In my last blog (see previous post: How to Speak So Each Generation Will Listen), I discussed the Traditionalists, the generation that was born between 1924-1945. In this blog, I'm going to discuss what events shaped the Baby Boomer psyche and what key words to use when talking with them. As a reminder:

Who are the four generations?

Traditionalists: Born between 1924-1945
Baby Boomers: Born between 1946-1964
Generation X: Born between 1965-1980
Generation Y: Born between 1981-2000

Each of these generations was influenced by certain events that shaped their psyche during their formative years. The formative years tend to take place 10-20 years after a person was born, so let’s look at the events that shaped each generation during their formative years.

Baby Boomers
Born between 1946-1964
Formative years between approx. 1957-1974

One of the dominant events that shaped this generation was the assassination of JKF, MLK and Robert Kennedy; every Boomer remembers where s/he was when JFK was shot. (Do you? If not, you're likely Gen X or Gen Y!) The Vietnam War also had a huge impact on Boomers. From these dramatic events, they saw that they had to band together so their voices could be heard and changes could be made. They learned that they could indeed change the world if they collaborated as a whole.

Details are important to Boomers, since they saw that legislative details made the difference in stopping the Vietnam War and starting the civil rights movement. The man landing on the moon also impacted this generation; it showed them that anything was possible and the sky literally was the limit. On that momentous day, they learned that nothing was impossible for a Boomer!

Free love was a big influence during this era. This allowed Boomers to explore themselves, as well as the world; they are still a dominant force in the travel industry. Finally, they are also the first generation where a majority went to college and climbed up the corporate ladder; consequently they are time stressed as they struggle to manage 60-hour workweeks.

As a result of these events, Boomers tend to be idealistic, politically correct, consensus-driven and cause-driven. They also tend to break the rules and truly want to change the world for the better.

Now that you understand which events shaped this generation, and how Boomers view the world, how can you best connect with them? You use key words that resonate with them. When you do this, they then feel understood and are willing to listen to you. You build rapport, so they will engage with you more willingly. If you continue to use their key words, you will have an effective conversation with them, simply by using their own language.

Key Words for Boomers

* Make a difference
* Consensus/team
* Experiment/try new things
* "Imagine if..."
* Save time
* Features and benefits

So if you’re trying to convince a Boomer to launch a new website, you would say something like “The team feels that launching this website will make a big difference to the success of our company. We've tried some new features; the BB widget will save our employees 2 hours/week. Imagine what would happen if we all had an extra 2 hours in our day. It's a win-win for everyone!"

You wouldn’t use the same language when trying to convince a Gen Y, Gen X or Traditionalist to launch a new website. They have their own key words that resonate best with them. Yet using the Boomer key words, and understanding the Boomer psyche, will help you bridge the cultural gap.

Remember, you will not succeed when trying to change a generational perspective. You will only succeed when tailoring your pitch to each generation. In other words, speak their language. When you do this, they feel more connected to you and more willing to answer your questions. This then helps you overcome their objections and move forward.

My next two blogs will cover the key words to use for Gen X and Gen Y. Until then, practice your Boomer language and let me know how it goes!

Gen Y loves to multitask. Contrary to popular belief multitasking does not help productivity. The first efficiency loss is the time lost to mentally "switching" between tasks. Why? Two different things have to occur in our brains when we change tasks. First we have to "goal switch", mentally deciding to go from project A to email. Then we have to "rule switch", which means we have to think "No longer think about project A; now think about email". For each switch there might only a second loss of time. But those seconds add up over weeks and months.

In addition, studies indicate that multitasking can result in as much as a 44% drop in efficiency. The inevitable result is a drop in quality. Not many people can afford to forfeit almost half of their efficiency or quality. If Hilda is working at half of her abilities, but still expects to churn out the same amount of work, she will undoubtedly have to lower the quality of her output to achieve this goal. Not exactly what Hilda's manager expects from her employee!

Certainly everyone is able to multitask certain actions that they feel are almost automatic. Ben is an accomplished data programmer and chatterbox. It might be simple for him to input simple data and simultaneously carry on a conversation without experiencing much loss in productivity. Why? Because when we do something enough, we train ourselves to perform it almost automatically and thus can still be efficient while doing one other task.

However, this rule does not apply for a non-automatic task, or when trying to do more than one other task at the same time. In other words, Ben can input data and talk about last night's football game without a loss in productivity. However, he could not effectively input data, talk about the game and check email at the same time. Nor could he learn a new program and chat about the game. In either case, something will have to give, which means a loss in productivity or quality on one, two or all three fronts.

