Absolute must-read: The Next-Generation Workforce and Project Management

The workplace is changing in ways not due entirely to the introduction of new technology or new philosophies of management. The workforce itself is changing. The rise of the millennial generation brings workers who are more introspective, more connected to the world and their community, and less willing to align themselves to the needs of employers.

Perhaps you wonder what a management style has to do with a better environment. I live in the Netherlands and our tiny country is heading for a mobility infarct: traffic jams are increasing, they get longer and the timeslots in which they occur are almost covering an entire working day.

The Netherlands has a great technological infrastructure, almost every household is connected to the internet. Telecommuting offers for us no technological objection. Employer satisfaction is decreasing because of the long commute. And still, a lot of companies are not offering the option to work at home. Many companies do, but larger, more traditional companies are still hesitant.

I think that a lot of money (and environment) can be saved by educating managers in trusting their employers and focusing more on coordination instead of control.

Just my two cents.

Where is my congress man?

If we take the ideas behind The Sims to a more office like situation, consider the following situation where person A and B, or Bert and Ernie, influence each other. Bert's Recognitions-level is way down; he doesnt feel any recognition at all on his job, so his goal becomes "Getting Recognition". Bert in his mind has three possible strategies which all revolve around just getting attention (as he gets no feedback at all he is dying for any attention at all):

• Passive: doing nothing, see if anyone reacts;
• Aggressive: full force complaining and bitching;
• Escape: doing completely something else that delivers some kind of recognition.

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I must admit, that the first time a played The SIMS I immediately try to get them to kill of love each other. I mean: "Looking for a job" Yeah, yeah. "Hitting the next door neighbor" Cool! Assuming that I am not the only weirdo here, and to make stuff entertaining, lets go to our example.

Consider the actor Tiffany in a game. She might have the following properties:

• Gender (M/F) := F
• Age (number) := 30
• Lust (number) := 50
• Anger (number) := 40

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To be able to discuss how people operate within a project, it is important to have some kind of idea in our head about people, their behavior and how they interact. Some kind of model. Of course a model is a simplification of reality; we leave things out, we make stuff easier, just to be able to understand it all. This might be a small problem, but we have no choice. Without ignoring aspects and making a few assumptions there is no way on earth our brain will get it. Sorry to bring this to you: but our mind is too small for reality.
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