Work, Recreation, and Full Engagement

 

In his book Shop Class as Soulcraft, Matthew Crawford cites a classic psychology experiment that I think is worth considering:
 

I'm not suggesting (nor do I believe that Crawford is suggesting) that the only way for people to be fully engaged in what they are doing is for them to be "recreating" all the time. However, I am suggesting that money (although important to all of us) isn't the only thing that keeps people motivated and engaged. In fact, I've observed that those who enter any particular profession strictly for its income potential eventually become discouraged and dis-engaged.

So what are we to do? Specifically, what are we to do concerning project teams?

In my opinion, how people are compensated for what they do says a couple of things:

1. Your contribution is valued by the organization, and
2. I, as your manager, value what you do

That being said, I believe that is only half of the equation. As project leaders, I think it's important to create an environment where people can acquire the sense that what they do has value beyond the particular tasks that they may be involved in. I'm a big proponent of making sure that everyone has visibility into organizational goals and objectives. Part of the reason I feel that way is because I believe most people (at least engaged people) want to feel like they are contributing to something bigger than themselves. When organizations fail to share the "big picture" with everyone, it's difficult for anyone to feel a part of something bigger than themselves.

I also believe that people need to be given a little autonomy in how they organize, prioritize, and accomplish their work. Now, I'm not naive enough to believe that every employee is ready to be pushed out into the world to figure it out for themselves. This is where leadership style and the project manager's ability to work with the team become important. Every individual is different, with different abilities and experiences. It's up to the project manager to objectively determine how much autonomy any given team member is ready for, and work to train and mentor everyone to reach a level where they can make decisions for themselves (and that includes mistakes). If you need to instruct the team in every move they need to make, I hope you enjoy doing it, because you are about to spend your entire career holding everyone's hand to make work happen.

I'm not suggesting that I have all the answers. In fact, this is something that I'm really just trying to figure out for myself. Over the coming months, I'll probably bring this topic up from time to time because I believe that as the workforce changes, we will need to change to keep up with it. I believe the days of employees doing their jobs because we pay them and because we tell them to do it are gone. I've observed that today's workforce is looking for something more than a paycheck, which might be one reason why the workforce jumps from one job to another every couple of years. As project leaders (at least in the microcosm of projects), we need to figure this out.

What do you think? Do you think it's possible that we can actually figure out how to tap into that internal "something" that not only motivates the workforce, but enables them to enjoy some intrinsic satisfaction in what they do?