Ways To Bridge The Generation Gap At Work

As a team manager, there are several things you have to take care of. From providing difficult feedback to employees to devising ways to deal with disrespect, a lot needs to be handled.

In addition to these, another common issue managers face is the generational gap causing conflict in teams. It is no secret that each generation – Veterans, Boomers, Gen X, Gen Y, Millennials – all have unique expectations, communication styles and needs.

Many companies nowadays have an amalgamation of generations at their workplace. The new generation helps bring new ideas to the business while the old employees ensure that the company does not stray from its course of action. However, this has led to several workplace conflicts.

Thus, there is a need to bridge this gap. There is a dire need for 21st-century leaders to learn tips and strategies to manage each generation effectively.

Mediation Services Winnipeg offers several courses conducted by renowned mediators. One of these courses caters to intergenerational workplace conflict.

Objectives Of The Course

Our workshop, ‘Generations at Work’, has been designed for managers and leaders so that they can understand and tackle the conflict. Most of us are not receptive to conflict, which is why we may not understand what lies at the core of these issues. Keeping this in mind, we have designed a module that will help you reach the following objectives:

• Learn the five generational work cultures in the workplace.
• Identify their generational work culture and the challenges of working with other generations.
• Examine the ways in which the five generations clash at work.
• Understand ways to effectively manage employees from all five generations.
• Understand what motivates you and other employees.
• Learn how to adapt your leadership style to motivate others.
• Differentiating between the “supportive coach” role and the “performance management accountability role”.

Bridge The Generation Gap At Work

Although diversity makes for a stronger workforce, there is a need to bridge the generation gap to ensure the team can work together efficiently and seamlessly. Some of the things you can do to bridge generational gaps are:

Don’t Rely On A Single Communication Channel

With remote work becoming more common and texting becoming the primary way we communicate with each other, older workers who are not familiar with these methods feel left out and frustrated. It is difficult for them to keep up with the rapid advancements.

Hence, if you have a team with several generations, it is important to provide a variety of communication channels. Don’t completely disregard older ways of communication such as phone calls and face-to-face meetings.

For this, you can implement a hybrid approach at the workplace where team members work remotely three times a week and come to the office for face-to-face meetings and set goals twice a week.

Two-way Coaching

Nobody is a know-it-all and there is room for learning no matter what designation you are employed at. Hence, implementing a two-way mentorship program can help with this. Each generation has something uniquely valuable to offer the other.

Hence, a great way to manage the generation gap is by developing a mentorship program within your organization. Millennials can teach the baby boomers about the new technology that can make the workplace more efficient while baby boomers can teach millennials all about the valuable real-world experiences they have gathered over the years.

Respect Should Be At The Front And Center

Developing a safe workplace for all generations is extremely important. If your employees don’t feel safe in their workplace, conflict is inevitable. Hence, teach all team members to be more open to listening to others. Whether it is ideas or inputs regarding certain tasks, each member of the team should feel that their own knowledge and contributions are being respected.

About Us

Mediation Services in Winnipeg offers training programs to help you learn mediation and leadership skills. We conduct online zoom and asynchronous webinars for different issues. Such modules will help you to improve your communication and solve family, workplace, and personal conflicts. To check out our training courses, visit this link here or contact us for further assistance.