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.
21st Century Organizational Ecosystem
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.
Millennials in the workplace
With the inclusion of Gen Y to the workplace will experience a significant age difference. As the children of baby boomers, Gen 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 are the Gen Y or “millennials,” who 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?