When looking at time management with Gen Y, it's important to help them differentiate between being busy and being productive. Perhaps Mary is sitting at her desk developing a new product line. She is having trouble focusing and decides to switch her focus to the sales of the existing line, to give her some ideas for the new line. Her email icon pops up on her screen so she switches over to check her inbox; just then Brian asks her a question about her expertise. She gladly welcomes his interruption and spends some extra minutes helping him understand a concept. Before she realizes it, Mary has just spent an hour accomplishing next to nothing. She was busy the entire time, but not productive in the least. Busy being busy is not the same as busy being productive.

There is certainly something to be said for taking mental breaks to reduce stress and potentially improve performance, but it is also important to keep the focus on being productive. This concept is often hard for young workers to accept because Gen Y believes in their own abilities to achieve anything they set their mind to. What they may need however, is some help doing it more efficiently than they would on their own. That's where an effective manager comes in.

Here is some advice for all generations, and especially Gen Y, on time management skills:

Minimize Multitasking

As a manager, make all employees aware of the pitfalls of multitasking; just making them aware can help avoid the pitfalls. Play a game or have some employees do their own multi-tasking case study. Getting Gen Y's involved in their own solution is an effective way to work with the new generation.

No one is going to stop all multitasking, but if you want maximum results, then it's time to minimize it. Try doing just two tasks at once, one of which is an automatic reflex task. Minimizing to 2 tasks, and 2 windows open on your screen, will immediately increase your effectiveness and work quality.

Group Tasks into Similar Buckets

David Allen, the time management guru of Getting Things Done recommends grouping tasks and writing everything down, to clear your head of clutter. Make lists and group them by theme, such as phone calls, emails and meeting agendas. This will do two things: reduce task switching in your brain and prioritize your workload.

Remember to do this every night, before you go home. Otherwise, you'll get caught in email and vm as soon as you enter the office and end up only being busy instead of being productive.


Focus, Focus, Focus

Realtors say that everything is location, location, location. I believe in focus, focus, focus. Don't let yourself be distracted by every nanotask that comes your way. Focus on what's important, not what's urgent. And focus on what's productive, not just busy.

To do this, set internal rules for how often you check email and vm/day (Tim Ferris of The Four Hour Workweek recommends two-three times/day). I know...you just gasped. But email begets email. Answer each email thoroughly and then move on to more important tasks.

Be Human

Gen Y's love to be connected, both online and offline. Get them offline more often and online a little less often. One rule of thumb is "If you're talking to just me, then let's talk in person, or on the phone if I'm out of the office. And if you're talking to a group, then use a conference call, video or email." Otherwise, everyone gets copied on every email, which wastes time and energy.


Make Time for Yourself

Block uninterrupted time every week for projects that require uninterrupted thinking. It takes time to execute a complex spreadsheet or report; don't let the quality decrease just because you were distracted by less complex tasks.


Avoid Micromanaging

Micro managing not only steals precious time, but it also demoralizes the Gen Y generation. Explain what you want, chunk it down, set boundaries and time frames and then walk away. You will need to check-in with the employee often about the project, but that's different from micro managing.

A check-in looks like "How's that project going Jerrell?" What challenges are you facing? Where do you need some support?"

Micromanaging looks like "How's the project going Jerrell? Why did you use that format? Why didn't you use that system, like I suggested?"

Give yourself and your Gen Y employee a break. Check-in more and micro-manage less.


Here's to a productive and effective 2009 with every generation at work!

Mitre Corporation, a public interest company, has found a creative way to get the best out of generational workplace differences. It's called reverse mentoring. "There's a long standing feeling that there's a communication barrier between more experienced employees and new hires. Senior leaders are looking for ways to engage the digital natives (employees who have launched their career in the Internet era) - they want to take advantage of the energy and ideas the new hires are bringing to the table" says Julia High in the Nov/Dec 2008 issue of Mitre Matters: "Talking 'Bout My Generation" by Tricia Bailey.

Having "digital natives" and "digital immigrants" (employees who did not launch their career during the Internet era) is a win-win solution. Both sides get the chance to offer their expertise and generational knowledge to the entire organization. Consequently, Baby Boomers will not only understand wikis (a web site that can be edited by a group) and tweets (frequent, brief updates on the micro-blogging site Twitter), but more importantly, they will use these "Gen Y" tools to increase their effectiveness and performance.

