Why project working will be the future of work

One of my favourite analogies when talking about projects is the orchestra. I'll explain why in a few moments. first I want to make the point that project work will be the future of work even within big organisations. Certainly in the world beyond their walls. Organisations will not survive for much longer with massive, multi-layered hierarchies. 

I've helped quite a few projects get off the ground from as a facilitator. I tend not to get involved as project manager as I get bored too quickly. After all everyone knows I can't sit still for two minutes. In my facilitator role I've noticed patterns over time that project managers should avoid if you want success. For example the initial enthusiasm for the project wanes after a while. This is often because people believe that they have to be at every meeting for its duration. This often means sitting through hours of stuff that's totally irrelevant to you before it gets to your (very short) bit. This leaves those professionals who wait to say their piece frustrated and bored. 

Well here's the thing an professional orchestra is full of very skilled individuals. But they don't all play together all of the time. A skilled conductor will bring the instruments in when required at exactly the right moment to play their part. Now clearly the orchestra generally stays put for the rest of the symphony. But for my analogy we'll imagine they can go do something else when they're not required. 

So not everyone all at once! Of course they all play from the same score. And I liken this to the project plan. A good composer will arrange things to make it  easy for the musicians to know exactly whats required. The top line melody works in my mind like the technical plan. With other parts such as the bass clef dovetailing below. This reminds me of the relationship between technical tasks and public engagement for example. The engagement timing and objectives will be different to the technical ones. Consultants and freelancers come in when required not for the whole time. I've sat through some dire meetings in my time but this doesn't have to be the case.
They all play from the same score! The other thing I've noticed over the years is a lack of commitment to see the project through. For an orchestra it is crucial that all the roles filled and they stay through rehearsals right up to performance and possibly beyond. I am staggered at how many people turn up to a project induction and seem surprised when I ask if they can commit to the project. Of course if you get the plan right people are happy because they are not asked to commit to all meetings all the time. So this makes it easier for them to spread their expertise across a range of projects.
The audience are out there eagerly awaiting your performance. Except they're not. Well not if you don't tell them. A good stakeholder engagement plan is vital. That means don't just send out stuff but engage properly (about which I may cover in another blog).
This will be the future of work. It will because people want to work less, that is they want to work in a less structured way. Most people view work negatively. Trapped in the hamster wheel of 9-5. Autonomy over when and how much to work changes lives. Project working, is the answer to this. 
People feel under utilised not stretched or challenged by their work. Project working is also the key to this. When they get involved in a range of projects they are able to use their skills and be rewarded for them. Some projects may be more challenging than others and for the players, even within organisations, this is a good thing. 
Small project teams of experts work best. A small team of 3 to 5 people is the optimum size. Of course when you need to draft in others to play their part this group can grow and contract. I worked recently on a project with a core team of 3 that were interacting with a partner group of around 35. The key decisions and actions were controlled and maintained by the core 3
Projects end. This is refreshing for the people involved. They work with new folk. They get new opportunities to flourish and they can vote with their feet if they don't fit in.
Great examples are appearing of companies and organisations who work in new ways and epitomise this approach take this feature in Stylist magazine. I love this example. Send me more if you have them.
I've also seen other good analogies for project work, making recipes or building a house. What's yours?

Where are the future creatives? And what are we doing about it?

Only 1% of people on the internet are creators!

Creative tools past

Its an odd paradox that in an age where we have the most powerful creative tools in our hands most of us use them to do passive tasks. At best we might take a selfie, add a filter and post it in the ether. That is the endless stream of social media. yes we might well look back nostalgically at our efforts. But I suggest there are less and less people able and willing to make a living out of creating. Why is this?

First of all I guess the notion of jobs like photographer, artist, poet, writer, musician. Considered the creative roles appear diluted by digital technology and means of distribution. When I was a teenager if you wanted to take a photograph (my obsession back then), you had to and first save up for a decent camera. Mine was a Zenit E, followed by Canon AE and many more. Also the accessories as you gradually learned the trade of using different lenses for different reasons and flash in the dark etc. If you were a fanatic like me, you but a darkroom with a Durst enlarger. Struggled to create a space of total blackout where you could develop and enlarge your masterpieces. I was told that good print could last a 100 years or more. I wonder what digital archives will be around in 100 years?

