Intergenerational Teams - Four Observations
by Martin Hönle
The boxes and labels – over the last two decades we all have been put into boxes and labeled: the silent generation, boomers, Gen X,Y,Z. When I first heard about Gen X, I thought where do we go after Gen Y and Z? Now there is the Last Generation as a label and it does not seem a very helpful one. Most of it is opinion, click baiting, marketing talk and stereotypes. On a number of occasions we had to work through these partly self-imposed restrictions to meet each other and then team work became very exciting and productive.
Up or down, on or off - it makes a huge difference whether we entered our professional lives during an economic boom with a large choice of jobs and opportunities or during a downturn with a lot of insecurity. People who start their careers during a boom cycle have much more confidence and higher demands. We can see this in the current economic climate here in Germany. If someone finished their university course online during the pandemic, she will find it easy to work from home. Older people might rather pick up the phone and talk to someone, rather than send an email. Figuring out how to communicate ‘across ages’ is crucial.
Masters – if you are a master violin maker, your skills will have grown over many years and they will grow and be refined every day. The master might take on an apprentice and teach and pass on her skills with pride and with the goal that the apprentice will be even better at the craft the than he is. Hardly any of us live and work in such a traditional craft environment, in which knowledge and wisdom is passed on the one generation to the next. Digitals natives have the skills for the digital world that evolves in front of us. Do we all have the skills to use these tools wisely, so we can pass them on?
From Gen Z to Gen C – amongst many other topics, two big areas are now developing their own dynamics: climate change and artificial intelligence – both come with very big risks and therefore also big opportunities attached. My parents’ generation grew up while their parents’ generation obliterated the world around them. After WW2 a whole generation spent their lives rebuilding and regenerating. They did well and many of us have benefited from that. GenZ have their work cut out for them – I think - and their helicopter parents might not be able to help. They will need the Courage to turn themselves into Gen C.
New Work Evolution
by Martin Hönle
This morning my mother told me how, at the age of 16, she was the first young woman in the area to get her driver's license for a tractor. That must have been around 1950 and around 25% of the population worked in agriculture at the time. Today it is 1.2% and work processes are increasingly being determined by robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
The world of work has always been in flux and here are five recent topics:
The Corona Pandemic was a major disruption for the world of work, especially in offices. Suddenly everyone had to stay at home and also work from home. Decentralized work structures, access to important data from outside and video conferences were suddenly possible, and teams had to be managed and organized in a decentralized manner. Necessity is the mother of invention and provided a boost in innovation and new working models. The initial enthusiasm for the home office was followed by concerns about isolation and loneliness. Companies have to work economically and the employees ask themselves: Do I really have to go back to the office and how do I organize my everyday life? The impact of the pandemic will continue.
Digital natives who grew up with apps, smartphones and social media are entering the job market with new expectations. Linear and hierarchical structures are often alien to them, 'everything digital' is a creative tool. They expect companies to be on the cutting edge of technology and employers to align with their values and beliefs. Digital natives do not want to be a number in the big machine and want their personality to be recognized and respected. For many, work-life balance is more important than high income.
With the launch of ChatGPT, artificial intelligence is on everyone's lips and artificial intelligence goes much further, for example in sales processes, production processes and delivery services, but also medical care, education, arts and entertainment. Dall.E - generating and editing images - promises only peaceful use of its technology. Can its use be foreseen and planned? What is certain, AI harbors dangers and many jobs will be eliminated, especially in very labour-intensive and repetitive areas such as transport. But we also know from experience that new technologies always open up new potential and employment opportunities.
In the IT industry, up to 70% of employees work remotely, i.e. they are not in the office. 16% of all companies worldwide are without offices and the employees are organized decentralised. The majority of employees can and want to work from home or elsewhere, and being able to work hybrid in and out of the office makes a position more attractive. People are more effective at home and commuting and related costs are eliminated. And those who can go to the mountains or the sea side for the summer and work from there, will do just that. The trend will increase.
