Bridging the Generational Divide: How Millennials can collaborate effectively in the workplace
Before we can discuss bridging the divide, we must agree on the generational norms and labels that are tossed about oftentimes incorrectly. The following chart was constructed from information from the US Census Bureau.
Millennials grew up in the digital era with ever-increasing speed and availability of next generation mobile networks. Persistent communications permeated every aspect of life. While subject to many stereo-types, Millennials have brought their tools, attitudes and expectations to the office. And now as the largest population in the workforce, Millennials have ushered in a seismic shift in the way business is conducted, relying on mobile apps for almost everything.
Furthermore, Millennials are largely responsible for redefining the concept of remote or distributed work, so much so the distinction is arguably no longer particularly relevant. Consider colleagues collaborating on a project from different cities, different buildings in the same city, different floors in the same building or different offices on the same floor, or a combination of all the above — oftentimes it doesn’t really matter and increasingly the pros are outweighing the cons.
As such, Millennials are driving the discussion about what tools they expect to help them get their job done. To remain competitive, companies are scrambling to provide the necessary tools that help cut across organizational and generational boundaries. However, these tools often have social origins that are distracting, lack context and were simply not designed for business.
With this new way of working comes the need for a new set of solutions. Let’s not accept that businesses should sacrifice clarity, productivity and a system of record by making do with today’s texting and group chat apps. What if a team messaging platform was designed specifically for business? What if it co-opted email instead of trying to replace it and help facilitate this paradigm shift in distributed teams and work/life balance? Wouldn’t that add a new wrinkl to the equation and help bridge the generational divide?
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