devmio: Thank you for taking the time to answer our questions. First of all, could you please introduce yourself and your work with DevOps Institute?

Eveline Oehrlich: Hello, I’m Eveline Oerlich, and I have served as the Chief Research Officer at the DevOps Institute (DOI) for the last 5 years, focusing on a variety of research, content, and strategy development projects. I have worked in the field of IT for many years.

My first journey was as part of a large software company as the Director of Competitive Intelligence, then I started at Forrester Research in 2006 where I assisted IT automation vendors and enterprise IT clients on their strategy around people, processes, and technology, and then met the former CEO of DOI who asked me to help the Institute on research and content.

devmio: What exactly does the institute do and how does it help further DevOps and DevOps related practices to empower teams?

Eveline Oehrlich: DevOps Institute is a global professional member association with one mission: to advance the human elements of DevOps. We create a safe and interactive ecosystem where members can network, gain knowledge, grow their careers, lead and initiate, and celebrate professional achievements.

What does that mean really? We empower the people who power IT across different capabilities and roles. We bring roles and ecosystem owners together to learn and collaborate (e.g., during our events). We connect Ambassadors with learners and practitioners to advance both within their journey. We provide certifications for the different aspects of DevOps and beyond. We recently joined PeopleCert through an acquisition and are now part of a larger organization that has expanded the scope of best practices to ITIL and PRINCE2 for example. The goals are to improve, optimize and enable how people do their work — across the software development or service development lifecycles so that they can be strategic partners to their business teams who serve customers, clients, citizens, patients, and more.

 

devmio: Why is upskilling so important for DevOps?

Eveline Oerlich: Please know that upskilling is not just important for DevOps — but for all of IT and beyond. There are skill challenges across other functional areas, but the speed of change, innovation, and pressure towards transformation has caused significant skill challenges within IT. Our research shows that this is the biggest challenge for 31% of global survey respondents. To dig a little deeper, here are the top skill domains where we found the biggest skill gaps:

• 51% | Process and framework skills (e.g., familiarity with key process frameworks e.g. DevOps, Agile, SRE, ITIL®)
• 46% | Technical skills (e.g., Cloud platforms, serverless, microservices, APIs, programming languages, etc.)
• 44% | Human skills (e.g., collaboration, communication, social skills)
• 41% | Leadership skills (e.g., coaching, guiding, decision-making, etc.)
• 41% | Digital skills (e.g., digital fluency, understanding digital systems)
• 40% | Automation skills (e.g., replacing of manual processes, tasks or events with automation)
• 37% | Cognitive skills (e.g., analytical capabilities, quantitative and statistical knowledge)
• 35% | Business skills (e.g., business acumen, financial management, marketing, sales, etc.)

We also know that across the frameworks or best practices, the biggest skill gaps exist across both DevOps and DevSecOps followed by DataOps, SRE, Agile, Value Stream Management, and then ITIL. This is easy to understand as DevOps and DevSecOps are (while not the newest kid on the block) the most complex and to a large depend on a change of culture. It requires many different roles to work together.

Just think about developers who are very different than IT operation people. Their skills, knowledge, and abilities vary greatly, and so are the OKRs or KPIs used to measure their work. DevOps and DevSecOps require working across silos, collaborating, dropping old patterns, adopting new thinking, and requiring trust. Trust does not come automatically and needs to build through different best practices such as blameless.

We also know that across the frameworks or best practices, the biggest skill gaps exist across both DevOps and DevSecOps followed by DataOps, SRE, Agile, Value Stream Management, and then ITIL.

devmio: What immediate benefits does it offer to both individual employees and their companies?

Eveline Oehrlich: Employees: Upskilling offers opportunities for advancement. Other research shows that if employees do not have such an opportunity, 33% of them will quit their job. While compensation matters, meaning and competency matter as well. Upskilling brings both when applied as an ongoing practice.

Employers: The cost to hire someone is by far more expensive than to train an individual. While this is not from our research, it is foundational to our work in the DevOps Institute and within PeopleCert. Additionally, there are not enough skilled IT individuals out there to hire and if one can recruit someone, it will take time to develop this new hire into the organization. This coupled with the benefits of upskilling for employees are plenty of arguments to develop excellent upskilling opportunities to develop and upskill towards better long-term results for both employees and employers.

devmio: Looking at the research from the DevOps Institute Upskilling IT 2023 report, are there any year-over-year changes that surprised you?

Eveline Oehrlich: The great news is that the C-level within IT and the rest of the organization are aware of the skill gap challenge – finally.

Second, learning is happening more than before (maybe that is a positive effect of COVID-19) as 60% of the survey respondents have learned a new skill in the past 12 months. Active learning (besides back to in-person and a mix of digital) is very attractive. This means peer learning, expert coaching, and experimental learning are the preferred learning methods. This also means that IT organizations need to adjust how they upskill their staff members and organizations like DevOps Institute and others need to offer attractive alternatives to the “attending a class or event” learning types.

And finally, to confirm what I mentioned earlier on career satisfaction. While compensation across these modern IT roles such as DevOps Engineer, Automation Engineer, Platform Engineer, and Site Reliability Engineer have risen (see Robert Half Technologies for details), people value social and personal factors for their career satisfaction at an equal weight than compensation.

Upskilling offers opportunities for advancement. Other research shows that if employees do not have such an opportunity, 33% of them will quit their job. While compensation matters, meaning and competency matter as well. Upskilling brings both when applied as an ongoing practice.

devmio: What technical skills are currently the most in demand?

Eveline Oehrlich: Essential to remember that not all companies are digital natives — even though digital runs the business — as there are no more organizations that do not have some digital service within their offerings. No matter if you are digital-native or legacy, the complex and interconnected systems, applications, and services need to be planned, built, deployed, and run as cost-effectively as possible, with the highest resilience — while still delivering the best value to the business teams, and ultimately to the customers.

Priority 1 is cloud computing skills which, if we click deeper, include container orchestration, security, and API knowledge. Understanding modern computing architectures Infrastructure as Code, serverless computing, and multi-cloud are must-haves. As these hybrid environments are very noisy with alerts, events, and spewing out tons of metrics, Machine Learning and AI are important as well.

Priority 2 is complementary skills and depends on the tech stack of a company. Database skills and a multitude of programming skills (even though there is more adoption of low-code/no-code) are must-haves as well. As new topologies are being created while new best practice process frameworks such as DevOps, DevSecOps, ITIL, and others keep expanding, product and service thinking has become popular and from that, we see skills such as platform engineering as a must-have.

