The Millennial Generation Knows What They Want—Do You?

 

Earlier this week I was reading Jo Ann Sweeney's blog, How to Come Alongside Generation Y, which addresses some of the issue associated with engaging this empowered and tech-savvy generation within the workforce. Jo Ann's post is well worth reading.

She starts by bringing up a couple of concerns she is hearing expressed regarding Gen Y:

1. Their expectations are unrealistic within the current economic climate, but it's felt that if they aren't met they will leave for greener pastures
2. They are not engaged in the traditional communication activities that take place in most organiztaions ("How do we get them to pay attention?" seems to be the question).

"...I hear a subliminal message that says 'we want to keep Gen Y because they are our future managers and leaders; but on our terms not theirs.' If I can hear this then Gen Y probably does as well," writes Sweeney. "In the second issue I sense a mindset among communication professionals who have got stuck in a rut. The way they have been managing activities has been working well and they haven't realised it is time to change."

We are working with the most empowered and savvy group of young people to ever enter the workforce (at least during the thirty years of my career). Their expectations regarding compensation and advancement are set at a higher pace than previous generations. This doesn't mean that they are expecting to be compensated like the CEO, but they are looking for a career path and a plan for advancement. And, that plan should be communicated with them so they know what to expect.

We also need to realize that they have been working and collaborating within teams since they were children in elementary school, we don't need to teach them how to collaborate, we need to facilitate an environment where it can happen and get out of the way.

"Okay, so what does this mean for todays' leaders and managers?" asks Sweeney.

Sweeney hits the nail on the head (in my opinion) when she suggests that "Gen Y'ers want to work on their terms, they are curious and self directed and keen to deliver results—the mindset of autonomy, mastery and purpose."

Basically, they want the very thing that will help project teams and ultimately our organizations succeed—control over what they do, how they do it, when they do it and whom they do it with. There is no question in my mind that we need to step back from the traditional command-and-control management methods of the last 50 to 100 years and rethink how we manage the individuals that make up our project teams. They were hired because they were smart and capable people—isn't it time that we stepped back and allowed them to use their smarts to solve problems, create new ideas and invent the products that will ultimately change the world?

Sweeney suggests that we change the way we communicate with them—I agree. Doesn't it makes sense to incorporate the metaphors that are familiar platforms to them for collaboration into the project management process? Social media has proven to be the way this generation communicates with each other. Part of communicating with people is discovering how our audience will best receive our message, nowhere is this more important than within a project team tasked to solve problems and get things accomplished.

I'm sure there is now a lot of chaffing at incorporating Twitter or Facebook into the process. I am not advocating that. But I am suggesting that something Twitter-like or Facebook-like could prove invaluable to encourage communication and facilitate an environment which makes collaboration about work feel natural. Engaging the workforce in the process is critical to successful projects. I think it's time we took a fresh look at how we manage teams and realize that the way we've been doing it just isn't working anymore (I have my doubts as to whether or not it ever really did).

What's your experience working with the Millennial Generation?

Thanks Jo Ann for bringing this up. This is an important discussion that deserves much more than a single blog post. I hope we will continue to talk about these issues within our individual spheres of influence within and without our organizations.