Overcoming the Knowledge Worker Assembly Line

 

Over the weekend I was talking to a friend of mine that I hadn't spoken to in a while. He doesn't work in high tech, but is a professional, one of several people who analyzes data for his company.  He's what we would call a knowledge worker—and he's been doing this type of work for many years.  He's a very capable analyst, and I was surprised to hear that after all this time he's somewhat disenchanted with his current position.

Although they don't call them projects, they are project-based and managed that way. They recently implemented a new system to manage their analysts, which is a command-and-control work management approach that doesn't allow him or any of his colleagues input into prioritization or time-lines. He expressed that there is no consideration for the individual nuances of each project, and that for the first time in his career, he felt like he was on the equivalent of an assembly line and just another cog in the machine.  "It's oppressive," he lamented. "For the first time in my career, it feels like my company has no confidence in my ability to get the job done—even though I have been doing this for over 20 years."

I don't think this situation is unique. I believe my friend represents a large number of highly skilled and talented people who because of the way they are managed at work feel like they are trapped on a treadmill for eight hours every day in an unfulfilling job working for people who don't appreciate their individual skills and need to micro-manage everything they do. In large part, I think this is the result of the tools they use, but there are some organizations that don't understand that today's workforce just doesn't respond to a command-and-control management style.

Solving my friends problem would be simple:

1. Empower him with a little bit of ownership and flexibility regarding deliverables and deadlines.  Give he and his colleagues the ability to contribute to the establishment of benchmarks and time-lines—which would also give them a greater sense of responsibility.
2. A little recognition for a job well done goes a long way—provided it's sincere, relevant, and public.  Organizations that facilitate the recognition of individual team member accomplishments foster an environment where team members are motivated to perform.

As organizations turn to project management software or other PPM solutions to manage their project-based work, it's important to consider how the software will help their team members interact with their managers and the work.  As most of you know, I'm a big proponent of a more social project management model, which engages team members in the process and ultimately improves the accuracy of the information that flows upward in the organization and is used to make decisions. After all, project management success is about people—and starts with the people on the front lines.

How do you keep the "assembly line" feel out of all of your project-based work?