Priority 1 is cloud computing skills which, if we click deeper, include container orchestration, security, and API knowledge. Understanding modern computing architectures Infrastructure as Code, serverless computing, and multi-cloud are must-haves.

devmio: Where can teams still improve in their upskilling journey? Where were the largest barriers here?

Eveline Oehrlich: Human and leadership skills are what should be a key focus for upskilling journeys. Why? We have been trying to become more effective, more efficient, and more innovative by applying technologies, processes, and best practices — but we are still lacking in collaboration and cooperation.

As my good friend David Cannon (one of the main authors of ITIL) says: “The one-dimensional approach of upskilling people around technology is short-lived…the success of the technology depends on the ability to support process and people. The success of the process depends on how people use them and automate them. The success of people depends on the ability to do the right things at the right time, using tools to do them efficiently.”

We found that the majority of the upskilling budget goes into technology training, and I believe that this must change so that we can make progress faster toward high-performing teams who enjoy what they do while they do it. (See Jon Clifton, CEO Gallup, and Eveline Oehrlich’s podcast: the majority of people are unhappy at their job today).

devmio: IT talent is still facing a scarcity and companies often struggle to fill the gaps. Do you have any perspective on why this is true across the board?

Eveline Oehrlich: We have not invested in people in the past as IT was not seen as strategic. This has changed in today’s environment and we can thank the pandemic for the acceleration of the realization that IT is strategic.

Second, we have too much to do to take the time to upskill. If I look at myself during my last 20 years, I have only been able to upskill myself as I invested in it and as I learned on the job as an Industry Analyst. That is my luck but many others have not been given the time to upskill so their skills are lacking behind the must-have skill domains and next-click skill details.

There is also a challenge in the academic world. I would argue that many of the tech institutes, colleges, and universities have not updated their curriculum for a while to meet the must-have skills of today and (worse) of the future.

devmio: How are new hybrid work models changing how DevOps practices work?

Eveline Oehrlich: I do believe that hybrid work models accelerate the need for psychological safety. This means that people are comfortable in an organization where they can be themselves. We all had to juggle during the pandemic, and we all became more human to each other. We can continue this trend in hybrid work environments — and with it, we will improve trust, collaboration, and cooperation. Also, the fun factor will increase, while people deliver above and beyond.

People learn best when they get 70% of the learning from a challenge, 20% from a developmental relationship, and 10% from coursework and training.

devmio: What tips would you give for individuals looking to ask their employer about more upskilling opportunities?

Eveline Oehrlich: While I think this is important, I want to bust the bubble that an employer owns a person’s upskilling journey only. But one great way is to ask for something which is called a 70/20/10 model which is used in the learning community and means the following:

People learn best when they get 70% of the learning from a challenge, 20% from a developmental relationship, and 10% from coursework and training. Depending on the person, their job, and the situation, maybe ask to be put on a challenge to start with the 70% learning. If not possible, then see if you can become a partner or work with someone who can coach you. And then there are many excellent certifications and courses out there (which we have, and our partner community has) for excellent learning and upskilling.

devmio: How can they present the opportunity in a convincing manner and prove that it will benefit all parties involved?

Eveline Oehrlich: My favorite way of presenting with conviction is the “STAR” approach. I would describe the “S,” or “situation” of why learning a certain skill is essential, then I would describe the “T” or “tasks” necessary (e.g. attending an event, taking some time during the day to learn, being part of a new team or becoming a fly on the wall), then for “A,” what “actions” are needed on both sides (budget, feedback, time, etc.) and then for “R,” the results — which I would achieve (better at collaboration, better at container orchestration, improving my ability to automate something).

View the full Upskilling IT 2023 Report from the DevOps Institute here.

 

AUTHOR

devmio: How do you believe diversity contributes to the overall success of tech events?

Amanda Brock: I’ve worked in the tech sector a long time and when you walk into a room that has a diverse audience, you can immediately feel the difference. There’s a different frequency that those rooms operate at. That energy in those rooms creates the buzz of diverse opinions reflective of our diverse society that enable development of products that serve all of society in the best way possible, and at events we see it in the safe and comfortable environments not only allowing those opinions to be shared but to be listened to.

devmio: Can you share specific examples of how a diverse range of perspectives has positively impacted a tech event you’ve attended or organised?

Amanda Brock: I saw this in practice at State of Open Con 23, OpenUK’s first annual conference, held in London in February 2023. We were proud to welcome 800 delegates at its first outing in 2023, with almost 40% of the speakers not being male and 49.3% of its audience identified as not being white. State of Open Con 24 also has a diverse speaker roster, a rarity in non EDI tech events in tech. Bringing these diverse voices together helps build a more interesting and varied event, reflecting the full breadth of talent and experts in tech today.

devmio: In your experience, how can event organisers encourage underrepresented groups to participate and engage actively in tech conferences?

Amanda Brock: Enabling underrepresented groups to enter any room requires you to show people the door they need to enter through. I often say that it’s fine once you get through the door but finding it can be hard. The vast majority of people will be super kind and helpful when you get there, it’s finding what the door looks like, even knowing that exists that enables you to step through it.

For events a key starting point is for people from those underrepresented groups to be visible in a way that demonstrates that they are simply a part of a norm. This is the basis of normalisation and inclusion. Also make sure you budget to have free tickets for them to attend.

AUTHOR

 

devmio: When did you become interested in tech; how did you first come into contact with it?

Maria Korneeva: As a child, I used to play with the punch cards my mother used for work. So, I knew very early on that you can get complex results from a computer program by using simple input methods.

However, I only gained my first practical programming experience in the 7th grade. I liked it so much that I chose computer science as my advanced course and wrote my final thesis on Polish notation (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish_notation). This notation makes it easier to process mathematical expressions by machine.

devmio: How did you get to your current job? What career paths did you take?

Maria Korneeva: My career path has been anything but straight so far. As a child, I wanted to sell ice cream, because I loved ice cream more than anything. But when I found out that even ice cream sellers aren’t allowed to eat ice cream all day long, I had to find another dream job.

The choice fell on education. Since both languages and math were equally easy for me, choosing a subject wasn’t easy. In the end, I studied German and cultural studies in order to become a teacher. But I also longed for something stringent, unambiguous and objective. Even a few years of being a project manager in the cultural sector couldn’t satisfy this longing. That’s why I decided to pursue the desire of my “algorithmic self” and study computer science. For this, I went to Germany (I grew up in Russia).

