Presentation delivered at the Training Officer's Consortium (TOC) Institute in Williamsburg, VA, on April 27, 2009. Facilitated by a Gen X'er and a Traditional. Objectives included: 1. Understand and better navigate the intergenerational differences in your office 2. Participate in several training modalities that reach a multi-generational audience 3. Experience a truly blended approach to training that addresses the learning preferences of all four generations.

1. Why Can't We All
Just Get Along?
Four Generations
Working Side by Side
(In Harmony!) Jean C. Palmer
Andrew Krzmarzick
Training for Success & Excellence
The Graduate School
http://jeanpalmer.com
http://www.graduateschool.edu
(703) 768-4859
(202) 821-6288
Jean@JeanPalmer.com
Andrew_Krzmarzick@grad.usda.gov
http://generationshift.blogspot.com
Twitter: @krazykriz
Linkedin.com/in/andrewkrzmarzick

2. Have you heard the news?

3. • Imagine…
• Our mission today:
Intergenerational harmony

4. Objectives
 Understand and better navigate the
intergenerational differences in your office
 Participate in several training modalities that reach a
multi-generational audience
 Experience a truly blended approach to training that
addresses the learning preferences
of all four generations

5. Agenda
 Introductions/Expectations
 Four Generations
 Activity: Generation Appreciation
 Four Common Conflicts
o Finding Information (Role Play by Andy and Jean)
o Getting Together (Role Play by You!)
o Communication (Video-Based Scenario)
o Choosing Where and When to Work (Web-Based Scenario w/Special Guest)
 Open Discussion/Closing Thoughts

6. Four Generations in Today’s
Workplace
Traditionalists Baby Boomers
(pre-1946) (1946-1964)
Generation X Generation Y
(1965-1978) (1979-2000)

7. Introductions
Share with 2-3 people
around you:
 Your Name
 Organization
 Your Generation

8. • Be careful about
comparisons
• Traditionals and Boomers
aren’t done yet and still
have much to contribute
• Gen X/Y: “Labels are
unfair” and potentially
discriminatory
• Measure individual merit

9. “Don't fall prey to stereotypes…
It's all about going out and
finding people who are a good job fit,
a cultural fit and a lifestyle fit.”
- Ed Powell
Director of Business Development,
Monster Government Solutions

10. Generational Differences
 Each individual has a perspective – a set of
filters – through which they see the world
 Shapes the way they think things should be
 What’s right and wrong
 What’s good and bad
 What’s fair and unfair

11. Generational Differences
 Formed during first 10, 15, 20 years of life
 Most impressionable
 Personality most open to influence
 External: personal and social
 Personal: family, teachers, uniqueness
 Social: things around us - fads, news,
economy, political climate, music, trends

12. Generational Timeline
Gen Y/
Traditionals/Matures Baby Boomers Generation X
Millennials
1900-1909 1910-1919 1920-1929 1930-1939 1940-1949 1950-1959 1960-1969 1970-1979 1980-1989 1990-1999
Model-T, World War Women's Great World War Hydrogen JFK, Martin Vietnam Mikhail Internet,
First Flight, I, Triangle Suffrage, Depression, II, Adolf Bomb, Luther King War, Gorbachev, Nelson
San Shirtwaist King Tut's Mohandas Hitler, Pearl McCarthyis Jr., Munich Mount St. Mandela,
Francisco Factory, the Tomb, Gandhi, Harbor, m, Korean Eichmann Olympic Helens, Operation
Earthquake, Titanic, Mussolini, J. Empire Manhattan War, Color Trial, Berlin Games, AIDS, Pac- Desert
Einstein's Russian Edgar State Project, TV, Polio Wall, Cuban Watergate, Man, Storm,
Theory of Revolution, Hoover, Building, Chuck Vaccine, Mt. Missile Abortion, Personal Waco, O.J.
Relativity, Mata Hari, Mein Kampf, Amelia Yeager, Everest, Crisis, Draft Patty Computers, Simpson,
Boxer Prohibiton Monkey Earhart, Berlin Airlift, Disneyland, Protests, Hearst, Pol Ethiopian Oklahoma
Rebellion, Trial, Nazis, Apartheid, Rosa Parks, Charles Pot, Star Famine, City
First Silent Charles quot;Monopoly,quot; Communist Sputnik Manson Wars, Exxon Bombing,
Movie Lindbergh the China Disco, Valdez Princess
Hindenburg Margaret Diana, Y2K
Thatcher

