Introduction to Working across Generations

What you’ll learn to do: Discuss different strategies for talking to individuals from a different generation

Three people of different ages sitting on a bench. The person on the left is in the 30-40 year-old range, the person in the middle is in the 5-10 year old range, and the person on the left has a cane and is in the 60-75 year old range. We are shaped not only by our DNA but by our times. Imagine how different your priorities and values might be if your formative experience included the New Deal versus Watergate, space exploration versus the World Wide Web, WWII versus 9/11, or Civil Rights versus school shootings.

Our methods of communication—the skills we develop and the tools we use—are also a product of our times and technologies. In this section, we will explore how generational differences manifest in the workplace, both in terms of language used and preferred methods of communication.