Since I hadn’t had anything to do with math or computer science for years at this point, I respected the task and decided to “defuse” my choice of studies by picking economics. That’s how I ended up studying industrial engineering with a focus on computer science — first in the TU Berlin Bachelor’s program, then in a part-time Master’s program at KIT. During my studies, I worked at KPMG IT Services and IBM, and after completing my Master’s degree, IBM took me on as a Technical Consultant. At Aleri, I was able to deepen my programming skills and take over technical leadership for the front-end. Now I’m continuing as a freelancer.

Consider how many processes and other demands developers have to deal with, such as code reviews, tickets, meetings, HR requirements, and more. I call this overhead, which, in my experience as a CTO these past 25 years and from what we hear anecdotally, can account for anywhere between 10 and 80 % of a developer’s time. In addition, recent research estimated that developers spend just 52 minutes per day coding.

That is a shocking waste of valuable talent and has significant repercussions, particularly in a market where developers are in short supply and teams are often understaffed. Also, it can be incredibly demotivating for coders to join a new company and then discover they will spend most of their days completing processes, writing reports, and attending meetings. After all, they did not aspire to become developers so that they could fill in spreadsheets and consequently, may decide to look elsewhere.

This is not breaking news, but the reality is that many organisations have yet to address the impact of the overhead element within the DX. Why? Because it requires some effort and a change of mindset, which can be daunting. Yet, in my experience, reducing the DX overhead leads to happier, more satisfied developers, which in turn is good news for their companies and the industry overall. Reducing overhead also lessens the temptation to cut corners and, instead, gives developers the space they need to focus on creating software that meets users’ needs.

Ways to Minimise the DX Overhead

Some ways to reduce the DX overhead are relatively simple and quick. For instance, take a developer who spends time filling in Word documents or spreadsheets for compliance purposes, such as the MISRA coding standard. Yet, for years, multiple tools have been available that automate standards compliance without any need to ever go near a Word document or spreadsheet.

In common with many job functions, many developers still spend too much looking for things or creating something that already exists elsewhere within the organisation. Instead, developer portals — by no means a universal practice — create central places to look for everything. Similarly, whenever a new process needs to be introduced, keep it as light and straightforward as possible, with minimal steps. This will help prevent people from finding workarounds or ignoring the process altogether.

AUTHOR

A paradox:

Throughout the course of history, mankind has created more and more “aids”, from washing machines and dishwashers to the smart home. Our devices are getting smarter and smarter and perform tasks partly on their own. Nevertheless, the pressure seems to be growing steadily and people seem more and more stressed and unhappy. For years, mankind has been searching for a recipe for happiness, a miracle pill, so to speak, that will make all worries disappear and give us a carefree life. The inventor of this pill would probably become a billionaire straight away. In fact, there is no recipe for happiness. Everyone has to learn for themselves what makes them happy: jogging, gardening, cooking, crafts, painting, hiking, sewing, or perhaps programming. In this post, I would like to share what my recipe for happiness is and what helps me organize daily life so that I can maintain inner balance and feel happiness. One thing is certain: happiness comes from within, not from without. No one can make you happy – only yourself!

My recipe for happiness is to integrate yoga into my life. Even though it may be discussed often, I’d like to share my perspective on the topic and make some suggestions on how to integrate yoga into daily life. The goal is to feel a little more relaxation and happiness in your life. Maybe it’s worth trying instead of just reading about it. For starters, let’s begin with a brief explanation of what yoga is and what can be achieved with it.

Yoga is a millennia-old philosophy that originated in India and is still relevant today. Yoga seeks to harmonise the body, mind, and soul to achieve inner balance. Yoga is not only about physical health, but mental health too. There are different types of yoga, which have common roots in what’s known as Ashtanga Yoga. The most popular type of yoga is Hatha Yoga, which focuses on physical exercises or asanas. Asanas, however, are much more than just exercises. The basic idea is that for every action, you need a firm, stable body and a balanced state of mind. Both physical illnesses and disturbances of the state of mind, like worries, tension, and fear, can be eliminated through practising asanas, so that you find inner balance again. Asanas are designed to stimulate the regeneration processes in the body. They increase flexibility, make the muscles more elastic and firmer, stimulate the heart’s movement, regulate the function of the lungs and brain, give inner strength, energy, vitality and make you happy. Unlike ordinary physical exercises that consume energy, the asanas are designed to add energy to our body. This is done by supplying blood to the joints and internal organs, moving the spine in all directions, and targeted breathing.

Let’s begin with practical implementation

According to yoga teachings, breathing or pranayama is of paramount importance in all areas of life, because life is breath and breath is life. In our daily life, we pay far too little attention to breathing. Through conscious breathing, you can achieve so much. For example, we can improve our oxygen saturation, increase vital capacity and concentration, and maintain self-control in all situations. I could go on and on about the types of yoga, asanas, techniques, flows, and the philosophy behind them. However, this is enough for our introduction and at this point, I’d like to motivate you to begin with practical implementation. All beginnings are difficult, but if I can manage to get you up from your seat and do the following exercise, I’ll already be happy. Maybe this can be the beginning of your yoga journey?

To get you started, first, let’s try to set an anchor that nearly everyone involved in programming has encountered at some point. We’re talking about the B-tree. In computer science, a B-tree represents a data or index structure that sorts data by key and finds its application in databases and file systems. B-trees were designed by Prof. Rudolf Bayer to help optimise disk storage management. They are particularly useful for dealing with large amounts of data, only a fraction of which can be stored in the computer’s main memory. A B-tree is always a fully balanced tree with a parameter k characterised by the following properties:

• The tree consists of leaves and roots. Unlike a normal tree, a B-Tree grows from top to bottom, i.e. from the leaves to the root. This means that the elements are inserted into the leaves.
• The B-Tree has the same depth everywhere and all nodes are at least half filled.
• The nodes of the tree contain a variable number of keys. The maximum allowed number of keys depends on a parameter t or the degree of branching of the tree. In practice, the limitation 2-4 is often used, i.e. at least two and at most four elements can be stored in a node.
• Therefore, each node has at least k and at most 2k entries. The root can have between 1 and 2k entries.
• If a node has n entries, it must have at least n+1 references to the “children”.

At this point, it should be mentioned again that a B-tree is not a binary tree. Figure 1 illustrates the structure of a B-Tree and sets a demarcation to a binary tree.

Fig. 1: B-tree vs. binary tree [1].

To better understand how a B-tree works, let’s look at the splitting of the tree (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2: Splitting a B-tree

Assuming we want to insert a new key k into the index tree, we can follow the steps below:

1. We start at the leaf node of the tree and search for a node x in whose value range k fits.
2. Next, we insert k into x. In doing so, we want to observe the sorting order.
3. In the third step we check how full the node is: Is the node too full? Is length(x) = n+1?

