A great divide is going on in this country but I’m not talking about race, politics, the economy, or whether biological men should be allowed to play women’s sports. Oh wait, that was last month’s buzzworthy topic. I’m talking about the great divide between the baby boomers and millennials. They’re constantly at each other’s throats, speaking ill of one another all over social media, in the press, in emails and texts, and across cubicles. Boomers accuse them of being whiny, narcissistic, lazy, entitled, entirely too soft, and blame them for ruining the workplace. On the other hand, millennials accuse boomers of being unhealthy workaholics who are out-of-touch with technology, have archaic values, and ruined the economy and climate. Insults are thrown around so much it’s like witnessing a ping pong tournament between those two generations. Well, you know who opted out of that tournament and just sits on the sidelines, barely getting notice? My generation, Generation X.
If you were born between 1965 and 1979, you’re part of the badass, often forgotten, sandwich generation know as Generation X. We’re the middle child that grew up constantly being ignored and left to fend for ourselves, both in and outside the home. But now, we’re all grown up and being the middle child gives us a unique vantage point. We can relate to both boomers and millennials. We remember life both before and after cell phones and the internet dominated people’s time and changed the way we work and live. To some extent, we can understand both sides of the social issues we’re facing today. In that way, we operate in a gray space with one foot in the past and one foot in the future, whereas for most boomers and millennials, social issues are seen as black and white. We were raised to be bold, resourceful, independent thinkers because we were left to our own devices, and it’s served our generation well. We’re high achievers functioning in the background of society but hitting all our goals and creating our legacy, just the same.
In her recent article on Buzzfeed, Megan Liscomb says, “It all reminds me of the story of the tortoise and the hare. Generation X has the brazen, rebellious audacity of the hare, combined with the steadfast perseverance of the tortoise. I wouldn’t rule out Generation X just yet. I think our best days are in front of us!”
We are a generation not to be dismissed for sure. I think it’s time we come out of the shadows and use our resourcefulness and relatability to mediate between the boomers and millennials who despise each other so much, starting with helping them better communicate in the workplace.
Ways To Improve Communication In The Workplace
1. Provide multiple communication options for your employees.
Boomers prefer face-to-face conversations for the connection factor while millennials feel enough of a connection using phone, email, and text and prefer to communicate via those methods.
2. Create a balanced physical workplace.
Boomer Bob and Millennial Megan will have a harder time respecting each other’s viewpoints on projects when they barely know each other due to the fact they’re stuck in separate cubicles with high walls for eight hours a day. On the other hand, they might annoy the crap out of each other in a totally open office space in which they can hear the intimate details of each other’s phone calls. It’s best to create a balanced mix of available spaces including meeting rooms, quiet areas, and collaboration spaces,
3. Have a mirrored communication agreement.
Encourage your team members to respond to each other via the method the communication began to honor one another’s preference. For example, a millennial should reply to a boomer’s email via email and a boomer should reply to a millennial’s text via text.
4. Host Generational Trainings.
Boomers tend to have more challenges utilizing technology, while millennials tend to be more deficient in soft skills. Minimize the skill gap across generations by hosting educational trainings so your team members can feel more confident, perform competently, and improve communication.
Not a boss?
You can still make these suggestions to your boss in a respectful way. He
or she might even greatly appreciate you stepping up to help with this challenge that is all too familiar across workplaces in America.
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