Ingrained in that crazy slow learning curve was a desire to capture images that endured and pleased others. And master the techniques of presenting them. To exhibit was to bare your soul. The great and good came from far and wide to see, and if you were lucky purchase your efforts. You would number them to make them even more desirable. Oddly I've noticed a resurgence of people using film recently that might one day return to this situation. But I doubt it.

Like music and writing, the art of photography died with the digital camera. Music struggles on but the means of distribution have rendered earning a living as a musician almost impossible. Art is the last bastion. Struggling in its own way to stand out in the crowded space where social sharing and advertising increasingly co-exist. One in 11 jobs or 8.8 per cent of all UK jobs now falls within the creative economy, and one in six of all UK graduate jobs are also creative economy positions. This is seen as good, but as work opportunities decline and the traditional notion of work disappears with the coming AI revolution. The percentage is going to have to be a lot bigger! 

http://www.thecreativeindustries.co.uk/media/286867/cic_jobs_update2015.pdf 

Part of developing and autonomous, think on your feet, adaptable workforce is going to be all about stimulating and encouraging creative skills beyond the odd selfie. 

My self with Prisma - 5 mins of effort!

But how? 

At the moment our education system and every other facet of society pushes people towards the traditional view of 9-5 treadmill jobs. The new breed of hamsters, apart from a small minority, seem happy to follow. Disruption is happening in many aspects of society, bitcoin, crowdfunding, crowdsourcing, AI, autonomous vehicles. But not in traditional education. According to many commentators it kills creativity. This is something we need to tackle quickly. Or we will hive our future creatives to mindless silos nose to the grind wheel.

The solution is opening things up, yes even schools and colleges. Oh the risks I hear you scream. But as long as we keep closed systems, closed institutions and closed thinking, we will not stimulate the 'autonomy economy' of future creatives. 

My vision is that the best things happen when strange worlds meet. Co working hubs around the world are demonstrating this almost daily. what we need is to do this earlier, faster and cheaper to enable worlds to collide more often. Creative hubs, freely available to all are the answer. When I was a kid the library was my education, but they are no where  near cool enough anymore. We need spaces that are the epitome of wow. Designed to attract and throw together the cleverest minds of all ages and social strata. No government will support this as this kind of autonomy terrifies them. It is for our generation, those who know how to make stuff, to provide them for the future. 

Some light is starting to appear, we have hubs coming out of our ears in Exeter and conferences too. The problem is they are disparate and not in the centre. There is no one centrally placed Loci, I propose a quiet takeover and I have a target place! Watch this space...

How much reality can we cope with?

 

There it was! One minute I was responding to a post about Pokemon Go suggesting that its a  stepping stone to full Virtual Reality and a way to get people interested in Augmented Reality (I'm totally surprised it doesn't yet have AR adverts. Then good old Google (speculation alert) are alleged to be working on, get this, a mixed reality version of Google glass!
Well I never. The question is how much reality can we take? It seems to me that people aren't yet ready for full on VR, unless they're queuing for a Japanese VR porn convention that is. So the middle ground is as ever to get people interested/addicted via a game. Well done Nintendo, you've certainly achieved that. Wish I'd had a few shares in the old Wii factory but alas I don't. Apparently it's been so successful it's outstripped Sony!
So what next? Well careful what you wish for, a number of commentators have been fixated about the internet of things, smart cities and augmented advertising. But they have taken their eye off the good old smart phone as the vehicle for this. Also of course the possibility of wearables if Google gets it's way.
TThis video from Hyper Reality thanks to Keiichi Matsuda (Above) gives a sneak preview of what might happen to your phone or indeed your glasses. Is it a case of glasses half empty or glasses left full? You tell me...

Hyper Reality 

Cool Brittania - not anymore it isn't

Everyone's going to Brexit! 

Everywhere I go since Brexit I hear people discussing their desire to leave Britain. this is particularly evident among young people. I was in my favourite coffee shop and as always earwigging conversation. The young and interested who would have or voted remain are discussing Brexit. Not in the way you might imagine. Far from the infighting, xenophobia of politics.  They are discussing the exciting opportunities and sense of cool offered by big European cities. 