• a. If yes, then we look for the middle key keyi ε x and move it to the parent node x.parent. We set all keys keyj < keyi as left child elements and all keyj > keyi as right child elements of keyi. We check the fill level of x.parent again.
• b. If the node is not too full, then k can simply be inserted.

Have you perhaps noticed what makes the B-Tree special and what an index structure tree can have in common with yoga? It’s the balance! A B-tree is always a fully balanced tree. Vrikshasana, the tree pose, is a yoga pose that helps promote inner balance and find equilibrium. It’s a simple basic exercise that has a stabilising and harmonising effect and can strengthen stability and the ability to concentrate. The exercise is also suitable for beginners.

• Stand upright and shift your weight onto your left foot. To do this, stabilise the right knee and hip joint by tensing the thigh and shift the pelvis slightly to the left.
• Next, place the sole of your right foot on the inside of your left thigh. Rotate the angled knee outwards as far as it will go. An easier variation is to place the sole of your right foot across your left foot so that your toes point to the right, without touching the floor.
• Your hands are together at chest level. Your gaze is calm, concentrated, and straight ahead. The whole body is tense and stretched.
• Breathe in and out calmly and consciously. When you feels stable, stretch your arms and hands above your head.

Then you change sides and repeat the whole thing. Try to let go of all of your daily thoughts and worries and concentrate on a beautiful tree. Perhaps a B-tree? This balancing posture requires both flexibility and stability. Try to find a balance between too much and too little firmness and tension. The roots are decisive. Your feet form a stable base. The “branches” and “trunk” are allowed to swing with the wind and surrender to the “mobility of life”. The roots provide support.

Although the tree pose is a passive exercise, it nevertheless strengthens the muscles around your entire leg: from the thigh to the calves to the ankle and foot. The tree pose helps gain strength and length in the torso and throughout the spine, helping improve posture. Opening up your chest supports free and even breathing and promotes blood circulation. “Code meets Yoga” – why not?

AUTHOR

For many developers, the following topics significantly impact their satisfaction.

Developers are technicians, they should have technical tasks

Unfortunately, daily life for many developers looks completely different. They have to attend meetings where the time spent and knowledge gained are often not an acceptable ratio. Additionally, reports often need to be created or meticulous records of what they spent their time on must be made. From time to time, experienced developers are also asked to attend recruiting interviews. When viewed individually, all of these tasks may certainly be justified. But all in all, they require a considerable amount of time, which leads to lack of time and pressure in development work. These activities should only account for a small part of the working week. The majority of working time should be available for technical tasks, not the other way around.

Developers don’t want to work with outdated technology all the time Developers go to conferences, exchange ideas, and read magazines. They learn about great new technologies and what other developers are working on. To avoid frustration, it’s important to let all developers use new technologies, at least occasionally. There are different strategies for achieving this. For example, when developing microservices architectures or splitting monoliths, you can implement individual services or modules in new technologies. Regardless, it’s important that you don’t run up too much technical debt and regularly modernize application systems that are under maintenance.

Developers should also develop new things, not just maintain existing systems

One corporate strategy that’s still fairly widespread is having new systems be developed by external employees or service providers, as they supposedly have the necessary know-how. Maintenance of existing systems, however, is done by employed developers. Sooner or later, this will lead to dissatisfaction. Understandably, it’s not much fun to only be allowed to extend and repair what others left behind. The creative aspect of software development — creating new architectures and solutions — is almost completely lost for these developers. Basically, this approach only reveals that the company previously neglected to train its own employees. A much better approach is having mixed teams develop new systems. Ideally, these teams should primarily consist of in-house developers, who are supported by external expertise on a selective basis. This means that employed developers are involved from the outset in developing systems that they’ll maintain over a longer period of time. This also results in the best possible knowledge transfer.

Developers should be allowed to choose their own tools

This is especially true for IDEs. If tools like Maven or Gradle are used for builds, ultimately, it’s irrelevant which IDE individual developers use. The widespread objection about licensing costs for certain IDEs, while others are free to use, is too short-sighted. It’s a reason for concern if the employer cannot raise the typically three-digit license costs for IDEs. But what’s more important is the argument that a developer’s working efficiency should be valued much higher. Considering developer labor costs, there are considerable savings if they can work even five to ten percent faster using their preferred IDE than with a competitor’s product. Therefore, it makes little economic sense to save on potential licensing costs.

Developers need fast hardware

That means fast development computers with enough RAM and a fast hard disk. Equipment that slows down due to slow-running builds or tests is ultimately much more expensive. The performance of services that developers use on a daily basis is also very important. These include Git, Maven or Docker repositories, build servers, databases, and the network. If they’re slow or lack stability, developers are unnecessarily slowed down. Once again, once you multiply the number of developers by the number of working days and waiting times, you can incur considerable costs. These costs should instead be invested into improving your infrastructure.

What helps you achieve a good work-life balance? Can you give us a few tips?

Frank Delporte: When you start a programming career, you discover that there is still a lot to learn, even when you have just graduated. Or when you start a new job, there will be a lot of tools and techniques that you have to get to know to fit in the new team. So, it can be very tempting to go the extra mile and work too many hours. I’ve made that mistake multiple times, but now I consider myself to be an “old wise and grey man”, someone who can give advice to younger people. Yes, you should give all your best to be productive, support your team, and build amazing stuff. But you can’t do all of that at the same time for more than 8 hours per day. You need enough hours of sleep and time for your family, good food, relaxation, and fun.

I have been in multiple projects where deadlines were approaching. We worked more and longer than was healthy, and it’s OK to do so for a short time. It will even make the team stronger if you all go the extra mile together and deliver (almost) on time. But those periods should be exceptions, not a recurring theme.

And, if you catch a bug and you’re still searching after a few hours for the cause late into the afternoon or evening: stop! You won’t fix it anymore. Go home, eat, and sleep. I’m sure you will find the solution the next morning within a half hour.

Marco Schulz: One thing I learned in Austria, is that there are graveyards full of irreplaceable people. So I try not to take myself too seriously.

Since I’m lucky enough to be able to do the things that interest me, I have to force myself now and then not to finish work late at night. It’s also important to me to have an appealing work environment. From experience, I know I’m not equally efficient the whole day.

Especially after lunch, I like to close my eyes for 15 to 20 minutes and gather strength for the second half of the day. These habits are difficult to maintain in an office. This is one of the many reasons why I only accept remote contracts.

This allows me to arrange my daily schedule flexibly, as needed. If a project is slow and I have to wait a little longer for assignments, I can use this time for short personal errands.

