GenXwords

Posts Tagged ‘GenY’

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Engaging multiple generations in your meetings

In Technology, Uncategorized, Work Values on August 12, 2010 at 3:07 pm

MEETINGS…in all their glory, are an obvious reoccurring theme in this blog.

I’ve gotten a lot of  feedback about my critique of meetings, largely from friends in the corporate or for-profit fields.  Often their comments sound  like this  “seriously?  I would walk out of a meeting that was that pointless, time is money” or “if somebody is multi-tasking in a meeting, either the meeting doesn’t have enough focus, or the people in your meeting are the wrong ones”.   Interesting points….which makes me ask if meetings in the non-profit and public sector are different from those in the for profit world.  The ultimate goal of the for profit industry is to make more money-so naturally meetings would be a strategy to make this happen.  The goal of organizations in the non-profit sector is varied and sometimes foggy. This reality can create a meeting monster that results in confusion of the meeting purpose and varying levels of disengagement from those in the meeting.  Engaging people in a meeting with a foggy goal or purpose is difficult at best.  Add generational differences in how we define the goals and purpose of organizations and it gets uglier.

One strategy for success in negotiating this mess is good meeting management & understanding how to engage people of all generations in meetings. I’ve discussed the purpose of meetings  in other posts but how we build our agendas, what we do in meetings and how we deal with the need to engage our volunteers and staff  is worth more discussion.

How to engage gen X you ask?  Well….here is an example of how not to engage younger generations….

I recently sat through a two-hour meeting where all we did was share information about what we were busy doing, tasks people planned to do and information on things we could do.  I think eating a dirt sandwich would be more enjoyable and worthwhile.  I would rather hear about what you accomplished and how it has resulted in change or allow me to chime in with my thoughts about a decision that needs to be made. Spending valuable face to face time just chatting about information I could spend 5 minutes reading in a written report is not a good use of my time.  I would prefer to come to a meeting to make a decision, share information you are not able to get elsewhere and capitalize on the group dynamic to get discussion and movement toward a common goal.

But that is just me.

I’ve observed that some people find great value in spending entire meetings sharing information and talking about activities, namely boomers and traditionalists.  The process of sharing information is a strategy left over from days where instant electronic messages, online information sharing and anytime/anyplace communication strategies were not so prevalent.  You had to wait until you saw a person face to face to get their report-or wait for snail mail to send it to you after somebody typed it out on a typewriter.  Meeting agenda’s are still built around “old business” and “new business”, committee reports etc. . It is an unusual meeting agenda that is built around what outcomes have resulted from activities or what decisions do we need to make today in this meeting.

The solution?….. having a meeting with a good healthy mix of strategy and creative management for the group you are leading.  First, be clear about why you are meeting.  Meeting for the sake of meeting is not quite at the level of Dante’s seven deadly sins…but seriously, be clear with your purpose of bringing people together.  Second, allow for sharing time for those that prefer that process.  Third, add in decisions that need to be made and outcomes that can be reported on from activity of the group.  If possible, ask the group what amount of each process they prefer.  If you have an entire group of GenX’ers I would guess you’d want to have written reports on progress/activity and spend more time on dialogue leading to decision-making.   Big group of boomers?….more time on sharing.

At the very least…consider your meeting management in the context of  generational difference.  Discuss what processes your group prefers and how to build your agenda around it.  I would bet the result would be more engagement and better  progress toward your goal.

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Connectivity & GenX. Gift, curse or just annoying?

In Technology on June 10, 2010 at 9:06 am

A typical day in my life consists of sitting in an uncomfortable chair around a conference room table, discussing problems and solutions.  To make such meetings more bearable and interesting, I like to challenge my mind to listen (and even participate from time to time) while multi-tasking in my mind.  Such multi-tasking elicits blog post ideas, grocery store lists, emails I have to construct later, vacation plans etc.

Just yesterday, while in a board meeting, I was deep in my typical multi-task meeting mode (otherwise known as MTMM) and looked up to see the three other GenX’ers in the meeting doing the very same thing.  One was texting the other who was sitting down the table, another looking at his calendar on his iPhone, another googling a topic we were discussing in the meeting. Before you lambast us for using our smart phones while in a meeting take note of this…of the 25+ people in this meeting, 70% of those participating in the meeting were the very same GenX’ers.  We were engaged, we were participating, we were focused, we were all in MTMM.

GenerationX is the first generation to have grown up adapting to rapid changes in technology and connectivity.  Unlike the millenials who were born into a world where electronic multi-tasking (such as emails, texting, SMS, IM) is the norm, or the boomers who have had to make an extra effort as adults to adapt to using technology…generation X was the first to put connectivity to work, professionally and personally.