The primary target of this discussion is Berlin, itself the target of unrest lately due to gentrification. The young and the interested are rebelling. Cool Britannia, a tardy phrase coined by Blair and his cronies. When they'd finally, all too late woken up to the value of our creative industries, is dead in the water. Despite the best efforts of our film, music and creative arts industries worth £10 million an hour to the UK.  Britain is about to leech it's best creative minds. Selfish class ridden UK will become a desert wasteland of disaffected youth. Because those with the skills and abilities will realise that Shoreditch isn't it. Just take a tour of any major European city and you will sense the confidence of youth. Not for them the hang ups of class barriers for start ups. Not for them the labels of immigrant if you attempt to put yourself forward. Its a badge of honour to be well read, well dressed and entrepreneurial in the most happening cities in Europe. 

Check out wired magazine's hottest 100 startups and you will see the diversity of ideas and experience. It may be the baby boomers that built stuff, but it is generation Z who are using the tools to greatest effect. 

 It will be generation K who will be the test of Britain's ability to retain a skilled   society. Able to compete as independent individuals against the best in Europe. Douglas McWilliams 'Flat White Economy' describes how skilled immigrants saved London from going under in the last recession. Now Brexit has done it's worst, who will save London and the UK in the next one? The talented immigrants will leave, chased out by xenophobia and hatred. The skilled and independent generation K's from the UK will flee in their droves. I for one will mourn the loss of both. The creative youth that make our society so special. And the brilliant migrants I've met who've enriched my life and the life of our cities so much. Cool is elsewhere, just take a look at football, clothing, bikes, music, clubs, film, science, design and art if you don't agree! 

Do I have to put up with this nonsense? A blog about interrupting

I started off being polite then when no one listened I lost it! 

Ever imagined or dreamed that you are doing something really amazing. You see yourself achieving something winning a prize or completing a goal that you set yourself. Getting recognition, wealth and gratitude for it? That is good but... 

In reality you are total idiot a buffoon. As you step up to the stage you trip, just as you are about to deliver that crushing performance, you lose your notes, or your words. Or are you caught in a state of ‘continuous partial attention’? constantly running to do the next thing or answer the next digital ping? Time to stop!

Time to practice Interruption. The art of stopping in your tracks and recognizing when you are heading for a catastrophic moment. Change direction, do it differently. Go a different way, read different stuff, say different things.

How can you do this? how can you positively interrupt yourself, change a scenario?

Begin by going home a different way tonight, have another alternative conversation to the one you were going to have. Make it about the thing that you want talk about. Find the people who will listen to you. If they won’t then INTERRUPT THEM! Haven’t got an invite to their meeting? Then just turn up, set up your presentation, tell the media. They will INTERRUPT you but other people will start to listen to you. Society will judge you but that's good. Ask yourself some questions at the critical moment. Just that moment that you were going to do the exact same thing that you always do. That moment that you normally give in to convention, STOP.

On your way home? Stop at a different café, read a  different newspaper or book. Make sure you consciously do different things every day. Listen to someone else’s news. Or watch a random TED talk. Not one about stuff you know about. Go see a band or play you’ve never heard of. Write a different soap opera, invent your own plot and ending. Learn a new skill or piece of music, or a poem or a song.

It’s about being present, in the moment. There’s a lot of chatter about mindfulness at the moment but that’s a bit polite and nice. No! Interruption is where it’s at!  I’m not talking about rude interruption like Kanye West on Taylor Swift. Instead, take note of Martin Luther King, or Ghandi no one could ignore them could they? King had no platform, Ghandi had no platform. They interrupted the status quo by creating their own. 

Remember punk? When they couldn't get heard they didn't carry on courting the same old dinosaur record companies they made their own! Music for example Young Fathers, the maker revolution, crowd funding, Bitcoin. They are all examples of interrupted ideas that challenge the obvious, the mainstream. They will be the new economy that takes over when the old one is asleep. Kodak caught napping by digital cameras. Record companies rendered obsolete by streaming music. What next? what will you contribute?

The key is to DO SOMETHING DIFFERENT – INTERRUPT YOURSELF –do these things and You will find that you start to think differently. 

Then you will find the power to INTERRUPT their story if you aren't happy with it. When you get to the door of people who don’t want to listen to you, don’t fight them. DON’T GO IN. In the film Jaws the shark ate people because they went on a long flight to the beach where the sharks were. 

Hacktivism activism, action is the key to change. You can change everything. Yes it's scary, setting out in a new direction, saying a big no to the norm. But it will change your life! Taking that first powerful step is awesome. I remember marching against the war in Iraq looking around me at all those people and feeling at the same time proud and scared. Exhilarating feelings. 

