Sandra McCann is a Linux and open source advocate. She's worked as a software developer, content architect for learning resources, and content creator. Sandra is currently a content creator for Red Hat in Westford, MA focusing on Ansible.
Sandra McCann
Authored Comments
There is an interesting intersection of ideas here. There's the intersection of responsibility for correcting the issue of under-utilization - the manager and the associate exist in this space, and both take part in the responsibility and the correction. Then there's the intersection of boredom and under-utilization. My first thought was boredom is something separate, but then I re-read Sam's comment '.. isn’t just about volume of work, but also about how meaningful someone’s work really is to them." And that's where I shifted my thoughts. If I'm bored, am I also underutilized? Small bouts of boredom can happen. Who wants to spell-check their writing and then go about fixing it :-) Longer bouts of boredom though lead back to the idea of meaningful engagement. If as an associate, I find myself more and more bored, that sounds like a symptom of my lack of engagement or finding meaning and purpose in what I'm doing.
And then we have the intersection of company value/meaning and personal value/meaning - My boredom could be that I don't 'get it' in terms of how my work is important, adding value to the organization or our customers, or how my little slice fits into the larger organizational puzzle to create that whole picture. But then, my boredom could be something more. It could be that I'm not correctly engaged at the intersection of what the organization needs, what my capabilities are, and where my interests are. That's the ultimate sweet spot. If I find that, then I find the space where my passion and skills fill the need of my organization.
And that brings me back to the original intersection of responsibility. I'm responsible for recognizing the signs of potential under-utilization and bringing it up to my manager, and together we are responsible for uncovering the root cause(s) and an action plan to address them.
Lots to think about here, Sam!
(ps - and yes, I did just get a little bored fixing my typos here before I hit 'save' on the comment ;-)
Wow, I feel like a gen-Z wanna-be now :-) Some great motivators listed. I especially like this 'tour of duty' idea. So much of a traditional workplace is set up to do one tasks, or a set of related tasks...again and again. Even in highly technical areas, this is fundamentally what is happening. I'd love to hear more about how to integrate 'tours of duty' within an organization!