Global climate change will have a major impact on the world of work. It is expected that many people will have to leave their homes because of the negative impact of environmental changes. The number of climate refugees could reach 1.2 billion by 2050, according to some estimates. The pressure on regions that are less affected would be immense. Climate change will force us to completely rethink work and business (keyword regenerative economy) and we will develop new work models and jobs.
We easily forget, nothing stays the same.
What is Visual Bug Tracking?
by Martin Hönle
Visual bug tracking simply means, you can track bugs you can see on your computer screen. BugShot is the tool which makes it easy to highlight, track and remove bugs you can see on screen when developing websites .
Developing websites is always project work. An interdisciplinary Team is put together which within a certain time frame and budget develops, designs and launches a website. Design, programming, project management and marketing are the core disciplines of the people in the team. In most cases the teams are in different locations – at the client’s office, at an agency or working from home. Team members communicate via phone, email, chats, video conferences or messaging and all of this takes up a lot of time and energy. Misunderstandings, mistakes and repetitions can occur very easily.
Even with the best quality management in place, mistakes sneak in during the programming and development phase. It is the nature of work. The bugs have to be identified and removed, so the website looks great and runs smoothly. But there are also other sources of mistakes: spelling, graphics, colour or layout.
BugShot enables you to mark all the visible bugs on the website you are working on. The Marker you place, shows the exact location of the bug. Bugshot automatically registers and transfers a screenshot, a description, all the browser and operating system data as well as attachments and a priority request. The bug is therefore clearly identified and localized.
The bugs are organised on a Kanban Board to which every team member has access. Each bug is allocated to a team member to resolve the problem. As soon as the bug is removed, it will be shifted to "Done" and everyone on the team receives a status update.
This is collaboration made easy: Testers mark and report the bugs on the website. All the bugs are automatically organized on a Kanban Board, they are accessible to each team member and get resolved. Tedious and long winded communication disappears, the team saves energy and time and therefore also money. Working in a team becomes easier and better. The quality of the work and the website improves strongly.
#bugtracking #visualbugtracking #webdevelopment #project #projectwork #teamwork #costs
What is Visual Bug Tracking?
by Martin Hönle
Visual bug tracking simply means, you can track bugs you can see on your computer screen. BugShot is the tool which makes it easy to highlight, track and remove bugs you can see on screen when developing websites .
Developing websites is always project work. An interdisciplinary Team is put together which within a certain time frame and budget develops, designs and launches a website. Design, programming, project management and marketing are the core disciplines of the people in the team. In most cases the teams are in different locations – at the client’s office, at an agency or working from home. Team members communicate via phone, email, chats, video conferences or messaging and all of this takes up a lot of time and energy. Misunderstandings, mistakes and repetitions can occur very easily.
Even with the best quality management in place, mistakes sneak in during the programming and development phase. It is the nature of work. The bugs have to be identified and removed, so the website looks great and runs smoothly. But there are also other sources of mistakes: spelling, graphics, colour or layout.
BugShot enables you to mark all the visible bugs on the website you are working on. The Marker you place, shows the exact location of the bug. Bugshot automatically registers and transfers a screenshot, a description, all the browser and operating system data as well as attachments and a priority request. The bug is therefore clearly identified and localized.
The bugs are organised on a Kanban Board to which every team member has access. Each bug is allocated to a team member to resolve the problem. As soon as the bug is removed, it will be shifted to "Done" and everyone on the team receives a status update.
This is collaboration made easy: Testers mark and report the bugs on the website. All the bugs are automatically organized on a Kanban Board, they are accessible to each team member and get resolved. Tedious and long winded communication disappears, the team saves energy and time and therefore also money. Working in a team becomes easier and better. The quality of the work and the website improves strongly.
#bugtracking #visualbugtracking #webdevelopment #project #projectwork #teamwork #costs
New Work Evolution
by Martin Hönle
This morning my mother told me how, at the age of 16, she was the first young woman in the area to get her driver's license for a tractor. That must have been around 1950 and around 25% of the population worked in agriculture at the time. Today it is 1.2% and work processes are increasingly being determined by robotics and artificial intelligence (AI).