Interrupting, avoiding habitual patterns, might well be the key to avoiding technology that targets you for advertising. After all you'd want to hear new music for the first time that is like nothing you ever heard before. Not just music based on recommendation from Amazon or some other monolith. 

Basically go to a different space, or place to work. Or open an alternative set of doors, behind which you will find a set of people who are ready and willing to listen to you. In the book 'Roots for Radicals', Edward Chambers describes how Saul Alinsky  founded the Industrial Arts Foundation. And then reformed the Bronx. They did it by talking to people for 30 minutes. Then only worked with people who would listen to them.

Ask yourself the question, “why do I need anyone’s permission to do this?”. I ran a session at a conference last year on ‘permission’. The need for people, grown adults to have permission to act on their ideas amazed me. Their fear of acting without permission staggered me. The reaction of ‘leaders’ to requests from their people to do something differently left me stunned. It was so negative!

Start today interrupt yourself, you don't need permission. Break those old long running habits now. No longer stand on the edge of the crowd looking in. Form your own crowd, your circle that want things that you want. If that circle outgrows its usefulness start another one. Vote with your feet, don't stay and be bored by people who aren't worth listening to.

There is something very scary about doing new and different things. But when you find the power to do them they become very exhilarating. Be your own leader not a follower. Find that power and you will never let it go.

Will work really be the same in the future?

Lately I've been pondering the future of work . I've asked myself four questions; Where will I work? How will I work? How long will I work each day? Will I have just one job?

Where will I work? I've read many things this year about creativity and location. Among the best was a blog  that suggested coffee shops were the best locations. The article makes a good case and is interesting. I also enjoyed the article in Wired talking about Liam Casey setting up business in China. At no point was it suggested that expensive offices and the overheads they carry were the way forward. Cue the growth of co working spaces like the Generator in Exeter or Thinqtank in Plymouth. Like Google's hub in London you can hire workspace and meeting space. It's a great place to meet people and a godsend for those who would normally work from home. Home working can be soul destroying hubs can provide the answer to break the monotony.

How will I work? It's no surprise that with the growth of collaborative spaces has come the growth of collaborative tools. There are many variants, my fave being Google docs. That allow collaboration across project members and outside the project too. It's a brilliant experience to sit and co create a document and watch as colleagues contribute from wherever they are. The time saved and the pain of email chains and tracked changes received is brilliant. I cannot for the life of me understand why these tools are not the norm. Others are taking advantage of crowd sourcing their designs. They have benefited from critique and positive additions, for example the Tesla electric car.

Of course once your product is ready you can share it with the manufacturer even if they are on the other side of the planet. I use Google hangouts to great effect. I've hosted meetings with colleagues from around the UK and find it easy and convenient. It reduces my travel time and cost too!

How long will I work each day? I think the days of Monday to Friday eight hours a day are on their way out. I've met so many people who are now prepared to adjust their lifestyle to work less hours.  This is really encouraging. flexible working taken to extreme can be really productive, we are not designed to sit in an office eight hours or more. Working when we are happiest and most productive judged by results not 'presenteeism' must be the future. Serious writers like Anna Coote of the New Economics Foundation have described how this can work. She suggests a 21 hour working week  . The benefits in terms of sustainability and personal well being would be immense.

Will I have just one job? Good question, again I think the notion of working for just one employer on just one task is fast disappearing. Portfolio working is on the increase and can be immensely rewarding. There's no secure jobs anymore and no loyalty. Moving from project to project developing and demonstrating your skills will help to keep you working and current. Stagnating in a so called career can actually damage your prospects. Many in the human resources world advocate never spending more than 3 years in a post. The added benefit is networking with a myriad of potential collaborators who you can call on in the future should you need to.

I’m writing a whole other piece on the ‘maker revolution’ embracing new ways of producing things that don't need armies of people. A recent Guardian article features a blistering range of new ideas from the ‘startup’ do it yourself culture.

When I floated similar ideas to a major employer for a management discussion they'd freaked out. What they don't realise is that just like the dated products they produce new businesses will supersede them.  Their hierarchical organisational structure will be out of date too. Like Kodak and film, old businesses will lose their place.  Lost in the deluge of clever collaborations and startups that no longer play by their rules. Already many organisations are beginning to change working practices to accommodate millenials Not to mention generation Z.