Elena Bochkor: From my point of view, the most important thing is to separate working time and free time. Especially if you work from home, you should set up a separate workspace and try to use it only during working hours. Creating a schedule for work and leisure activities is helpful. This way, you have a good overview of both areas and can make sure that neither is neglected. Regular breaks during working hours is also a must. Just get up, stretch your feet, eat an apple, and, depending on the weather, soak up some sun.

Alexis Roizen: I use my daughter’s schedule for work-life balance. She goes to school at 8ish and is picked up at 5 pm. I am pretty clear with my team that when she’s at school, I’m available, and when she’s home, I’m not. There will be periods of time where I need to make an exception, but this is my baseline that I don’t deviate from unless I’m really clear about the need. I’ve paid the price too many times of getting my kid ready for school while trying to have an important meeting and it’s not good for anyone to start their day like that! So my first recommendation is to set up up some sort of predictable schedule.

The second thing I do is limit the work tools on my phone and personal tools on my computer. On my phone, I don’t have Slack (our company’s main mode of communication). And on my work computer, I don’t integrate it with my personal accounts – i.e., no texting or checking personal accounts on my work computer. I try to keep these two devices as disconnected from one another as possible.

For me, it’s very important to be in places that inspire me. Noisy open-plan offices and crowded train compartments aren’t among them. To create a productive atmosphere for myself, I work exclusively remotely.

How can IT companies improve work-life balance?

Frank Delporte: For me, working from home has been an eye-opener. Being able to work at my own speed, and without any commuting is such a relief! But I’m well aware that not everyone can work in a “personal bubble” without interaction with real people instead of Zoom, Teams, and other virtual contacts. But being able to work remotely at least a few days a week can make a huge difference in the stress caused by traffic and the need to be on time at the right place.

As a company, DDD should never be the common practice. No, not Domain Driven Design, the DDD that many companies claim to use, but Deadline Driven Development, the real DDD used in a lot of cases. When people are stressed to the max continuously, they will break or leave. There is a meme that says “The biggest concern for any organization should be when their most passionate people become quiet.” I’ve been that person a few times, and when the company (ab)uses your passion and doesn’t protect you from burning up, they lose that person, together with many years of experience and a lot of passion for the job.

Marco Schulz: For me, it’s very important to be in places that inspire me. Noisy open-plan offices and crowded train compartments aren’t among them. To create a productive atmosphere for myself, I work exclusively remotely. Daily traffic jams on the way to work or being stuck in overcrowded public transport during rush hour are moments I’ve eliminated from my life. I can use this time to walk through the countryside or soak up some sun on the terrace with a coffee and a good book.

Freely allocating time is an important aspect in my professional life. If I need to work a few days more because of a deadline, no one expects me to be available during the core working hours the following day. After a stressful phase, it’s absolutely necessary to regain my strength in order to be fit for new challenges. I consistently avoid working environments that are permanently running at full steam. Sooner or later, these lead to burnout and don’t produce good products.

Elena Bochkor: I believe it’s fundamentally important for IT companies to promote a culture of work-life balance and encourage their employees to take care of their health and well-being. This can be done through training, lectures, or even coaching on topics like stress management, time management, and work-life balance. By taking these measures, IT companies can help their employees achieve a better work-life balance and be more productive and satisfied.

I’d also like to mention flexible working hours here. This is a way for companies to give their employees the opportunity to divide up their working hours during the day and create a work-life balance. In many IT jobs, it’s possible to work from home or choose a flexible work location, like a coworking space or a cafe. This makes the workday more varied and helps reduce stress.

Another option is offering health programs like fitness or yoga courses, wellness offers, or even healthy catering in the office to promote the physical and mental health of employees.

Alexis Roizen: I think companies and employees need to be really clear about digital communication expectations. I don’t feel guilty for ignoring my computer until 8 am because everyone I work with knows my work hours.

If you feel your company (which is really your manager or the teams of people you work with) has different expectations, you need to be proactive in “closing the gap” between what they think and what you think. If your manager is sending messages at 11 pm and you feel pressure to respond because it’s your manager, talk to them. You may find out that they prefer to work late at night because that works best for them, but they do not expect responses in real time or even first thing in the morning. And you might share with them that you don’t have Slack on your phone, so you are not checking messages until you log in at 9 am. Now you both are aware of the other’s working habits, and you don’t have to worry about someone else’s interpretation of your silence or schedule.

I also think that all employees need to remember that they’re responsible for office culture. It is important to treat people kindly, speak with respect, and try to have fun when possible. If the environment feels like a pressure cooker, check in with yourself first and see if you’re contributing to that feeling. Work-life balance will be hard if you’re contributing to work stress or bringing it home with you.

I also think that all employees need to remember that they’re responsible for office culture. It is important to treat people kindly, speak with respect, and try to have fun when possible.

What non-IT hobbies help you destress after a busy day?

Frank Delporte: For me, programming in Java and writing about it is both my hobby and my work. So, although I pretend to be the “old wise and grey man”, I still make the same mistakes and spend too much time on the computer. That’s the mistake I keep making because I just love the things I’m doing and don’t consider it to be work. I should listen more to my own advice.

One solution that worked for us is Wifi. Not the network connection, but the name of our dog we got over a year ago. I start each day with a walk, sometimes listening to podcasts. And with good weather, a second walk at noon can help fix a bug or find the right wording to finish a document or article.

One solution that worked for us is Wifi. Not the network connection, but the name of our dog we got over a year ago.

Marco Schulz: Not too long ago, I liked to swim. While swimming, I was able to do some physical exercise and could switch my mind off. A few weeks ago, I started learning to play the guitar. It was quite challenging at first because the metal strings were cutting into my fingertips. But since then, I’ve overcome this step, and I can also turn my mind off while practicing.

Elena Bochkor: I’ve been doing yoga for years and a few weeks ago, I started jogging regularly. I’m learning to love it! ? It’s often hard to start, especially in the winter when the weather is cold, but afterwards, you really feel better.

Alexis Roizen: I am a huge fan of non-screen hobbies! I am a quilter and a sewist, which is extremely meditative after a long day behind the screen.

I’m also a big reader. I love a great novel that captures my attention and even better if there is an audible narration so I can listen to it while I take a walk or do some cleaning up. I also dabble in learning new hobbies to see if they stick. I’m currently learning to roller skate and I feel like a teenager!

Lastly, having a nice chat with someone that has nothing to do with work – bonus if that person can make you laugh. For me, this is my husband. He cracks me up and helps me laugh at myself. And laughter cures all.

