Generational Connectedness: Understanding the Communication Cycle for Each!
By Dr. Jeffrey Magee, PDM, CSP, CMC
Part Three of a Seven Part Series
Executive Summary: We have been taught, educated, trained, programmed, conditioned, and mandated by laws to be sensitive towards others based upon gender and ethnicity…but the new engagement consideration is the ability to recognize that we operate also based upon our generational footprint, he who gets this wins!
How people communicate and really connect is under attack in the new generational world. No longer can organizations send out a blanket memo to all people and expect everyone to receive the communication, understand the communication, and take ownership of the communication. The generational stamp upon all of us influences how we prefer to communicate signals outbound to others and how we want people to communicate signals inbound to us.
For example the older generational segmentations were raised and thus their operational DNA tells them to “not question authority figures” and to “do what you are told” and when given a task or job to “do it until it is done.”
While as the younger generations, being able to question, challenge, confront have been programmed into their operational DNA and when these two differing styles meet, there is great potential for implosion. Understanding some generalizations (as these are profile stereotypes and there are occasional exceptions) have a clearly defined communication cycle, here is a formula you can use to bridge all differences and bring people from any generational segmentation together when communicating through the communication cycle.
1. Step One. Buy-in and enrollment attainment from the other party to even consider the broad topic which you want to discuss. In essence you need to situationally condition the other party(s) to even entertain what you want to consider, if this conditional step can be easily communicated and attained then you are ready for the next step.
2. Step Two. Identity-Purpose Statement™ connectivity. People only engage in a healthy communication cycle or exchange when they see connection or vested interest in what you want to enroll them into and their self. So Identity deals with tying your approach to “Who” they want others to see them to be and to “What” is important to them. While Purpose is the underlying motivations behind the “Why”, “What” and “Who” factors represent the essence of the person. So once you can pull the other person into the communication exchange by making a relevant connection to them and what you want to talk about, then you progress to the next step in the communication cycle.
3. Step Three. Is all about the Choices one must make, address or participate in to ever move towards a communication resolution or end point. If you gained participation and interest from the other generational party, now you want to move towards the general types of choices one may need to make to address Step One.
4. Step Four. Commitments are the specific action plans to your communication exchange. Most communication breakdowns take place because people circumvent the communication cycle and start directly here at Step Four, thereby passing up the critical linkage steps of one through three. It is here that you discuss, detail, and decide the specific actions, behaviors, needs to be addressed.
5. Step Five. Accountability does not mean another actual step; it infers what actions must be put into place to ensure that the specific action plans of the previous step are actually implemented. Many times, there is no real Step Five, as if you deploy a very specific Step Four, the accountability measures are the same as Step Four!
As you deploy this model to the five different generational segmentations, keep in mind the MAPS that guide each generations operational DNA and make suitable adjustments with each. By doing so you will have healthy communication cycles, and if not, you will have continuous breakdowns. For example:
- Centurions tend to be more linear, literal, like things written out.
- Baby Boomers are more bottom-line, self centered and want less written and more verbal.
- Generation X is more interactive, may prefer you tell them and show them.
- Generation Y challenge the norms, do not play by traditional or structure and see nothing wrong with their actions. They may want some of the communication exchange written out, others verbal, and some degree of interactive.
- Generation MTV (17-21) are instant me gratification, like all mediums used simultaneously, visual, verbal, and interactive (Kinesthetic).
How one communicates based upon generational differences, will become your diversity advantage and afford you both personally and professionally significant strategic leverage and advantage in your relationship!
Excerpted from “Weekly Leadership Moment."