These Web 2.0 tools are often seen as irrelevant to "real work" by Boomers. Yet when a tool such as instant messaging is used for remote office communication, it creates a virtual water cooler and social network, which leads to increased creativity and engagement. In addition, Twitter, the micro-blogging site, can help geographically separated teams build trust, stay connected and communicate more effectively. Studies show that managers who use these tools are better equipped to manage teams that use these same tools in their work projects. In other words, Boomers who use these tools are better equipped to manage their Gen Y employees.

Bob McKee ended the article by saying, "Mentoring today is a two-way street. Reverse mentoring is unique because it facilitates a conversation with Generation Y and the digital curmudgeons like me who still print out their email. We're learning about one another's culture and how to live in it." Now that's a win-win!

What does Gen Y and Obama's upcoming inaugural speech have in common? Gen Y Jon "Favs" Favreau, Obama's chief speechwriter. 27-year old Favs shared a house with 6 roommates in Chicago a few months ago; soon he'll be working at the White House and living in a Dupont Circle condo. How did Obama and Favs create this synergy to write the most anticipated speech in history? And what can business managers learn from this collaboration between Gen Y and the president-elect?

Set Clear Expectations
According to the Washington Post, Obama meets with Favs for an hour to outline his ideas and expectations for every speech. Favs then drafts his ideas; Obama later edits the speech. They then work on the final version together.

Although Gen Y employees value connection and communication, they do not value micro management. A Gen Y "dream boss" would outline the big picture of the project and then leave the Gen Y employee alone to do his job, with the understanding that they will have regular meetings about the project. This gives the Gen Y employee the freedom, connection and communication he craves.

A Gen Y "loser boss" would assign a project without the big picture, and then constantly micro manage the project. This not only wastes the boss' time, but it also disempowers the Gen Y employee. How do you rank on managing your Gen Y employees?

Accept Limitations
Favs and his team have to transition from all-night speech writing with pizza and Red Bull, to working with a much larger team in the White House. This is a big leap for a 27-year old; as he says "My biggest strength isn't the organization thing." So other speechwriters have volunteered to work with him to train the new hires.

Being a strong leader means focusing on the strengths and minimizing the weaknesses in each employee. Notice that Obama didn't say, "Well, you're a good speechwriter and now you need to be a good manager too". Instead he let Favs focus on what he does best, while others supported Favs in what he does not do best...the "organization thing". Does this mean that your Gen Y employees can do what they want and forget the mundane tasks? No. But it does mean that as a leader you accept your employee's limitations within reason, and then work with that employee to improve her weaknesses.

State the Facts
Favs drafted the Democratic National Convention speech but Obama thought it lacked direction, so he re-wrote it. They then worked together on Obama's version of the speech for 3 days.

Many managers are tip-toeing around Gen Y employees. This does a disservice to the employee, as well as the manager. Gen Y values direct feedback; they respect managers who give them the straight facts. So don't be afraid to say, "This isn't working" like Obama did to Favs. Then work with the Gen Y employee and show him what you're looking for, so he has a clear idea of what's expected. Otherwise, you'll end up doing more work yourself and the Gen Y employee will end up dissatisfied and unmotivated.

Respect Working Differences
Apparently Favs likes to literally move around when working, to prevent his writing from getting stale. He'll often write on his laptop at a Starbucks, in his condo, at the office, and in another Starbucks, all in one day. This may seem odd to a Baby Boomer, but it's normal for Gen Y.

Did Obama say, "Do it my way. Work in the office for 8 hours straight."? No, he understood that Gen Y likes to move when working, so he let Favs work in his own way. He didn't place restrictions on Favs; he just insisted that the job get done well.

So should you let your Gen Y employee work like Favs? Not necessarily. But remember that the results are as important as the process. So if your Gen Y employee takes more frequent breaks than you, or works different hours than you, don't panic. Just insist that the results happen on time and respect your working differences.

Let Gen Y Be Gen Y
When Favs is exhausted he reportedly does what any 27-year old would do: send prank emails, dance and play video games into the morning. He posed with a cutout of Hillary Clinton, which then got posted on Facebook. The reporters found it and started questioning his maturity level. This could have created a huge political scene, but Obama let it go. Why? I don't know for sure, but any good leader knows to let Gen Y be Gen Y. Give them some space and let them have fun.

What does this mean for you? Make the cafeteria fun with games and music, create office contests with video games and offer collaborative incentives. Gen Y likes to have fun; as long as they get the job done, then let the fun begin!

These are just five tips for working with Gen Y. Try adopting one tip for a week and see what happens. You won't be getting a call to join the White House, but you will get the best out of your Gen Y employee!