Can we turn kids into grown-ups in just two months?
Yesterday my 14-year-old son missed a meeting with a teacher about some work he was having trouble with. I know this, because the teacher sent him an email expressing her disappointment that he was a no-show and she copied me. It’s not the first time this has happened. And my youngest son is no angel on this front either.
“Google Classroom is not the only thing to stay on top of,” I say to my boys. “You have to check your email regularly. Multiple times a day, otherwise you might miss something.”
As an advocate for a more social way of working, instructing my kids to pay more attention to their email is a bitter pill to swallow. And my kids look at me as if I’m crazy.
Two years of digital transformation in two months
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella said during the company’s most recent quarterly earnings report that the company had experienced “two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.” Many of us working from home would agree. We’ve shifted our office desk to home and we’re trying to get on with work in a different way in the middle of a pandemic. It’s not easy.
Knowing the business rules
Even though our kids are digital natives, after watching mine ‘work from home’ for 30 days or so, I know they’re struggling too. We’re watching them try to adhere to all sorts of business rules and we’re disappointed when they can’t.
Truth be told, we’re asking our kids to operate like grown-ups who have been in the workforce for years, when the reality is, we can’t do a Microsoft and transform them in just two months.
We're asking our kids to operate like grown-ups who have been in the workforce for years.
Here are the capabilities and habits kids need to work on if they are to succeed in today’s distributed world of school. Parents, feel free to add to this list.
Kids, sort out these things:
Time management. There are no school bells to tell you when recess is over and Math class is about to begin. Learn to watch the clock and set alarms if necessary.
Outcomes. Learn to swallow the frog and focus on the ‘right’ work. Putting off challenging school work will inevitably lead to no meaningful outcomes. That’s bad news for your end of term report.
Deadlines. Make a note of what assignments and projects are due and when. Hand in work on time. Check in to see if any deadlines have shifted for whatever reason.
Dress. This is a tricky one right now, as I’m in gym gear almost 24/7. But kids, at least get out of your pyjamas, brush your hair and look presentable for that early morning Google Classroom session.
Dealing with others. When in meetings, look engaged. Your teachers and fellow students won’t love it if you look bored and they’ve love it even less if you fall asleep at your desk. Pay attention, look interested and get involved.
Playground politics. When I coach adults in building their digital capability, I say don’t ‘Twitter when you’re bitter’. Same rules apply here. If your little friends are driving you crazy in the virtual playground, don’t feed the trolls. Put your devices down and go do something else.
Work-life balance. If you can get your school work done during ‘office hours’ that’s less you have to do after hours to catch up. When it’s finished, switch off and go have fun. Engage in physical activity, since team sport is still out of bounds.
Educators are super heroes
In highlighting these areas for improvement, I’m not targeting schools. My husband and I have only got two kids to manage. Just as the world of work has changed, education has had to transform overnight. Class teachers are herding 25 kids or more every single day from their laptops. They are super heroes as far as I’m concerned, doing a fantastic job.
There is good news
It’s not all hopeless, though. As a fan of working in a more open and social way, here’s where I think many of our kids have the edge on us working adults.
Adults, learn this stuff from your kids:
Share your work. Whether it’s presenting to the class or posting a project in progress in the school enterprise social network, our kids are building a habit of working visibly and getting input from others along the way. It’s not weird to them. It’s a natural way of working.
Be curious. When all you have is a hammer, everything is a nail. We do things the same way, even if it’s dysfunctional at times, because we’re too busy to re-engineer a process. Kids aren’t wired that way. I marvel (sometimes) at the ingenuity of my two boys who see the world as a place where you can be curious and experiment over and over again.
Be honest. How many times have you sat in a meeting, disagreeing with something being discussed, but not speaking up? Kids aren’t afraid of telling it like it is. Sure, we’d like our kids to apply some filters at times, but it’s refreshing to engage in conversations where we feel safe to be ourselves.
Be vulnerable. Too many adults think they need to have all the answers at work. We’re already bearing our souls by letting our colleagues peer into our messy living rooms and look at our isolation dress, hair and beards. It’s OK to be imperfect. Keeping things real at work engenders more trust than trying to maintain high production values.
It’s OK to be imperfect. Keeping things real at work engenders more trust than trying to maintain high production values.
Taking good habits into the future of work
As we continue to work shoulder to shoulder with our kids, let’s remember that changing behaviour and habits won’t come about in two months. Your kids are still learning how to navigate this and it will take a while.
At the same time, let’s look to our children for lessons in how we can be more effective in our work. Our kids are going to be the leaders of tomorrow and they will bring into the workplace more open and visible ways of collaborating and doing things. In the meantime, they can teach us a great deal about sharing what we know, asking for help, being curious and telling it like it is.