About the Experts

 

 

 

   

 

 

 

There are some things that might be able to wait or cannot be communicated through an email. Unfortunately, this is exactly the way of working predominantly used by digital natives and older workers who are used to getting things done immediately. In the past, we were happy to just walk down the hallway to a colleague. Now, we simply write an email.

No, this is not about data protection and data security when sending emails, or about encryption and cryptography. This is about communication and making sure that the email’s contents reach the recipient as intended: informative, factual, and unagitated. However, depending on the message you want to quickly get across, the medium of email can be the wrong strategy, which is why you can end up in a lot of trouble.

Let’s take a look at Simone K.’s home office. She is a backend developer for a large online retailer. Currently, like so many others, she works almost exclusively from her home office. Team communication takes place through web meetings, chats, and emails. In the weekly discussion, the whole team sits together as individuals in front of their cameras, and listens calmly to new information the supervisor announces regarding current project information. Sometimes things get heated because people don’t always agree. But in the group, through cameras and microphones, people always treat each other with respect.

Today, Simone K. is presenting changes in the script that she received from Product Marketing. For another interface in the team, this also means changes need to be incorporated. Information is shared and recorded in the shared working document directly in the web conference, and is then filed away. The meeting proceeds without any unusual events. However, the supervisor is very quiet today. Simone assumes this is due to current stress. The team agrees upon a schedule for when the changes will be incorporated and released for distribution. The meeting concludes with a clear consensus and Simone ends the call, only to jump into the next conference call a minute later. That’s how it goes until 2 p.m. Then, Simone briefly logs out to take the dog for a walk and enjoy a sandwich in the fresh air. At 2:45 p.m., she’s back online and happy to see that her missed call list is clear. So she can get to work by 4, without having to call back several colleagues first. At 4, she dials into the next meeting. Here, she’s only a listener with no active part. In passing, a colleague knocks on her door over Messenger with a technical question. She exchanges ideas with him via chat. After all, it’s multitasking. Simone turns her attention back to the online presentation for her current web meeting. An email from her supervisor pops up at the bottom right. The subject is “Team”. This piques her curiosity, so she clicks on the message to read the email (in passing). After the third line, her breath stops. She notices a mixture of incomprehension, anger, and frustration rising inside of her. Her only thought is, “Excuse me?”

In the email, her supervisor writes to the entire team that he’s been thinking about how to restructure tasks within the team. In this morning’s presentation, he became aware that some of Simone and her colleague Armin’s tasks will be combined from now on. Simone will have to hand over part of her work to Armin and take over a new project instead. At the moment, everyone is under a lot of time pressure and it’s guaranteed that the projects can still be finished.

“Management by email” is definitely a management fail

Ok. We are done here. Simone leaves the online meeting because she can’t follow the topic right now anyway. Many questions about the e-mail pop into her head:

• Why didn’t her boss say anything about this in the meeting this morning?
• What makes him think that Simone and Armin in particular should combine their tasks? What about their other colleagues? Is the boss dissatisfied with their work? Why didn’t he coordinate this personally with Simone and Armin beforehand?

Simone checks if Armin is still online. He isn’t. She tries to call him, but can’t reach him. She forwards the boss’ email to him and adds, “Give me a call about this as soon as it’s good for you.” Armin gets in touch with her the next morning. He is just as upset about the email as Simone was, and just as surprised too, especially since he only read the message this morning. Both decide to address their boss directly and invite him to a web conference. The appointment arrives two days later, because their boss spontaneously took some time off.

During the conversation two days later, their boss explains that he actually wanted to do both colleagues a favor. In their last annual appraisal interview, they both mentioned that they sometimes felt that processes were not efficient and they’d like to do something different and take on new projects, instead of working through the same thing over and over again.

Good intentions with the wrong strategy and a bad outcome

Well-intentioned, but not well done. Above all, it was not communicated properly. The excuse that there was simply not enough time to have a detailed conversation with both of them in advance isn’t useful. After all, everyone is constantly in online meetings and in the home office, so unfortunately, you don’t spontaneously see each other during lunch. The fact is that in the end, Simone, Armin, and their other colleagues in the team feel knocked over by the email. Important information that has corresponding impacts must ALWAYS be delivered in person or at least over the phone, even if it’s time-consuming. As a manager, you must invest this time and set priorities when your schedule is overrun.

By the way, there are many more “nice” examples of topics where you CANNOT replace a personal conversation.

As a manager, you always have to consider which medium is correct for which information, and not only in times of excessive home office. That sounds banal, but unfortunately, it’s done incorrectly every day. Ultimately, it often leads to employees becoming frustrated and not feeling sufficiently valued. And when frustration levels rise, it can even drive some employees to change jobs.

Communication as the basis of cooperation

In addition to competency and commitment, communication is the basis of cooperation. But in the heat of the moment, we often forget that. We like choosing the most comfortable and fastest way to communicate something. An email is always directly addressed to one or more recipients, but it still seems very impersonal. With the daily flood of emails, you should always think about if every email truly makes sense. You should make sure—out of respect and above all, out of conviction—that the content and message really reaches the recipient and is understood and comprehensible.

In the hustle and bustle of everyday life, people tend to send information quickly via email, even if they’ve previously tried to reach someone personally or by phone. So they’ve basically already approached it correctly, but were not successful.

Our daily professional lives demand that we get things done, clear our desks, and still, there are a thousand more tasks waiting for us to do. So we quickly type up a piece of information into an email and internally put a checkmark next to it. This is despite the fact that we cannot even be sure if our message will be read by the recipient at all (either promptly or ever). This message, like everyone else, will likely get lost in a flood of emails.

Think twice before you submit an email

Any email that you doubt that contents are not purely factual and may have an emotional response should not be sent. You should choose a direct path of communication instead.

If an important issue is burning and a phone call or face-to-face meeting cannot happen, then you should send an email that simply says: “Please call me sometime, I want to talk to you about…” Or better yet, organize a mutual appointment to discuss the topic and invite people online.

Presenting someone with an irreversible decision over email or conveying information that raises questions, contains accusations, or is an emotional topic is a lot like quitting your job or breaking up with your partner over WhatsApp.

Even if it feels easier to take care of important tasks by email, there are many things that aren’t so easy to push away. Everyone—especially supervisors—should always ask themselves if they’ve picked the correct communication channel for the corresponding message. When in doubt, pick up the phone and persistently push for a personal conversation. Admittedly, this is challenging during times of coronavirus. But it’s worth it.

