Managing and Communicating with Inter-Generation Team

For the first time in modern history, people from five generations must regularly interact with each other in the workplace. At first, the challenges of understanding how those from other generations think can seem like an insurmountable task. However, with the right approach in place to managing generational differences, organizations can capitalize on the value each group brings to the office.

This interactive workshop provides a large view of generations at work and explores best practices for managing a generationally diverse group.

By the end of this training, participants will be able to:

• Outline the five active generations working in business and industry today
• Explore the historical and cultural events, as well as the figures of each generation
• Understand the core strengths, assets, and values of each generation
• Strategies for communicating, collaborating, and managing a multigenerational workforce
• Understand the power of leveraging differences and finding similarities within a team

Introducing the 5 distinctive groups

During this opening discussion, participants will work through a series of interactive activities that will introduce them to the five generations: 

• Generational Engagement

Introduces you to how each generation learns, what they fear, their approach to work, their engagement triggers, if and why they need a mentor, and how to build culture with each generation.

• Generational Value

Introduces you to triggers and symptoms of communication breakdown that destroy a team member’s sense of value, causing them to quit or to quit working; including how generations frame feedback, how they articulate anger, and typical responses by generations to not feeling valued.

• Generational Trust

 This unit introduces you to cultural roadblocks that prevent trust from developing between generations, thereby limiting overall productivity including how to reward team members, what drives trust, leadership perception, and attachment to vision and mission.

The Business Impact of Generational Diversity

Demographics have shifted significantly in recent years, and the workforce looks very different than it did a half a century ago. A large group of people is nearing retirement, and another significant cohort is entering professional life or already in the early stages of it. Somewhere in between is a smaller group that, in addition to work, is often tasked with the demands associated with raising children and looking after aging parents. The point is, each group has a unique set of needs and expectations. What’s important to people varies at different stages of their lives. This segment explores generational expectations and preferences related to such activities as recruiting, retention, customer service, communication, and working in a team.

Managing External Relationship

The traditionalist wants to receive correspondence by U.S. mail, the Boomer is fine with email or a phone call, the people from Generation X want to login to an account and talk to no one, and the newest group will engage via text or social media. Of course, people from all generations will use a range of channels, but like it or not, groups do tend to have a preference for one over another. This part of the course looks at

• Communication practices
• How members of different generations most often prefer to engage.

Mixing It All Together: Five Principles for Keeping It Simple

 In this final segment, we will try our hand at

• Future casting and attempt to predict what’s coming five to ten years down the road
• Skills practice five key principles to simplify intergenerational interactions.

TEACHING AND LEARNING PROCESS

• Interactive workshops.
• Practical on-the-job application.
• Reflections  Online resources and activities

Practice & Simulation of Mini MBA on Managing and Communicating with Inter-Generation Team

Post Test; Lesson Learned and Evaluation

Commitment and Action Plan