Paving the electronic connectivity road for younger generations while acting as a model for older generations may have a cost.  As discussed in a recent New York Times article titled “Your Brain on Computers: Hooked on Gadgets and Paying the Mental Price“, the curse of electronic multi-tasking can be high.

However, the skeptical and analytical X’er in me points out that all multi-taskers, electronic or otherwise, must always weigh costs and benefits.  Electronic connectivity has not changed the necessity for balance.  The appeal of the anytime anywhere multi-tasking that connectivity allows only amplifies what we’ve known for ages-we must weigh the benefit of being connected with the cost to authentic human connection. A topic worthy of its own blog post.

So my answer to the title of this post is…connectivity is a gift with strings. I’m proud to be a part of a generation and time that has made technological connectivity work.  If you don’t share my love for MTMM, I challenge you to consider the benefit  next time you see an X’er or Millenial electronic multi-tasking.  Ask them how they balance the benefits with the costs.  You might just learn something.

For those of you who do enjoy a little electronic multi-tasking, test your ability to focus with this distractibility test created at Stanford.  I bet you can’t beat my score.

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Generational differences….real or just a marketing & advertising strategy?

In Defining Events, Generation demographics, Uncategorized, Work Values on May 27, 2010 at 5:44 pm

Baby Boomers, Generation X, Millenials, Traditionalists….all terms derived originally for the purpose of marketing and advertising to different demographic groups.  Labels used to define similar values, life experiences and defining events that will guide consumer buying patterns.

I ask you…are differences between generations enough to move beyond mere consumer habits and ultimately define a cultural group?  Will discussion of difference produce more than buying patterns?  Is there enough difference that studying or discussing such difference will lend insight into improved leadership,  management and outcomes of the organizations we pour our life’s work into?

Yes.

It is obvious that the world around us is changing and it is happening fast.  The challenges that non-profits face are increasing while the demographic group that has traditionally provided staff and board leadership in such organizations is in flux. The non-profit and public sectors are undergoing an evolution themselves, negotiating new funding demands, changing needs of the populations they are serving and a public that is increasingly savvy about where their dollar is spent.  Providing for and supporting leadership transition has never been more important.

What are these substantial differences you ask?  Check out this chart. It is one of the most complete looks at differences in values, communication strategies, influences, preferred work environment, attributes and skills that I’ve seen.  It focuses on significant differences while suggesting similarities.

Back to the title of this post…recognizing real difference is just as imperative to understanding one another as recognizing our similarities. Such understanding and recognition will allow for deeper interpersonal connection while helping to negotiate the demographic shift that is upon us in our organizations and communities.

Now go study that chart, I will be quizing you on it later.

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setting the stage….

In Generation demographics on February 1, 2010 at 9:08 am

Upon testing the idea of this blog out with friends of multiple generations, common responses were “can’t we all just get along?”  and “well we are all here {in the non-profit world} for the same reason, social change.  So I don’t see a problem working with many generations” and my personal favorite “oh yeah, you Gen X’ers think you are so different, if you’d just commit to your work there would be no issues.”

I ask myself…..do values really differ across generations? Is there truly a crisis in numbers looming in the future of non-profit leadership? Is the business of non-profits changing?

In typical Generation X fashion….I consult the web for the answers of such questions.  Then I order a few books on Amazon…and read a few blogs.

Low and behold…the answer to all the above questions is a resounding YES. The impending crisis has to do with numbers, values AND a changing work place.

The numbers break down as follows (disclaimer: slight variance on year spread by generation, depending upon source):

  • Traditionalists (1925-1945) and Boomers (1946-1964) account for 160 Million people
  • Generation X (1965-1979) numbers are a fraction of the previous generations-typically approximated at 45 million
  • Generation Y/Millennials rival the boomers in size, about 80 million
  • A national study in 2006 predicted that there would be over 640,000 vacation non-profit senior management positions over the next decade, more than double existing in 2006.

Values….a big discussion worthy of more blog posts which will surely follow this one.  To summarize, there are big differences between management style & hierarchy; motivation to choose non-profit career; emphasis on process vs. results in the work place; conflict resolution and work styles.

All research related to generations and the workplace point to the general conclusion that not only are the people in the non-profit work place changing, but the workplaces themselves are changing.

I come back to the question “can’t we all just get along?.”  My answer is this….it is far more complex and begins with setting the stage, understanding the actors, recognizing the difference in how we act and how all these factors influence the evolving non-profit workplace.

 

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