Rachel Pelta* says there are more generations in the workforce than ever before, each with their own communication style.
More people are working past the “traditional” retirement age. At the same time, many Gen Zers are entering the workforce for the first time.
That means there are as many as five generations working side by side.
There’s no denying that each generation has its quirks.
Whether that be a different outlook on social norms or what a career path should look like, every generation has their values and beliefs, often influenced by their experiences.
One of the most noticeable generational differences is in communication styles.
Over time, we’ve transitioned from in-person communications to email, text, and emojis.
And with that transition comes differences in how the generations communicate at work.
You may think it’s not a big deal.
The act of communicating is people sharing ideas, opinions, or information.
How hard is it?
However, workplace communication can be fraught with unintended innuendo, power plays, and miscommunication.
Learning how to navigate generational divides can streamline team communications between different generations in the workplace.
Communication through the ages
Communication has been around since the stone age.
The first cave drawings were a way for early humans to share information.
And as humans evolved, so did our communication styles.
While some people may argue that current forms of communication have come full circle, from cave drawings to emojis, there’s no denying that there are many communication options today.
Many of us communicate through text, email, tweets, videos, or GIFs.
Even though written communication has been around since the stone age, language is always evolving.
Whether that’s the spoken word or written works, meanings and interpretations will change as humans change.
Even the meaning behind punctuation can change.
— Communicating in the digital age
In the digital age, communication tends to be written more than spoken, especially in the workplace.
However, different generations tend to interpret written communications differently, and this can lead to intergenerational conflict.
For example, older generations see the ellipsis (the “…” at the end of a sentence) as a way to create mystery or indicate a loss of thought.
However, younger generations view the ellipsis as a passive-aggressive power play.
These differences can lead to tension between generations.
If this tension is not addressed over time, coworkers may choose not to communicate with each other unless necessary.
Communication in the workplace by generation
Below, we discuss each generation and their preferred communication style.
— Baby Boomers
Baby boomers grew up with face-to-face communication as the dominant method of workplace communication.
During the boomers’ work years, phone calls also became an important communication method.
But the phone was as far as it went.
The first email wasn’t sent until 1971.
However, the general public didn’t adopt email until the late 1980s.
Even when there was access to email at work, you generally had to connect over a slow dial-up connection.
Sending and receiving email messages took longer than it does now with high-speed internet.
For that, and probably other reasons, boomers have never fully embraced the digital communication revolution at work.
While not the same as a face-to-face conversation, using the phone was “close enough” to a face-to-face conversation that most boomers still prefer using the phone as their primary communication method.
— Generation X
Generation X was the first generation to embrace digital communications in the workplace (and in their lives).
The earliest adopters of email, they became comfortable with writing as their primary method of communication at work.
Even though Gen Xers complain about the barrage of email messages they receive, they haven’t embraced other forms of digital communication.
They generally aren’t fans of social media and, more often than not, Gen Xers will choose email when they can.
— Millennials
Whether you call them Gen Y or millennials, this generation is considered the first “digitally native” generation.
Growing up with cell phones (and even smartphones) means texting and other messaging tools are an integral part of how they communicate.
Many millennials grew up texting instead of calling friends and family.
They prefer text communications because they can send and receive short messages that get to the point.
As a result, they dislike talking on the phone.
Millennials prefer written communication and feel that talking on the phone is inefficient.
— Generation Z
Many Gen Zers, defined as anyone born after 1996, are in their early to mid-twenties.
Like millennials, Gen Z has grown up with access to screens and the internet from a young age.
However, unlike millennials, Gen Zers can’t remember a time before smartphones.
So, they too may prefer written communications, and they also expect a fast response to their messages.
The written word isn’t going anywhere
While technology has changed, written communication is still a critical part of work life, from email to Slack messages.
However, even though each generation uses written communication, how they communicate varies.
— Interpretation problems
One of the biggest problems with written communication is that it’s hard to interpret the tone of the sender.
