e-Tips

I’ve been thinking about what teamwork and teammates mean today, and how meanings and perceptions have changed.  Often I look to baseball, a passion of mine, as some of you know. As a New Yorker and a Mets fan (an atypical conversion from the rabid Yankees fan I was through college days), some of these thoughts have been brought to mind by the departure of Jose Reyes, David Wright’s gracious remarks about it, Albert Pujols’ flight for even more money, the state of free agency, rampant in the workplace as well, and observations on generational differences.

One thing I believe all generations are aiming for is a reputation of professionalism. It’s a hot issue in some workplaces. In a recent program I led for the new Gen XtraordinarY group of the HR/NY chapter of the Society for Human Resources Management (SHRM), I presented some highlights from Practice Development Counsel’s recent ‘Professionalism through Generational Lenses Survey.” There were some surprises or ironies, but in general we collected a lot of data that reinforced the issues and challenges we hear about.

Lately I find myself engaged in conversations, mostly raised by Boomers and the older half of Gen Xers about what might be called the intersection of gender and generations issues. Several women expressed the strong belief that women have actually made little or no progress in attaining leadership and management positions in the last 10 years except in their own businesses.

One workplace reporting relationship that used to be fairly rare is older workers reporting to younger managers. This is a growing phenomenon and will become more prevalent at least until the younger Boomers stop working in any form. As Boomers transition from leader and top expert roles to new roles that allow the next generations to move up the ladder, we will see what traditionally have been unconventional structures.

Whether or not 60 is the new 40, or 30 is the new 20, etc., age perceptions and realities are confusing and not aligned with perceptions and realities of decades ago. We are in need of mindset transitioning.

What defines a person’s age? How old are co-workers, employees and managers really?

Neuroscience, psychology, and technology innovation often provide wonderful - excuse the pun - mind-boggling applications. The Herman Trend Alert reports that the (Massachusetts Institute of Technology) MIT Media Lab has developed special glasses using a built-in camera linked to software that analyses facial micro-expressions.

During a webinar I moderated on sustainable business development in April hosted by the Ark Group with a multi-generational panel consisting of representatives from both the client side and firms, we compiled a list of assets that Gen Xers and Gen Y/Millennials bring to business development teams.

Here’s our list. Perhaps it will give you some “ahas.”

“What we talk about when we talk about communication” was the title of the 2011 Annual Symposium of the Bernard Schwartz Communication Institute of Baruch College/CUNY held on May 6th. I am fortunate to be among the invitees who were treated to a full day of keynotes, small group discussions and informal talk at meals.

From my session notes and side conversations, I’ve outlined some insights for the generations on communication as we observe and evaluate style, media, what employers look for and what comes next.