Having a multigenerational team in your organization is a benefit. Leading a multigenerational workforce allows you to learn from each generation’s unique vision of what their workplace should look like.
Business leaders have between 3 to 15 direct reports, and chances are that they’re from various generations. In order to leverage this diversity, we need to understand our biases, so we can serve our direct reports and leverage the strengths that they are bringing to the group.
Karen’s Tips for Leading a Multigenerational Workforce:
- Create an environment for open dialogue. This will take time and effort.
- Be flexible and really listen to recommendations from your team.
- Provide specific, regular feedback, and ask for confirmation on the feedback.
- Avoid stereotypes. Each person is unique.
- Vary your communication approaches.
Recommended Reading: One book that addresses this topic in great depth and with academic rigor is Work With Me: A New Lens on Leading the Multigenerational Workforce.
Our goal should ultimately be to achieve better productivity, engagement and retention with a multigenerational team.
It’s a tall order to address the needs and preferences of so many different groups of employees at once. But fostering a culture of productive collaboration and mutual respect starts from the top down.
Brandman University
I’d love to hear about the most difficult obstacles you’ve faced managing a multigenerational team in the comments down below.
If you need help overcoming those obstacles, feel free to get in touch!