Communicating With The Future

 

Typically when I write about communication (ProjectManagement.com’s theme for August) I tend to get on my soap box about the dopey idea that it should be considered beneficial for the Project Team to communicate anything and everything under the sun that might be considered useful to the so-called “stakeholders.” I rather enjoy pointing out the obvious fact that among these stakeholders can be found those who not only have zero interest in your Project Team achieving the target scope, but can be counted on to actively oppose your project coming in successfully. But for this blog I’ll give that theme a rest, and instead focus on an area where Communications Management experts can actually increase the odds of bringing in your project on-time, on-budget, and that’s dealing with the ever-increasing issue of communicating with members of the Millennial generation.

The generation born between 1981 and 1996 has been nicknamed “Millennials,” and, fairly or not, are assumed to share a certain set of characteristics inherent in coming of age around the turn of the century/millennia. Some of these characteristics are considered noticeably different from previous generations (Gen X, Baby Boomers), and include:

• A reluctance to highlight manual labor-intensive jobs in their work history,
• Multiple awards or other types of recognition for scholastic achievement,
• An enhanced sense of self-importance leading to the belief that they, even as relative newcomers, have the answers to some of the most intransigent issues facing the organization,
• An aversion to working a standard eight-hour day, five days per week, in a separate office building,

…but perhaps most importantly, the introduction of a particular vernacular when it comes to communicating with each other, and, increasingly, with the rest of the culture. Now, I’m well aware that ProjectManagement.com has an international readership, and that many who see this blog will be blissfully unafflicted by the communication phenomena that I’m evaluating. But for those who are seeing the entirely natural uptick in the number of people ages 24 – 39 being added to their Project Teams, this blog could prove highly useful indeed.

Rather than supply some sort of glossary, I think I’ll use a more PM-world-specific example. Variance Analysis Reports are a regular part of performing project work, particularly if the client happens to be a United States Government agency or branch of the Armed Services. What follows is an example of a transmittal e-mail containing a VAR synopsis, with its Millennial-generated equivalent following.

May 4, 2020

Good morning, Colonel Smith.

Attached is the Cost Performance Report (Format 1) and Variance Analysis Report for the (Project Name), covering the reporting period of April 2020. This report contains a correction of the cumulative figures from the previous CPR, as recommended by Major Jones during last month’s Project Status Review (PSR) meeting.

The project has two (2) active Control Accounts. The first (CA 2.1.3) is showing an out-of-threshold negative Cost Variance in the current period; however, the cumulative Cost Variance remains positive. Such cross-zero variances are to be expected as the overall positive performance more closely aligns with the original baseline.

The second active CA (2.1.6) has the opposite effect. Its current period Cost Variance is out-of-threshold positive, indicating the progress the project has been making in resolving the issues driving the cumulative negative CV. The overall project is within the variance threshold for both cost and schedule.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns, and we look forward to seeing you at the next PSR.

Regards,

And now, if my sources[i] are reliable, the Millennial version:

June 15, 2020

Sup, dawg.

Yeah, we’re a month and a half late with the cost/schedule stuff, but spare us any adulting. Besides, we totes slayed the report you asked for on our project’s 411. We fixed the issue brought up by Major Ratchet, so now we’re completely on fleek.

The two happenings have some sus going down. The one – humble brag – has been like totally yaaas, while the other is like the struggle is real, but it’ll be lit before you know it. The current period and cumulative variances like totes cancel, because duh, but we can discuss at the next blowout.

Tootles,

As for whether or not such trends in communication take hold in the PM world on a more widespread (or even global) basis, I don’t care to speculate. Nor do I wish to offer an opinion on whether or not such communication represents the greatest threat to the English language since the introduction of lower-case acronyms of common text messaging terms (e.g., “lol” or “rotfl”). But I will say…

Ooops! Look at that. I’m out of pixel ink for this week, so I totally need to bounce.

[i] Bestlifeonline (retrieved from https://bestlifeonline.com/things-millennials-say/ on August 2, 2020, 17:00 MDT).