Quite recently I have had the privilege of working with a team of Gen Y’s. I think that’s their gen name (as opposed to genome) anyway. Their a bit older than Charles Lloyd Jones in this William Dobell portrait. They’re younger than me anyway.
We have been working on a huge and creative project – something I couldn’t do on my own. These gens have been working with me and I have been managing them and their output.
And yes … it’s true, they do work differently. They are definitely not your old time bank clerk types. They have different clocks and they can drift off but never too far.
What I have enjoyed is telling them stuff. It’s creative and we do a lot of writing. I tell them about The Confederacy of Dunces and the Catcher in the Rye. About original writers who also wrote and thought about freedom and how it dwells in the mind a lot of the time.
I give them tasks and I check up on them with a ‘how’s it going?’ lame style of management. I don’t get too concerned when they wander off and they do from time to time but I do keep track on deadlines.
We get along fine and they are producing – and more often than not, they surprise me with their work.
So I say Gen wotever. Show people respect and listen to them. When you delegate tell stories and have a laugh.
Oh yeah … and say thanks.
Often.
