The Knowledge Worker Death March, or Life in the Hamster Wheel

 

Some time ago I was talking with a friend of mine I hadn't spoken to in a while. He doesn't work in high teach, but is a professional who does data analysis for his company. He's what we would call a knowledge worker—and has been doing this type of work for many years. He's a very capable analyst, and I was surprised to hear him lament about how disenchanted he is with his current position.

They don't call what he does projects, but he is part of a "team" and is doing project-based work. His biggest complaint was that his manager uses a very heavy-handed command-and-control approach to managing time-lines and deliverables. He complained that no consideration is given to the individual nuances of the "projects" they work on, and 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 moaned. "It feels like the company has no confidence in my ability to get the job done—even through I have been doing this for over 20 years."

I wish I could say that his situation is unique. I believe that there are a lot of highly skilled and capable people who, because of the way they are managed, feel like they are trapped in the hamster cage running as fast as they can on a wheel in an unfulfilling job, working for people who don't appreciate their individual skills and think they need to micro-manage everything they do. In large part, I don't think this has as much to do with the tools they use as it does their organization's management style.

It wouldn't take much to help my friend and stop him from an unfortunate need to look for another job. In fact, the solution is pretty simple:

1. Empower him with a little bit of ownership and flexibility regarding deliverables and deadlines. Give him (and his colleagues) the ability to contribute to the establishment of benchmarks and time-lines. Doing so would not only give them a greater sense of responsibility, it would also make them more productive. I've noticed that team members who feel ownership in what they're doing work harder and expect more of themselves than project leaders typically expect of them.
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. In fact, last night a colleague in another department dropped me a note with a totally random and unsolicited compliment. He said he appreciated working with me and noticed what I was doing to contribute to the success of our company. I have to admit, it really meant something to me. It just makes sense to foster an environment where that type of interaction among colleagues, team members and superiors can flourish.

As companies turn to project management tools to help them more efficiently manage project-based work, it's important to consider how the software will help team members interact with their managers and their work. I'm a big proponent of empowering team members and project leaders to make decisions and accomplish things. After all, project management success depends on people—and starts with the people on the front lines.

What are you doing to avoid the knowledge worker death march on your project teams.