In today’s world, the makeup of a specific team or function within an organisation can vary wildly. Teams with a diverse range of backgrounds, experiences, and ages should be celebrated, bringing with them a great chance to learn from one another and share ideas. However, they also require leaders to adapt their approach, as mindsets, priorities, and workplace expectations can vary drastically across generations.
As we see in many areas of our personal lives, these differing requirements and viewpoints can sometimes cause friction amongst colleagues of opposing ages, meaning managers must handle these relationships carefully to ensure a happy, collaborative and productive environment for their team. Leaders of these teams must not only be experts in their field but also understand the people they manage—a balancing act that can be challenging. With a little planning and a lot of understanding, you’ll have all the tools to support your colleagues in the way that they need.
What does the workforce look like today?
There are four main groups that make up the bulk of the workplace right now; Baby Boomers, Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z. From the start, it’s important to remember that although someone belongs to a particular generation, their preferred ways of working may not always align with others of the same age一but there are general rules of thumb for each.
Baby Boomers (Born 1946–1964)
- Communication: Prefer formal communication like emails or meetings with set topics of discussion.
- Work Style: Value loyalty, hard work, and experience. Prefer to work in structured environments.
- Leadership Expectations: Clear hierarchies and top-down leadership.
- Motivations: Motivated by stability and loyalty. Recognition for their experience and contributions is a strong motivator.
Generation X (Born 1965–1980)
- Communication: Comfortable mixing formal and informal communication, including emails and phone calls.
- Work Style: Enjoy independence and self-sufficiency, with a healthy work-life balance and flexible work arrangements.
- Leadership Expectations: Prefer hands-off management. They appreciate guidance but dislike the feeling of being micromanaged.
- Motivations: Motivated by flexibility, autonomy, and opportunities for professional growth.
Millennials (Born 1981–1996)
- Communication: Instant messaging and collaborative tools are their preferred methods, but still use email when needed for formal communication.
- Work Style: Like to feel that their work has purpose, and enjoy flexibility and regular feedback.
- Leadership Expectations: Tend to prefer to be coached rather than ‘managed’, with regular check-ins and opportunities for development.
- Motivations: Motivated by personal development, purpose-driven work, and continuous feedback. They seek managers who support theirgrowth and help align their work with their values.
Generation Z (Born 1997–2012)
- Communication: Prefer quicker methods of communication such as instant messaging or voice notes.
- Work Style: Very adaptable but enjoy autonomy and diversity, using technology to their advantage and are quick to adopt new tools to enhance productivity.
- Leadership Expectations: Value transparent, inclusive, and socially conscious managers who provide feedback in real time.
- Motivations: Motivated by social impact, they seek work environments aligned with their personal values.
Leadership strategies for multigenerational teams
As we know, a one-size-fits-all approach simply won’t work when managing multigenerational teams. In order to support their staff as best as they can, flexibility and adaptability are crucial skills for leaders to have. Each individual within the team deserves to be treated as such, with a working environment that allows their best skills and qualities to shine through, whether that be the way that you need to communicate with them, the way in which they work, or the place in which they do it, for example, a preference for remote work, office work or a combination of the two.
The key is to establish shared communication practices that work for the team, while allowing room for these personal preferences. While some may prefer instant messaging, that doesn’t mean meetings should be abandoned altogether. It’s about finding balance.
There’s a well-used saying that ‘you can’t teach an old dog new tricks’—but that’s not true when there’s a willingness to learn. While the range of ages within your team may present a challenge on the face of it, a lot of good can also come from this diversity of experiences. Multigenerational teams present the opportunity for mentorship and knowledge sharing between colleagues. Older members of the group will likely be able to share industry insight and experience, while younger colleagues bring fresh perspectives and digital expertise, resulting in improved team capabilities and strengthening relationships among peers.
As times and personnel change, so must the way leaders approach managing multigenerational teams. It’s no mean feat, catering for each of your direct reports in a different way, but it’s evident that a blanket strategy is no longer the option. Through our many years of experience placing talented leaders across the charity sector, we’ve seen that the best leaders are the ones able to set aside their own preferences and view the workplace and the world through the eyes of each of their colleagues. Adjusting leadership styles to suit different team members may take practice, but in doing so, you won’t just create a more engaged and effective team—you’ll grow as a leader, too.
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