I’m a firm believer that the web is setting some serious standards for the way business operates and the way it is going to progress in the coming years.

As I’m experiencing the management and ownership of my own business (Aspiring Indie), I can’t help but wonder about what the next generation’s work environment is going to be like.

For one thing, I don’t believe we’re going to have many high ranking employees staffing many more businesses in the coming generation. We’re going to be seeing fewer and fewer “Directors of Marketing” and “Sales Managers” and “Head of Accountings“. We won’t see as many convoluted job titles and caveats within their descriptions. We will have a team where each job description is the same:

Problem solver.

Modern / Postmodern

One of my favorite analogies to the modern world and the alleged postmodern world, specifically how they differ, has to do with architecture. Modern architecture is represented by many of the world’s office buildings: cubicles, hallways and offices, all the same and preferably without decoration.

There is very little to differentiate one area from another. Within this mindset efficiency happens not only when we specialize (with lots of job descriptions) but also when we compartmentalize our working spaces.

The postmodern take on architecture is quite different. Where modern is in equal proportion postmodern is out of whack. Less decoration becomes tastefully head-turning art and creativity. Postmodern is seen in people’s homes, coffeehouses, and more specifically movie theaters.

If modernity has invaded the office then postmodernism has taken our leisure. And of course this fits right in, since the reality of postmodernism is a reaction to modernism and fits right in with society’s backlash against restriction and limits.

Effective Collaboration

Now turn to actual job descriptions and titles. Instead of efficiency through specialization we’re going to have effectiveness through collaboration.

There are a couple of reasons I would point that this shift is happening. First of all, this new generation of workers is much more talented than their parents and their parents’ parents were. These new workers went to college and (in some way, almost always) are artists. This creative/academic combination makes for a very powerful worker. It also makes someone unfit for the modern working world. Ironic, aye?

I would also say that new working environments are making it very easy to fade out a lot of what used to be very necessary positions in the workplace. What used to require teams and meetings and lots of time can now be done by one person with a decent amount of know-how.

What This Means for Employers and Employees

The first thing this could mean is that far more employees are going to be becoming employers. But they will also be employees. It’s wild. With so many opportunities to take advantage of personal gifts and talents, in all corners of industries and markets today, any employee with some determination can employ themselves (and maybe even a coworker or two).

Take blogging, for example: so many niche’s are yet to be exploited. There’s so much work to do online. But that isn’t the end of it. Every industry is being revolutionized by technology; the question is who’s going to go after those changes and be a part of it.

It’s also going to mean that employers will be seeing a different sort of employee. They’re going to see an employee who wants to work from home. And they’ll demand it. Before long, in this generation, we’ll see high end employers specifically touting that they support a remote working environment! This would be quite a change from the modern employment age of today.

*Note*: See “Best Buy’s results only working environment” from a year or so back to see how it’s all happening already.

What This Means Today

This means that a lot of things that haven’t normally been resume-worthy are now going to be. Blogging and online histories are going to be required right alongside schooling and skill sets.

Along with that, company blogging is becoming a standard, and more and more policies (and subsequent lawsuits) will develop because of it. This also means that having two jobs is no longer strange. In fact what used to not be considered a job will now become a job. Job descriptions and changing. And I can’t wait to see what they become.

Ryan

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Ryan Imel is a freelance designer out of the Midwest (USA). He runs a marketing/communications group called Aspiring Indie. Ryan also runs the Theme Playground where you can find lots of great tools and information about blogging and wordpress.