If I had a dollar for every time I’ve heard/read/discussed/been frustrated about the topic “working with millennials,” I would have enough money to just travel the world making a difference. I know that’s a pretty “millennial” thing to say, but it feels true. The adjustments required for businesses today to adapt to a different, younger workforce is not a new problem. My grandfather once told me about returning from serving in the Air Force after the Korean War and having to gain the respect of his older colleagues when he first worked in operations at United Airlines. He persisted and eventually created the operations system that was used by the entire company for decades.
In order to progress and be successful, all organizations will need people of different ages, experiences and backgrounds. Below I’ve outlined a few tips for millennials when working with people who aren’t your age.
Related: How Important Your Workplace Friendships Are Depends on Your Age
Accept you have less experience as a fact.
This is a tough one for me. As a millennial, I care a less about years of experience and more about the type of employee you are and the quality of your work and ideas. I learned about this when working for a prominent congressman in DC. In his mind, the sheer length of his life experience would always trump mine. It took time for me to gain his trust and for him to see my intuition could be valuable. In many cases, it proved just as valuable as his life experience. This process required patience on my end, but because of that patience, he never once brought up that I was the youngest Communications Director on Capitol Hill. I learned that accepting my inexperience was not a negative thing, but that it could be an opportunity.
Be eager to learn.
I love storytelling….