For example, sarcasm in emails is often and easily misinterpreted by the reader.
When using written communication, it’s easy for lines to get crossed or messages to not land as intended due to a lack of tone and body language.
And while you can help with tone through the use of emojis (the eye-rolling emoji can help indicate sarcasm or irony), not everyone interprets the same emoji the same way.
The eye-roll emoji can also indicate boredom, annoyance, or impatience.
Even punctuation can be subject to interpretation.
Let’s go back to the ellipsis example.
Older generations—boomers and, yes, Gen Xers—learned that the ellipsis was a way to be playful or even coy.
It’s also used to indicate that there’s more to the sentence, but it doesn’t need to be said.
It’s implied that the reader knows what’s being expressed without the writer having to write it all out.
As stated earlier, an ellipsis can indicate an incomplete or trailed-off thought.
However, social media changed that.
With the rise of social media, the ellipsis can still indicate an incomplete thought.
Yet, when someone uses an ellipsis on social media, it doesn’t just mean an incomplete thought.
It also means, “I ran out of characters to complete this thought, so stay tuned for the rest of it!”
This is where written communication can get difficult.
It’s not just the difference in communication styles (that’s part of it, though).
It’s that different generations have different interpretations of the same thing.
Of course, multiple meanings and “reading between the lines” is a hazard of daily life.
However, in the work world, this can lead to generational communication problems that can impact the entire company.
For example, a young person on the receiving end of written communication with an ellipsis may worry that they’ve done something wrong when no follow-up communication arrives.
Likewise, an older worker may be annoyed by a colleague who “never” uses a period while exchanging messages through a chat platform (which could be considered rude or curt by some generations).
Bridging the generational communication gap
So, if written communication presents challenges, but everyone still uses it at work, how can people bridge the generational communication gap in the workplace?
— Start with clear communication
Clear communication is key when communicating with colleagues or supervisors.
Explain to colleagues how each generation interprets certain aspects of written communication differently.
While you may get a few in-person eye rolls, help them understand the how and the why behind this.
They may not give up using their ellipsis, but they may start using more emojis or exclamation points.
And for the younger generations, explain that ellipsis and periods are OK and don’t mean the same thing to older generations.
An ellipsis isn’t a passive-aggressive move.
It’s a way to show that the writer knows you get it.
And a period isn’t a command or anger.
It’s just how they end sentences.
— Address fears
Interestingly, a recent study found that part of the cause of generational communication gaps has nothing to do with emojis or periods.
It’s caused, in part, by each generation having negative perceptions of others.
The study examined the communication gap between millennials and boomers and found that they have more communication methods in common than they realize.
However, each generation feels the other has a negative impression of them (lazy and entitled versus conservative and tech-ignorant), which may cause each generation not to bother communicating with the other.
While it may be difficult to change perceptions, more interaction between generations may help ease some of these tensions.
Encouraging younger generations to teach older generations about technology may help erase some of the tech-ignorant perceptions of older generations.
The positive sharing of information may help change the perception of younger generations as lazy.
— Face-to-face communications
In-person communication can help eliminate a lot of problems with the written word.
People can see body language, hear sarcasm (instead of guessing), and see if jokes land as they should.
And when something isn’t working, there’s a visual cue so both parties can quickly change course.
Try encouraging face-to-face communications over written ones when there seems to be a problem.
If face-to-face isn’t possible, thanks to a distributed workforce, there’s always video.
And when all else fails, someone may have to pick up the phone.
Understanding generational communication gaps in the workplace
Effective communication is essential not just for work but for life.
While each generation may have its preferred communication methods, that doesn’t mean cross-generation communication has to be ineffective.
With a little extra communication, a simple explanation can go a long way toward addressing larger communication issues.
*Rachel Pelta is a Content Coordinator for FlexJobs.
This article first appeared at flexjobs.com
