my opinion, one of our tasks as project managers is to find ways to shed the stress in our project team members' lives. Part of that is to better understand the work-life balance needs of team members from different generations. 

To bring a better work-life balance to any generation, define more accurate project schedules based on flexibility, telecommuting and time off.

Tell us about actions you have adopted to meet project goals and still accommodate team members' work-life balance needs.

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Tue, 22 May 2012 15:25:00 -0700 Overcoming a Significant Age Difference http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/overcoming-a-significant-age-difference http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/overcoming-a-significant-age-difference

As a project management professional for 20 years, I've managed IT projects in a variety of industries and regions, including North America, Latin America and Europe. Most of the projects were regional or global, and the project teams included members from different nationalities, cultures and generations.

Although complexity was a common denominator in these projects, it wasn't because of technology. It was because the people had what I call the "multi" factor: multinational, multicultural or multigenerational project teams.

The "multi" factor plays an important role in projects, and project managers must be prepared to address team issues related to this phenomenon.

The multigenerational work force has created what I call the "21st Century Organizational Ecosystem." Many organizations may find themselves dealing with generational clashes between a 60-something program manager, a 50-something project manager, a 30-something project team leader and a 20-something project team member. This could just be one facet of this ecosystem.

Project managers should understand the significant age difference among team members at the outset of a project. Age differences will be translated in generational gaps and identifying those gaps at the beginning enables the project manager to discern the preferred communication methods, interpretation of hierarchy and authority, as well as the perception of personal and work time.

In addition to technical skills, project managers must master interpersonal skills in order to analyze situations and interact appropriately, since the project team environment has evolved over the last 10 years a new interpersonal skill is required, not only for project managers but also for team members and stakeholders: multigenerational awareness.

Generations as cultures are based on invisible values, beliefs, attitudes and assumptions created by shared experiences and events. These differ across generations, and each will likely feel or behave differently in the same situation. The lack of cultural awareness may lead to a misunderstanding and misinterpretation of the situation.

With the inclusion of Generation Y to the workplace will experience a significant age difference. As the children of baby boomers, Generation Y may not always fit the behavior you see in many organizations, but that shouldn't impede how you leverage their talents and competences when working as team members on a project.

These 20-something new graduates, or "millennials," have lived in a technologically ubiquitous world. They've always been recognized independently of their abilities and have mastered virtual collaboration skills.

Their attraction to technology may cause some project managers to find it challenging to communicate with millennials who don't follow traditional business formalities. For example, those that favor sending task and project status via text message rather than standard report templates.

In the project environment, millennials are closer in temperament and outlook to baby boomers. They look for smart mentors who don't talk down to them. When these types of relationships mature, boomers will show millennials how their wants can align with an organization's needs.

Millennials bring much to project environment: the ability to rapidly adapt to change, the ease with which they embrace diversity and a strong collaborative spirit. They've grown up in a changing and diverse world and have mastered many abilities that are important to projects.

Leading a multigenerational project team can be like riding a roller coaster or a day at the beach. It depends on how quickly project managers can enhance their multigenerational behaviors and values to creating the synergy required to have a successful project team.

How have you experienced the multigenerational factor in project teams? How has working with different generations affected your projects?

 

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Mon, 21 May 2012 07:57:00 -0700 Are you a Technologically Reliant Project Manager? http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/are-you-a-technologically-reliant-project-man http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/are-you-a-technologically-reliant-project-man
In the professional world where technology is omnipresent, we as project and program managers are used to tying our personal and professional lives to technology and gadgets like smart phones, tablets, GPS, etc.

 As a result, some organizations are trying a "day without email" on Fridays and/or weekends to encourage more face-to-face and phone contact with customers and colleagues. How do you think this would be received by a multigenerational project team?

For baby boomer and silent generation team members, face-to-face may be a preferred communication method. But for members of Gen Y, not communicating by email may make them feel like a fish out of water because of their preference for virtual communication.

 As the "day without email" idea progresses gradually, employees in these organizations are probably realizing that business functions are about human relationships. This is an opportunity to foster a coaching environment in which Gen X and Gen Y will be able to hone their interpersonal skills supported by senior project team members.

For those project team members who use technology frequently, discuss alternatives that will reduce the dependency of email in their daily activities.

How much do you depend on technology for your daily activities? How would your project team survive the "day without email" policy? Would you enjoy having a day free of email?

 

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Sat, 31 Mar 2012 08:12:00 -0700 Bridging the Great Divide http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/bridging-the-great-divide http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/bridging-the-great-divide

Faced with a veritable youth quake, project leaders are closing today’s generation gap by helping team members of all ages work together.

Read the expert advise of many project managers practitioners on how to deal with multigenerational teams in the  project environment. 

PMN0412_Gen_Gap.pdf Download this file

 

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Wed, 21 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700 The Post-Recession Millennial - Infographic http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/the-post-recession-millennial-infographic http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/the-post-recession-millennial-infographic

Summary of the report produced by the Career Advisory Board - DeVry University. The Career Advisory Board is a panel of leading career experts and authors from business and academia who provide actionable advice for job-seekers. 

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Tue, 20 Mar 2012 09:00:00 -0700 Who Are the Millennials? http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/who-are-the-millennials http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/who-are-the-millennials

Who Are the Millennials?<br />Flowtown - Social Media Marketing Application

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Sun, 18 Mar 2012 10:59:00 -0700 Millennials an Entrepreneurial Generation http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/millennials-an-entrepreneurial-generation http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/millennials-an-entrepreneurial-generation

Results of recent recent survey conducted by the Young Invincibles in conjunction with Lake Research Partners and Bellwether Research and funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. 

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Mon, 01 Aug 2011 15:40:00 -0700 Hot From the Press: The Silent Generation on Project Teams http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/hot-from-the-press-the-silent-generation-on-p http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/hot-from-the-press-the-silent-generation-on-p

Check my recent collaboration with PMI's official blog Voices on Project Management http://blogs.pmi.org/blog/voices_on_project_management/2011/08/the-silent-generation-on-proje.html

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Fri, 08 Oct 2010 14:59:00 -0700 Multigenerational Teams and Their Impact in Project Management http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/multigenerational-teams-and-their-impact-in-p http://thesmartpms.posterous.com/multigenerational-teams-and-their-impact-in-p

While project managers wrestle on a daily basis with budgets, schedules and team issues, for the first time in many decades a new element of diversity is being addressed—the management of multigenerational teams.

How many different generations are in your project team? How do you manage them? Are you aware of the generational differences. Here some recommendations http://www.pmi.org/eNews/Post/2010_04-23/Multi-gen-Teams-And-Impact-in-PM.html

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