In Germany, we have a culture of argumentativeness and blame. We notice this not just in times of crisis. After all, someone has to be blamed for the coronavirus dragging our country into the abyss again, making us look bad in comparison with some other countries. But is it really our politicians, the unvaccinated, the careless, and mass events that are to be blamed for the fact that we just can’t get out of the high coronavirus numbers? And will we ever get out of the crisis with our vicious search for a guilty party and the futile search for solutions? Isn’t it finally time for everyone to pull together and declare war on the virus with joint strength, reason, and expertise? Wouldn’t we be much further along if, instead of getting caught up in endless discussions, we simply stepped out of our comfort zone for once and reflected on our own behavior? What if we behaved every day as scientists and politicians have been preaching about for months? The solution is on the table, but too many people are shaking the plan’s building blocks. And so one brick after another topples—a true domino effect. If someone doesn’t follow the rules because they don’t understand them or don’t trust those who made them, then the next person won’t either. And so the building blocks don’t work, and we head towards chaos. More than half of us have recognized this and are trying to save what can still be saved. But the domino effect can only be stopped if someone stands in the way, stopping the mass that threatens to topple it over, and puts it back on the right track. What has already fallen behind cannot be salvaged, but there could be a common solution for what lies ahead through cohesion in our society. A solution can be in our hands that requires every mind and every hand to ultimately steer us out of the crisis. This applies to the coronavirus crisis, as well as the climate crisis, and all others yet to come.

Unfortunately, it’s not that simple. In many areas, working together on something, sometimes submitting to someone else’s opinion and expertise, and trusting that this solution is more promising has become increasingly inconceivable. After all, it’s a matter of dealing only with guilty parties. Instead of learning from mistakes and drawing strength from them to finally lend a hand, mistakes are seen as a conscious threat. Looking back is transformed into negative energy, accusations, and insinuations. In the end, it’s often no longer a question of fighting the crisis, but fighting a potential culprit, the enemy.

Doesn’t this process take place nearly the same everywhere? There are no second chances. If a football team loses, the coach is fired. If the virus cannot be contained by our misbehavior, politicians should resign. If an IT project is not successfully completed on time or on budget, the project manager or people responsible should look for a new job. It’s often only a matter of legally safeguarding your own behavior to keep your damage as low as possible in case of any mistakes. We see the same thing when new companies are founded. Our tolerance for error is often less than zero. Founders whose ideas have previously failed are considered losers instead of visionaries or geniuses. We only apply this attribute to failed inventors from other countries. Someone who invents a vaccine or an electric car in Germany is considered suspect and doomed to failure.

We have to learn to trust ourselves and others again, put aside our omnipresent skepticism, and continuously reflect on our own behavior. “What can I do to make sure that this project is completed successfully?” That should be the question we ask ourselves daily, instead of constantly accusing others who are actively working on solutions of misconduct or greed for power. We need to learn to admit our own mistakes and those of others, motivate each other again, and analyze situations to work out better solutions. Be willing to contribute and to take over ownership instead of always criticizing.

Guilt is a concept with a wide scope. It has moral, ethical, and legal significance. When blaming someone, you are implying that they have intentionally or deliberately acted wrongly to harm others. Those who are at fault can be held accountable and need to pay compensation for the behavior that’s caused harm to others, or otherwise make up for the harm.

The term “error” is different. Here, someone has made a decision based on the current state of affairs, their own competence, or experience, which may turn out to be wrong in the end. However, their behavior was fundamentally characterized by good intentions. Only the circumstances have changed or were not previously known or analyzed in their entirety. To put it more concretely, someone using their position to get rich from selling security articles due to high demand bears both the moral and legal blame for their behavior and must be prosecuted for it. But if someone with good intentions makes protective mechanisms freely available to all, intending to help protect individuals and their community from greater dangers, is not guilty, not everyone accepts this offer. The blame for the crisis lies with those who don’t want to take the community’s security into consideration either. It would be a mistake to deviate from the plan to protect the community. Therefore, new measures must be defined in order to achieve this goal.

Going back to the working world: Mistakes don’t always have to have far-reaching consequences where someone suffers lasting damage. In private life and in work, mistakes happen that aren’t caused intentionally. But anyone who doesn’t comply with certain rules and breaks them will be reprimanded. In practice, you can describe it like this:

Someone who never changes their password or installs third-party software on their laptop despite IT security guidelines risks a warning. But someone who cannot keep to the costs or schedule due to unexpected events in their IT projects can only be blamed for not carrying out sufficient risk management, being coordinated enough, or planning enough buffers. Their behavior was characterized by good intentions and the person will have to take responsibility for their task and make suggestions on how the project can be brought to a peaceful conclusion. Often, this kind of situation ends with blame and excuses. The customer had last-minute changes. The purchasing department ordered the hardware too late. Their colleague had software errors, and so on. Instead of turning the wheel of errors in reverse gear, it calls for commitment and a sense of community.

Rather than questioning new milestones, everyone pulls in the same direction. It’s teamwork instead of a crisis meeting. In the spirit of agile working methodology, everyone works hand in hand, makes sustainable decisions, and discusses the changes together without getting lost in them. If necessary, making adjustments more frequently is preferable, instead of only noticing the weak points once you reach the deadline. Continuous self-reflective learning processes creates an atmosphere allowing us to make mistakes. They are discovered more quickly and usually don’t have any long-term negative consequences.

Many organizations are already using integrative practices even at higher levels (such as DevOps) for continuous code integration and delivery. This puts a new focus on all customer-facing processes. In other organizations, managers who need to take responsibility for their actions may not be ready to, given the cross-functional nature of agile teams. This is a classic blame avoidance. If experimentation isn’t part of the culture, then agile working cannot succeed. Managers must take responsibility for their end product and defend the outcome, even if it wasn’t developed with their explicit input, and established standard operating procedures can’t be relied on. Iteration during the development process doesn’t replace accepting responsibility. But it can replace a culture of assigning blame. Ultimately then, everyone is to blame. Obviously, this approach is not practical for everyone.

On the contrary, in an agile team, you work with the same values and goals and look at a common project from different perspectives. This can be very liberating. Above all, it frees you from blaming others. No matter who tries to blame someone for something, the effects are always negative for everyone involved. A solution for the actual problem isn’t found like this. Therefore, an agile way of working would also be good in public administration, politics, or even in a family. After all, it opens up the view of the whole and lets us continuously reward ourselves and our own behavior. People who admit their mistakes and offer new, well-thought-out solutions can contribute significantly more to crisis management than those who place the blame or problem on others. Error tolerance instead of error avoidance would do our work culture a lot of good. At the moment, it seems we are still a long way from that.

