Generational Gap Communication Barriers Essay

Today, in every organization, people of different ages work together. These generations have different ways of thinking, acting and therefore communicating. It is usually these differences that lead to conflicts within an organization, damaging relationships, work environment and productivity in tasks (Jones, 2017). Considering the generational differences that exist, one of the challenges that companies face is to design appropriate communication tools that make it possible to reach the entire workforce with the same effectiveness.

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Generations with more experience (Generation X) demand rules and habits, ways of acting and a more "formal" orientation in the way of working. In this sense, they need these rules and they find it valuable to have a clear definition of "where," "how," and "when." The tend to believe that work only happens in the office and that success means working 80 hours a week to complete a project. They are result and process oriented because they entered the professional world at a time when work could not be done from home. Current generations demand more "why" (Nelson & Kristian, 2017). When it comes to millennials, they know how to use technology and the mobile environment is their natural habitat to consume, learn and interact and demand a way of relating less "formal" and closer, based on trust. Moreover, they grew up in a context of fragmentation of the media and an increase in the number of television channels that, together with the web, has led them to become multitasking (Nelson & Kristian, 2017). They are oriented to the consumption of information in the network and in the "social networks and are in need of permanent information about what happens in the world and in the day to day. They need frequent feedback on what they do and how they do it and they prefer to have flexible hours in expanded offices, with facilities for remote work.

Companies must offer formal and informal communication channels and create work environments that favor communication. Getting to know each other is the best way to eliminate prejudices, so it is very healthy to form mixed teams, looking for incentives that work for everyone. Over time, investing in overcoming generational gaps manages to reduce conflicts and create a much stronger work culture. Each generation has a talent that can be made available to others. In this sense, the generation gap becomes a key tool for growth and improvement.

References

Jones, L. M. (2017). Strategies for Retaining a Multigenerational Workforce. Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies. Walden University, Minnesota, USA. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4892&context=dissertations

Nelson, M., & Kristian, B. (2017). A generational change: an empirical exploration of the Gen Y's workplace expectations. Athens Journal of Business and Economics, 3(2), 123-142. Retrieved from https://pdfs.semanticscholar.org/f8c8/3fb5e96194d6f656e3707dbec6688a4bad0f.pdf