Zoomers say deadlines are toxic

I can’t take on this task. Or any task at all. I’ve decided to change my line of work ,” the designer said. She’s 22, and she’s just used her generation’s greatest weapon: choosing herself. Suddenly, without warning, out of the blue. She just decided to do so.

And more and more often we heard from these talented, but clearly different guys: “I’m not in the mood today” , “I’m taking a creative fax lists break” , “I don’t really like this topic” , “I won’t be in touch because I’m with my loved ones” , and even “I’ve left for Japan, here’s my new schedule” .

For zoomers, self-care is more important than all the deadlines in the world.

“They don’t want to work at all! What’s going on?” I asked the operations director Sasha (she, too, has already outlived the age of Christ 🙂). Sasha shrugged her shoulders. At first, we were angry. Then we were perplexed. We changed employees, but faced the same thing:

• They do not recognize authorities and sales on the rocks feat do not do things simply because they “have to.”
• For them, work is not their whole life. They have other priorities.
• Refuse to work on projects that are not their style or do not resonate with their values.
• If they don’t like something, they’ll say it straight out. If they’re tired, they won’t heroically endure it, but will ask for a break.

And we started to learn and change the company, not the team.

Here’s what we did:

1. A separate manager is assigned to communicate with the client (to smooth things over and keep track of deadlines). The guys do their job calmly, and the clients communicate with a person who speaks their language.
2. We have expanded the base of freelancers working in different styles. We always have a “backup” option.
3. We have introduced a clear work schedule and do not work or correspond on weekends.
4. We do not require immediate execution marketing list of tasks from anyone (unless such a work schedule has been agreed upon in advance). Each team member builds their own schedule. But we ask about the possibility (!) of responding to messages sent during working hours within 1-2 hours.
5. Any team member can at any time express how they feel, ask for support, advice, or leave (which will be immediately agreed upon).
6. We extended the deadlines, leaving ourselves some room for a sudden somersault with a change of performer.
7. For our part, we strictly fulfill our obligations and hope for reciprocity.
8. The general rule is no rules, just a wish: to approach your tasks responsibly and with love.

If I had seen this list a few years ago, I would have twirled my finger at my temple.

Yes, “mental health care” is not a synonym for “doing nothing”; it’s worth maintaining an adequate level of sanity. And sometimes you still want to bang your head against the wall when you hear “this is not my vibe” instead of “I can take on the task on Tuesday.” But it really works, we don’t miss deadlines and we are fine.

Zoomers aren’t weird or “bad workers.” They just seem to be the first to openly say, “Work is important, but not everything.” And that’s a sound idea.

With the new approach, I noticed that both I and the department heads began to pay more attention to our condition. We openly discuss how we feel, how we will behave on stressful projects. And we can refuse such a project, even at the expense of profit.