If you were born between 1966 and 1980, you belong to Generation X. You grew up without a cell phone and still remember retro phones with a bone-shaped receiver. You listened to audio game cassettes in your childhood and at some point, there was a Commodore 64 or Amiga 2000 in your room. You still accessed the Internet over a whistling phone line and you accepted computer games in pixel format. Their values were characterized by financial security and career advancement with a great motivation to achieve something. Generation X has a high level of education, but in IT in particular, there are also many career changers and dropouts who’ve made it to a well-paid developer job without any higher education. In order to afford a materially secure life, they work career-oriented and do a lot of overtime. Status occasionally takes precedence over a desire for professional fulfillment. Instead, they think pragmatically and push their comfort zone to the limit – even if the job sucks after more than 30 years. In this generation, work and private life are strictly separate, although Generation X also likes to work extensively in the home office – and not just since the coronavirus.

Generation X’s IT staff had their working environments changed completely because of new mobile requirements and clashed with Generation Y. Suddenly

• internet computing was possible anytime, anywhere,
• web-based applications and tools became the central object of collaboration,
• mobile applications dominated technical development,
• virtual knowledge transfer in real time replaced classic in-house training,
• video conferences reduced the number of business trips,
• necessary information and research were available at any time via the web,
• collaboration, content, and communication merged into a single entity,
• social networks became a standard part of communication,
• etc.

Many IT people from Generation X appreciate progress and change. But for others, the pace is a little too fast and the purpose of social networks is not clear to them.

Generation Y, people born between 1981 and 1995, entered the professional and developer world when mice in the office no longer required the exterminator but state-of-the-art development platforms. This generation is characterized by a great urge for freedom and self-realization. Millennials love a self-determined life and enjoy their free time. The motto is: work anywhere, anytime. Work-life balance by working in their home office or in a café, in the morning, only in the afternoon, or even sometimes at night. In terms of education, many of them have an academic background. There are still many career changers in this generation in particular, who have developed into real luminaries even without a degree.

And then came Generation Z, also known as “Generation YouTube” and “digital natives,” who were born after 1995. They are first generation to have lived in the digital age since birth. Today’s teenagers and young adults don’t know a world without the Internet, smartphones, and 24-hour online status. Social networks such as Facebook, Instagram and YouTube are firmly part of everyday life. Role models are no longer movie stars, but influencers and YouTubers.

Generation Z IT workers are looking for ways to make the world a better place. But this also makes them less optimistic and significantly more security-oriented than Generation Y. They usually don’t trust marketing messages because they already know Google and co.’s tricks. A look at this group’s working lives shows that the quest for security has become apparent again. In complete contrast to Generation Y, digital natives actually want fixed working hours, permanent contracts, and a secure job. Private life and work are strictly separate from each other, and overlapping is to be avoided. Accordingly, work-life blending is low. They are reconnecting with Generation X on traditional values. In their private lives, they attach great importance to having a stable family and marriage. However, they are less loyal to their employers, mainly due to uncertainties caused by globalization. A solid education or degree is particularly important to this generation. When it comes to their careers, it’s clear that they want to work creatively and enthusiastically to achieve their goals. They strive for freedom and independence. Many start their own business immediately after graduation. Above all, their dream job must be fun.

Generation Z’s expectations of working with others are correspondingly high. Generation X is often more conspicuous for its demands of self-fulfillment. They are career-hungry and willing to work overtime. The younger generation, on the other hand, increasingly relies on regulated working hours, mobile working and, above all, a lot (!) of free time. There’s a preference for clear structures. They are less likely to contradict authority and prefer avoiding direct confrontation. Instead of discussing problems face-to-face directly, they withdraw and rate their employer online, which sometimes leads to people blowing off a lot of steam.

Which generation currently scores well with IT employers? In the past it was often a trend to send older employees into early retirement to replace them with younger, less expensive graduates. But today companies can hardly afford to do without experienced IT staff due to the skilled worker shortage. It’s all in the mix. Employers today are increasingly focusing on diversity: experienced IT employers, along with young developers and career starters. Everyone gets a chance. But sometimes, it’s not easy for different generations to get along in their daily work. Conflicts are common. They arise because people’s expectations and approaches clash, and often no one is willing to compromise and find a solution together. Generation Z is considered to be extremely non-committal. Whether it’s dating or a new job, decisions are just an interim status – until something better comes along. That can make Generation X furious. Reliability, stability, and security are also what Generation Y wants. Already, the first problems are arising.

Of course, conflicts don’t just affect generational divides. They mostly result from different personality types and ways of communicating. Simply put, people just don’t understand each other. While every generation uses its own colloquial language with new words dominating daily speech that the older generation can somehow still get used to, every personality type also uses its own language and subconsciously expects to be addressed similarly. That makes things complicated. This isn’t about words and body language, it’s about much more. It’s about the way we address people, the frequency, the interest in communication or an exchange at all. One person needs facts and data, structures, and evidence for their work and above all, their sense of well-being. Another communicates in a more emotional way and brings up the facts only as a secondary issue. While some people tend to be annoyed by too much sentimentality and beating around the bush, others need to feel that they are interested in them, their character, and their work is valued.

Different expectations quickly lead to conflicts, especially if you communicate in different ways. But if you know each other’s expectations and try to meet them, at least in part, then you’ve already taken a big step forward.

If you also recognize commonalities and use them as a basis for developing agile teams, collaboration can be nearly seamless. If there are professional differences in opinion, these are more likely to be interpreted as a sign of the high-quality requirement to find the best solution together. “Yes, but…” Questioning many things first is one of the common characteristics of developers of all generations. The job is fun when you can contribute yourself and your expertise, when you can shape, discuss, and change things. More or less, that’s what most developers have in common.

Companies have long since recognized that you can’t do without Millennials to explain the world to you, and you can’t do without the 50+ generation. Today’s complex software projects need these influences: the know-how and personalities from all generations. But in order to get the most out of agile and mixed teams, companies also have to respond precisely to different expectations and avoid a culture of envy. In many places, corporate management and HR development are already addressing each generation’s different requirements. Company benefits vary greatly, and everyone can choose from a portfolio of benefits and how they would like to assemble their own package of additional services. This kind of cafeteria system as a model of work motivation is used in connection with flexible working time and time management. It includes suggestions for individuals to choose between different options and service offers on how to receive a predetermined share of their income. This model has been around for a while, but the offering has expanded to include options for families or lifestyles, for example (Fig. 1).

Conclusion

The war for talent is still heating up and companies are fighting for the best IT professionals with innovative working conditions and additional employer benefits. Everyone defines their dream job differently and has the chance to find it. Intergenerational collaboration works best when all generations embrace their different expectations and working styles and are willing to accept their differences and find common ground.