Welcome to Priority Management
Atlantic

Generational differences have existed since the dawn of time. In essence, one might say that the generational divide is founded in the ability or inability of individuals to engage in change. The root of the problem lies within each generation's set of rules. The rights and the wrongs, the values and the ethics, norms in society. All of these define a path for individuals, a focus, and ultimately the ability to distinguish between what is right and what is wrong. For societies to thrive, there must be order and predictability. A set of rules to ensure that members of society can exist in harmony. The ultimate desired result is a group of people following a pre-defined path which ensures societal success.     The truth is norms change with time. It is humanity's insatiable appetite to discover, learn and grow that creates the tension between the older generation and the newer generation. Simply put, we are all self-centred, which is to say we see the world through our eyes and we call ourselves normal. By extension normal is right and if you do not see the world the way I do then you must be abnormal and thus wrong.     It is this simple train of thought that creates the discourse between the generations as they each stand true to their norms not willing to seek to understand before being understood.     At Priority Management we work to help individuals, teams, and the organization at large understand that to bring together a diverse group of individuals one must start at the beginning. In this case, it is being able to work together to define what are the norms for the organization in very clear terms.     Once an organization has been able to engrain these norms into daily behaviours then conversations and behaviours move from one's set of principles and values to those of the company as a whole, leading to better cohesion and collaboration, paving the way to the success of an organization.     ​

The workplace is an ever-changing landscape and we can see that a change in mindset has occurred. People are now starting to look for flexibility in their work environment. This is the transition to a 'Results Oriented Workplace'.   ​There are many benefits to such an environment, but for this type of work their needs to be a clear and shared definition of success between team members and the organization.   The paradigm is shifting from clocking in and clocking out to working around to creating an integrated life schedule. The traditional 9 to 5, where we rely on people being at work for a set amount of time and completing their daily tasks is becoming obsolete. The new paradigm is "Work is not a place, it is not a time Mindset".  To succeed a few things need to be true in your organization. With the new parameters set, people do get the benefit of more flexibility. That being said, we need to own our performance, having the discipline to understand how long a task will take is essential. You may want to go do things during the day, but you need to also deliver on the quality and quantity of work results previously agreed with your organization.   Responsibility and ownership as an employee is one thing, but organizational success is the other. Performance management and performance measures become critical to ensure success in this new environment. Agreed upon by both the employer and employee these indicators are a benchmark allowing to measure whether or not work is being completed in a proper and timely manner. Results are important and you need to ensure above all they are reached. Mutual benefit is the benchmark for success ensuring both the employer and employee reach both their goals.   The Results-Oriented Workplace is the way of the future, allowing more flexibility for employees to live life to the fullest, which in turn can boost productivity and assist in attaining better results. Although it adds complexities to the workplace, it is the future.

To better understand the current workplace, we need to examine the foundations of work and how it has changed across the ages. To better understand these transitions Priority Management quantified work into three distinct parts: Decide, Do and Deliver.    The challenge began in the industrial age where distinct segregation of work became apparent. A small group of executives would decide the direction of the company, and the bulk of the organization would execute that direction and a smaller group would then deliver the output. This resulted in the majority of workers focused solely on the due part of work.    ​ The modern workplace has forced all team members to take on responsibility in all three parts of the work. No longer can a worker simply do the work, they are expected to come with solutions, not problems and understand how they fit into the big picture.    ​ For an organization to be successful, it requires that all team members are effective at these four core competencies:     ​ ·         Self Manage    ·         Work well with others    ·         Asset/Resource Manage    ·         Task and Activity Manage      Priority Management has spent the last 20 years working with companies to help build these core competencies by sharing international best practices combined with modern workplace tools. This results in lowering the level of effort it takes for organizations to achieve success.

"A shared, common set of principles, processes and tools that unites a diverse group towards a common goal."   Priority Management calls this "Esprit de Corps". You might have heard it called a Playbook or Company Culture, this is foundational to organizational success.   ​Working in a complex team environment and bringing a diverse group together requires everyone filtering the world in the same fashion. Individuals bring with them their values, perceptions, goals, processes, etc. By writing down organizational values and goals, you can assess alignment with this strategic direction.   Individuals do not have the right to push their opinions on fellow team members. By establishing shared common principles, individuals and teams can speak to an agreed-upon filter, making conversation focused around principles, rather than people. By doing so we can ask: "How do your decisions or actions align with our principles?". We must seek to understand before being understood, and this gives us a framework to do exactly that.   We want organizations to work as one. Beyond beliefs, values and principles, your Esprit de Corps should also speak to common processes. This is an agreed-upon way of working. The benefit is having a portability strategy - meaning anyone across your team will have an understanding of why and how something was done, regardless of who did the work. This lowers the level of effort to onboard new people and increases productivity in a shorter time frame. Ordinary people can create extraordinary results when given shared common processes and tools.    All this creates a cultural annuity for your organization and ensures organizational success, regardless of the transition of people. Priority Management's position is that a strong and culturized Esprit de Corps creates a significant competitive advantage in today's modern workplace.