Wake up to the work revolution, change now. Less hours, greater flexibility, less formality, creative working location and environment.  For me it can't come soon enough.

Since writing this the Financial Times has cited Exeter as a top location for work life balance in an article. They mention many of the same thing as I have in this blog. I'm flattered.

Revolution now! My Manifesto for meetings!

#MakeMeetingsCount

Do you come away from meetings feeling like it was a waste of time? With no clearer idea of who is doing what and how these actions will contribute to your organisation? All too often meetings fall short of the mark so last year I wrote my manifesto to #makemeetingscount. I want more meetings to be a rewarding experience. Rather than leaving everyone wishing they could get the last hour of their life back!  Want engaged employees and committed partners? Revamp how you communicate with them face-to-face. This manifesto has already helped lots of teams to re-energise their internal communications. And I hope it helps you too. Make your next meeting count and let me know your thoughts on the manifesto.

MANIFESTO for meetings!

Set the direction

Focus on the outcome(s) before you book time in the diary. What decisions or actions absolutely need to be made or completed at the meeting? If it’s worth other people committing time, even travelling, to your meeting then the purpose needs to be clear.

Keep your meetings short - aim for 30 minutes. It’ll help everyone stay focused as no-one likes meetings overrunning. If you need more time to launch a new project or bring a dispersed team together, arrange a longer meeting. But break it into 20-30 minute chunks, led by different members of the team and focus on just one or two decisions or actions in each session.

Craft an agenda that makes people want to be at your meeting. Write at the top of your agenda exactly what everyone is committing to achieve by coming to the meeting. “By the end of this meeting we will have shortlisted our new campaign strapline". Structure your agenda to focus on achieving these objectives from start to finish. Unrelated, long-winded discussion items tire your attendees and erode their goodwill. They'll either be itching to get to the meat of the agenda or get away.

Circulate the agenda well in advance - ideally with the initial meeting appointment. Encourage them to get in contact if they don’t think the meeting's purpose or what they can contribute are clear or correct. You don’t want people sleepwalking into your meeting. Neither do you want them reluctantly sitting there playing with their Blackberrys. They'll suck the energy from the room!

Prepare, prepare, prepare

Make the meeting a teleconference or Google hangout if you can. Everyone's time is valuable. Show you understand and respect this by not forcing people to travel unless there's a good reason to do so.

Choose a room that's appropriate for the type of physical meeting. It’s so obvious but it's often overlooked. An oppressively hot or painfully cold, windowless room will turn your meeting into a joyless hell. Insufficient chairs or doing group work around a boardroom table won't create an inclusive atmosphere that is conducive to getting things done.

When people start to arrive, make sure you're not flapping with a laptop and projector. Sort the tech gremlins out early then spend your time welcoming everyone and warming them up for a productive meeting.

A week in advance

- circulate anything that needs reading. Otherwise you'll spend half of your 30 minute meeting getting everyone up to speed.

- take 5 minutes to talk to session leader for longer meetings. Encourage them to find ways to vary how they deliver their 20-30 minutes to keep those attending engaged. No one wants to see back-to-back PowerPoint presentations!

Lead it

Start the meeting on time and end on time. It’s unprofessional not to start and end on time, as is turning up late. Don’t make allowances. And if you only need some attendees for specific items, show respect for their time by letting them leave early.

At the start recap the objectives. At the end evaluate whether you've achieved them. Give everyone the opportunity to comment on what worked well and suggest changes to make future meetings more effective.  

Chair effectively. This means avoiding common issues, like one person dominating the discussion. Thank them for the contributions and keep inviting others to voice their thoughts. Don’t allow someone in the room to lead you off on a tangent either. Keep a blank sheet of paper on the wall to ‘park’ other issues to pick up with the individual after the meeting. This shows you’re not dismissing the issue they’ve raised whilst not knocking you off course.

Record and circulate the meeting outcomes within 48 hours. Make sure any actions to progress outside the meeting have a clear lead and timescales attached. The real measure of how energised your employees are when they leave is how quickly they complete their actions.

And finally an ask for meeting attendees everywhere. Don't be afraid to challenge the purpose of meetings, why they need you there, and whether travel is really needed.

#makemeetingscount Joe Baker 2014