Why Don’t You Just Listen?!
Mindy Phillips is the Operations Director at Lightspeed Research – The Foresight Group
by Mindy Phillips
Not too long ago, one of my friends sent me a fun forward. One of those “you know you are a child of the 80’s when you know you are getting old when” emails. Now, I don’t know when 33 became “old” but as I read on, although really funny, I did notice that there is a difference between myself and others I work with. Even though the age difference isn’t that large, some days it feels larger than others.
This became evident to me a few weeks ago when I noticed frustration starting to build after project meetings where everyone seemed to understand what needed to be accomplished only to discover later that there were some who didn’t really get what needed to be done. Initially, I thought that maybe not enough detail was given or it was not explained clearly so I would help solve the issue by being clearer in my communications of steps needed, explain the whys and ask in the meeting to confirm their understanding of the to-dos. Yeah, I thought to myself, I am helping fix a problem. However, my triumph was short-lived when I still discovered that some still didn’t “get it”.
I found myself thinking, “Why don’t you just listen?!” Then, I ran across a SHRM article “3 Ways to Get More Out of Generation Y at Work”. One of the article’s points was that Generation Y processes information differently. More specifically, due to the sheer volume of information readily available from multiple media, they can’t take in all the information, so they don’t. This can lead to times “when they act like they “got it” but actually didn’t and tuned you out too quickly.”
Bingo! This was the exact situation I found myself in. Although explaining the whys was actually another strategy for working with Generation Y (hey, I didn’t get it all wrong) and being clear is always a good idea, this was never going to solve my “listening” issue. The article suggested creating accountability with technology using outlets such as email, text messaging and auto reminders to bring everyone on board. I have started asking team members to confirm to-do’s or understandings via email and I’ve found that it seems to be working out.
Understanding these simple differences will help Gen Yer’s be more productive. And those that manage them, more satisfied that they were heard and understood. So, even though my coworkers may not know what Willis was “talkin’ ‘bout” hopefully they will understand what I’m talking about.
Tags: behavior, cross-generational, dynamics, Generation Y, Generation Z, Generations, generations in the workplace, Millenials, wish to communicate
You can comment below, or link to this permanent URL from your own site.
