!["Don’t force [millennials] to work traditional 9 – 5 but do expect [them] to finish and make things better.," says workplace communication expert Mary Donohue.](https://globalnews.ca/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/gettyimages-86278875.jpg?quality=85&strip=all&w=1200)
Do you ever feel totally disconnected from your boss? Or maybe you’re a manager who just can’t seem to get through to an employee.
The generational communication gap (that often exists between company leaders and staff) plagues workplaces everywhere, according to Mary Donohue of Donohue Learning. She studies “why work sucks and what we can do about it.”
“Bad communication is one of the reasons work sucks,” she said at last week’s TEDX Toronto.
“When work sucks, it affects the rest of your life.”
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Considering how much time we spend toiling away — and how toxic and draining the workplace can be for some — Donohue says there’s a “lot of people whose life has a large ‘suckage’ component.”
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A 2015 Gallup poll found 70 per cent of people are not engaged with work. That means they operate “well below the efficiency they should.”
David Grossman, author of You Can’t Not Communicate says data shows the “cumulative cost per worker per year due to productivity losses resulting from communications barriers” is $26,041.
So what can we do about it? Donohue believes work will “suck less” with improved communication between the different generations.
The key is to understand what makes them tick.
Communication rules for each generation
(Donohue says: “Keep in mind each academic institution has its own views on the birth years.”
1. Baby boomers (born before 1960) – the “builders”
What’s shaped them: When they were coming of age, “radio was king, the newspapers ruled, and debates where based on facts and logic,” said Donohue. “Not slogans and rhetoric.”
They lived through the Cuban missile crisis, and likely remember where they were when they heard JFK was assassinated.
They are “the architects of today’s bureaucracies, companies, and volunteer structures.”
What drives them: Legacy creation.
What frustrates them: Not being heard and when people are on their phones.
Millennials can also annoy the heck out of them.
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You can tell they’re in distress when they start to speak faster and louder.
How they process information: Through words. They’re “conversation clever.”
How to diffuse them: Don’t cut them off.
“They love to talk, that’s their soother,” Donohue told Global News.
So hear them out or you’ll have to read their thoughts in a lengthy email.
They need to have their worth acknowledged, whether it’s as a worker, parent, or friend.
When they’re upset, it can help to use auditory sentence patterning like: “So what you are saying is…” or “I heard you say…”
2. Generation X (born between 1960 and 1980) – the “doers”
What’s shaped them: This was the first generation to graduate into a recession and face massive lay-offs.
“We all suffer from the Prince Charles syndrome,” said Donohue. “We are waiting for Boomers to step down so we can take charge and finally make some changes.”
They’re very independent — a tough entrepreneurial bunch whose motto is “do more with less.” Just like Bruce Willis in all those Die Hard movies.
Unlike the Boomers, they prefer short and easily scannable emails.
What drives them: Money and fear of being fired.
What stresses them: Work and the fear of losing it.
You might be able to tell they’re in distress if they’re slumped with their head to the right.
“They won’t get mad, they’ll withdraw.”
Then they’ll offer to take on everything themselves.
How they process information: Visually. They’re the “TV generation.”
This is where inter-generational communication starts to break down.
“Where Boomers need to talk, Gen Xers need to create pictures…[They] love pictures so much they made PowerPoint.”
How to diffuse them: Suggest they make a deck or illustrate something on a whiteboard.
Ask them questions like: Can you picture what I am saying? Can you provide more detail? What would that look like?
Help them deal with their fears by drawing up a list of worst-case scenarios and allowing them to come up with a plan for how to deal with them.
3. Millennials (born between 1980 to 2000) – the “adapters”
What’s shaped them: This group grew up with parents who scheduled and organized their world.
“No surprise then that they work very well when given detail and structure but not in a traditional environment.”
They don’t have a lot of trust in institutions. They’ve seen everyone from presidents to banks lie with little to no consequences.
In their quest for transparency and accountability, they created platforms like Yelp, Ratemyprofessor.com, Airbnb and Uber.
“They post their thoughts on executives, managers companies – they share everything,” said Donohue.
They’re the YouTube generation.
What drives them: Development.
What stresses them: Not being given the opportunity to grow.
A frustrated millennial may start to fidget. His head might also go down as he processes information.
“And then he reaches for his phone.”
How they process information: By doing.
How to diffuse them: Ask for their input and give them flexibility.
“Tell them exactly what you want and when. Encourage them to ask why. Then leave them alone.”
Don’t force them to work traditional 9–5 hours.
READ MORE: Millennials and the changing world of work
4. Generation “Z” (those born after 2000) is going to be “brilliant,” according to Donohue.
This generation is the most connected — whether it’s on Instagram, Snapchat or YouTube.
They travel in packs, hate being alone, and are always with their phones.
When they were young, their parents may have given them a phone or iPad to calm them down. Now they crave those devices when they’re stressed.
“Technology is their soother.”
“So places that aren’t allowing Facebook … they’re ridiculous,” Donohue argued. “Why are you doing that? Your job is to make them less stressed so they can do more work.”
You can learn more about the generational gap in the chart below:
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