The world of work has always been in flux and here are five recent topics:
The Corona Pandemic was a major disruption for the world of work, especially in offices. Suddenly everyone had to stay at home and also work from home. Decentralized work structures, access to important data from outside and video conferences were suddenly possible, and teams had to be managed and organized in a decentralized manner. Necessity is the mother of invention and provided a boost in innovation and new working models. The initial enthusiasm for the home office was followed by concerns about isolation and loneliness. Companies have to work economically and the employees ask themselves: Do I really have to go back to the office and how do I organize my everyday life? The impact of the pandemic will continue.
Digital natives who grew up with apps, smartphones and social media are entering the job market with new expectations. Linear and hierarchical structures are often alien to them, 'everything digital' is a creative tool. They expect companies to be on the cutting edge of technology and employers to align with their values and beliefs. Digital natives do not want to be a number in the big machine and want their personality to be recognized and respected. For many, work-life balance is more important than high income.
With the launch of ChatGPT, artificial intelligence is on everyone's lips and artificial intelligence goes much further, for example in sales processes, production processes and delivery services, but also medical care, education, arts and entertainment. Dall.E - generating and editing images - promises only peaceful use of its technology. Can its use be foreseen and planned? What is certain, AI harbors dangers and many jobs will be eliminated, especially in very labour-intensive and repetitive areas such as transport. But we also know from experience that new technologies always open up new potential and employment opportunities.
In the IT industry, up to 70% of employees work remotely, i.e. they are not in the office. 16% of all companies worldwide are without offices and the employees are organized decentralised. The majority of employees can and want to work from home or elsewhere, and being able to work hybrid in and out of the office makes a position more attractive. People are more effective at home and commuting and related costs are eliminated. And those who can go to the mountains or the sea side for the summer and work from there, will do just that. The trend will increase.
Global climate change will have a major impact on the world of work. It is expected that many people will have to leave their homes because of the negative impact of environmental changes. The number of climate refugees could reach 1.2 billion by 2050, according to some estimates. The pressure on regions that are less affected would be immense. Climate change will force us to completely rethink work and business (keyword regenerative economy) and we will develop new work models and jobs.
We easily forget, nothing stays the same.
Intergenerational Teams - Four Observations
by Martin Hönle
The boxes and labels – over the last two decades we all have been put into boxes and labeled: the silent generation, boomers, Gen X,Y,Z. When I first heard about Gen X, I thought where do we go after Gen Y and Z? Now there is the Last Generation as a label and it does not seem a very helpful one. Most of it is opinion, click baiting, marketing talk and stereotypes. On a number of occasions we had to work through these partly self-imposed restrictions to meet each other and then team work became very exciting and productive.
Up or down, on or off - it makes a huge difference whether we entered our professional lives during an economic boom with a large choice of jobs and opportunities or during a downturn with a lot of insecurity. People who start their careers during a boom cycle have much more confidence and higher demands. We can see this in the current economic climate here in Germany. If someone finished their university course online during the pandemic, she will find it easy to work from home. Older people might rather pick up the phone and talk to someone, rather than send an email. Figuring out how to communicate ‘across ages’ is crucial.
Masters – if you are a master violin maker, your skills will have grown over many years and they will grow and be refined every day. The master might take on an apprentice and teach and pass on her skills with pride and with the goal that the apprentice will be even better at the craft the than he is. Hardly any of us live and work in such a traditional craft environment, in which knowledge and wisdom is passed on the one generation to the next. Digitals natives have the skills for the digital world that evolves in front of us. Do we all have the skills to use these tools wisely, so we can pass them on?
From Gen Z to Gen C – amongst many other topics, two big areas are now developing their own dynamics: climate change and artificial intelligence – both come with very big risks and therefore also big opportunities attached. My parents’ generation grew up while their parents’ generation obliterated the world around them. After WW2 a whole generation spent their lives rebuilding and regenerating. They did well and many of us have benefited from that. GenZ have their work cut out for them – I think - and their helicopter parents might not be able to help. They will need the Courage to turn themselves into Gen C.