13. Generational Overview
Adapted from Cam Marston at http://www.generationalinsights.com

14. Generational Differences
Adapted from © VisionPoint Products, Inc.

15. Generational Differences
Adapted from © VisionPoint Products, Inc.

16. Learning Preferences
Boomers
Traditionals Gen X Millennials
Lifelong learners
Formal/conservative Edutainment Teamwork
Well educated
Value to team vs. self Clear expectations Technology
Interactive/participatory
Straightforward Be efficient Experiential
Non-authoritarian
Learn privately Use visual aids Learning communities
Networking, teamwork
Big picture, then detail Up-to-date technology Clear structure
Make ’em feel important
Respect for experience Break frequently Fun and games
Be democratic
Clear and logical facts Role plays are good Short attention span
* Source: Coates, J. Generational Learning Styles. LERN Books. River Falls, WI

17. Learning Preferences
Activity (please break into groups of 3-4):
“One Thing I Appreciate
About Each Generation is…”

18. Learning Preferences
Four Common Conflicts
 Finding Information (Role Play: Andy & Jean)
 Getting Together (Role Play by You!)
 Communication (Video-Based Scenario)
 Where/When to Work (Web-Based Scenario)

19. Four Common Conflicts
Conflict 1: Finding Information
(Role Play by Andy and Jean)

20. Four Common Conflicts
1. What generational characteristics
did you see?
2. Do you see this scenario in your
workplace?
3. How do you best handle it?

21. Four Common Conflicts
Conflict 2: Getting Together
(Role Play by You!)

22. Four Common Conflicts
1. What generational characteristics
did you see?
2. Do you see this scenario in your
workplace?
3. How do you best handle it?

23. Four Common Conflicts
Conflict 3: Communication
(Video-Based Scenario)

24. Four Common Conflicts
1. What generational characteristics
did you see?
2. Do you see this scenario in your
workplace?
3. How do you best handle it?

25. Four Common Conflicts
Conflict 4: Choosing Where
and When to Work
(Web-Based Scenario w/Special Guest)

26. Four Common Conflicts
1. What generational characteristics
did you see?
2. Do you see this scenario in your
workplace?
3. How do you best handle it?

27. Tips for Working Across Generations
DON’T
 Stereotype (e.g., judging your colleagues’ capabilities by what
they wear and what their work hours seem to be).
 Ridicule or make derogatory remarks like “dinosaur,”
“bureaucrat,” “slacker,” or “kid.”
 Miss opportunities to improve communications and
strengthen relationships.
 Make assumptions that every member of any given
generation thinks or behaves exactly alike.

28. Tips for Working Across Generations
DO
 Recognize that generational differences influence our ideas,
expectations, values, and behaviors at work.
 Acknowledge that everyone wants to be treated with respect –
it might look and feel different, based on differing experiences
and perspectives.
 Know that you have different life experiences and can learn
from others’ experiences and perspectives.
 Find ways to create shared values and common ground.

29. Tips for Working Across Generations
DO
 Be willing to flex your natural style and preferences in order to
work effectively with all your colleagues.
 Be open and honest about your “hot buttons” (i.e., recurring
sources of tension or conflict).
 Give your colleagues specific suggestions on what they can do
to help you perform at your best.
 Focus on what really matters- productivity, teamwork, and
customer relationships.
 Challenge assumptions and raise awareness regarding the
multigenerational workplace.

30. Take-Aways
Regroup with the same 2-3
people from the beginning:
 Take aways?
 Ah-ha moments?
 Surprises?
 Lingering questions/
concerns?

31. Thank you!
Jean C. Palmer
Andrew Krzmarzick
Training for Success & Excellence
The Graduate School
http://jeanpalmer.com
http://www.graduateschool.edu
(703) 768-4859
(202) 821-6288
Jean@JeanPalmer.com
Andrew_Krzmarzick@grad.usda.gov
http://generationshift.blogspot.com
Twitter: @krazykriz
Linkedin.com/in/andrewkrzmarzick