Communication and Collaboration: Gen Y in the Workplace

This is a guest post from Megan Webb-Morgan who is a web content writer for Resource Nation. She writes about small business, focusing on topics such as phone systems and inter-office communication. 

In order to attract and retain as employees members of Generation Y, your business needs to adapt to their values, emphasizing constant collaboration and open communication.

Easy and Frequent Collaboration

The members of Generation Y have been raised and educated under the impression that learning and working is more effective when it’s done in a group. Whether it’s a science lab experiment or a major direct marketing campaign, Gen Y is most comfortable operating in a group setting with a free flow of ideas and information. In order for your company to maximize this talent, you need to provide your employees with an office environment that promotes collaboration.

• Cubicles that cut individuals off from their coworkers are practically the bane of Gen Y. The overall design of your office should consist of open space with few divisions between workers. Consider workstations that promote openness.

Fast and Efficient Communication

When all you want to know is if your coworker across the office has finished their task, the effort to make an intra-office phone call can seem like a hassle to Gen Y members. Remember – they’ve been using instant messaging clients since they were kids, and they are much more comfortable typing out short message while multi-tasking than making a phone call.

• Instead of impeding communication by enforcing only telephone use, promote communication in your office by initiating online chat clients to make the process of staying connected easy.

Employer-Employee Communication

Just as members of Gen Y want to get their news and information as quickly as the internet can bring it to them, they want to hear from you about their job performance as they’re doing it. They want to know what their job and tasks entails, how you want it done, and whether they’re accomplishing it to your specifications.

• Not content to wait for a quarterly review or formal meeting, Gen Y workers ask that you give them immediate, thoughtful feedback on their job performance as part of everyday communications.
• This may seem like a lot of work, but transparent goals and open communication can keep your employees on track, more productive, and more efficient. Why wait until later to inform them of their mistakes, when they’re willing to fix them now?

Members of Generation Y are quickly infiltrating the traditional workplace. By the year 2020 they will compose 50% of the workforce in the US. Their culture, attitudes, and ideas about the workplace differ from previous generations, so it’s important that your business adapt to changes in communication methods and work styles.