They will write blogs, not term papers

The words “term paper” strike fear into the hearts of students, followed closely by “essay.”  I remember those dark days of burning the candle to finish a term paper in college. It usually wasn’t fun if you had been assigned a specific topic.

I was lucky that my English professor, Dr. Edward Chalfant, didn’t require term papers, but simply asked us to write what we felt about an American novel or a Shakespearean play.

He was ahead of his time and foretold the coming of the blog, an informal style of writing that can enable a more personal connection between students and professors and between companies and customers in the business world.

Blogging for Grades

The New York Times weighed in on this topic recently, quoting educators who advocate trashing the old-fashioned term paper and those who still preach that students need the discipline of the format: make a point, defend it, repeat it.

Championing the blog as a legitimate and more modern style of writing is Cathy N. Davidson, an English professor at Duke, who has written extensively about learning in the digital age. She wants to replace the term paper with the blog and says, “This mechanistic writing is a real disincentive to creative but untrained writers.”

Instead of term papers, she assigns her students to publish 500-1,500 word entries on an internal class blog as essays for public consumption. Many professors at other institutions are following her lead

The New Way of Writing

There is no doubt that writing has become informal with the advent of the Internet and social media. But don’t blame the Internet for everything. The trend towards a more conversational style started long ago when television entered almost every home. We’ve become accustomed to receiving information in “sound bites.”

Let’s face it: we want to be entertained. Fox News leads the audience ratings because the network understands this new paradigm.

Training students to write term papers and dissertations that no one will ever read again is not training students for the workplace. Yes, students must learn the basic rules of grammar. People won’t read poorly written blog posts just as professors will downgrade poorly written essays.

Out With the Old, In With the New

But the format for writing has changed:

Old

• Make a point
• Defend it
• Repeat it
• Summarize

New

• Grab attention
• Make your point
• Support with evidence
• Persuade to your point of view
• Call to action

Communication Preferences

Students who enter the workforce will soon learn the rules. How do their managers want to receive information: verbally, by email, in a written document? They sure don’t want something that reads like a term paper.

The most important element to any communication – written or verbal – is the call to action.

During our entire work lives we will be required to persuade others to our points of view. That’s how we assume more responsibility and authority. It isn’t good if no one pays attention to you.

George H. W. Bush famously insisted that his staff prepare one-page summaries on important issues. The President had the power to start conflicts, appoint Supreme Court Justices and approve or veto legislation. Yet, he wanted his information in short takes and felt that was enough to make a decision.

Blogging is the New Term Paper

Kudos to those professors who understand that the way we communicate has changed forever. Holding onto to old communications vehicles – like the term paper – is self-defeating. Worse, it doesn’t prepare students for the real world.

With so many employees working virtually and scattered around the globe, is the water cooler extinct as a place to exchange ideas? Well, maybe in person, but the wired water cooler is emerging as a force in employee engagement.

Companies are creating online communities where employees can pull in the information they need when they want it and engage in conversations with other employees.

How empowering – employees expecting their companies to serve up information that is interesting, entertaining, useful and, most of all, authentic. If it doesn’t smell right, they will know and vent online with each other. Welcome to the new world of the wired water cooler!

Pfizer, American Express and Tiffany Are Doing it Right

At a recent panel discussion, Pfizer communications executive Robert Libbey said his company’s communication funnel is “almost too successful and it’s not always easy to control the fire hose of information” inundating employees. That is the challenge faced by many companies in a wired world.

Sponsored by the New York Chapter, International Association of Business Communicators (NYIABC), the panel also included Audrey Gray, vice president, executive communications for American Express Company, and Bill Carr, director, internal communications, Tiffany & Co., who discussed how their companies are using their intranets to connect and interact with employees.

Pfizer’s Transformation

Robert Libbey

When Mr. Libbey, who is senior director, global colleague communications for Pfizer, took a comprehensive look at the company’s various internal outlets in 2008, he found 400-plus news and information intranet sites that weren’t connected and almost impossible to manage.

Fast forward to 2011. Pfizer scrapped the old system (in 2009) and now manages a corporate news channel, with underlying SharePoint 2007 technology that is easy to manipulate. “We went from bricks to play dough,” he said, explaining the malleability of the new technology.

The corporate news bureau pushes out nine to 10 stories a week. He said there is no “spin” on stories – with the company informing employees about the good and the bad and encouraging comments. The content sometimes is repurposed and posted on Pfizer’s external company website. “We assume that anything we send to employees is likely to be seen by outsiders.”

In 2010, with more than 30 editions tailored for business units, functions, markets and locations, the new Pfizer site had 162,000 unique users, 5.2 million article views and nearly 60 million page views, with savings in the millions in development and maintenance costs.

Community Building

In response to the fire hose of information Pfizer colleagues face each day with all that they can access externally and internally, Mr. Libbey said that part of his company’s  solution is to let employees create their own intranet home page and choose the information they want to receive.

To this end, Pfizer has embraced internal social media – paralleling the company’s active participation in external social media – and created its own Facebook-like community called “MyWorld.” Any employee can join – all have a profile – and use the 250-character micro blog feature to connect with others and follow the micro blogging of others.

Employees can also start conversations on the company message board about almost any topic. The comments are not vetted first. “People are going to have these conversations anyway,” said Mr. Libbey, and rarely does a post have to be removed because it didn’t conform to guidelines.

The World of Tiffany

Bill Carr

With 9,000 employees around the world, Tiffany is using its intranet and other interactive communications to help connect employees and share best practices. Bill Carr, director of internal communications, said Tiffany recently consolidated its corporate headquarters in a new location with the latest high-tech equipment.

The company just launched “BlueTube,” a digital signage tool that will provide a rich, interactive experience for employees to connect with the company and each other.

With stores in far-flung locations, it isn’t possible for employees to gather around the water cooler to exchange ideas. He said that a very popular Tiffany tradition is the annual holiday video. Employees look forward to it every year with great anticipation.

In the most recent video, Tiffany sales professionals share tips that have worked for them in building relationships with customers. One described how she sends personal, hand-written notes to her customers, inviting them to visit and see the new collections. These are greatly appreciated and help to build customer loyalty.

“We still have a long way to go,” said Mr. Carr, “but we’re excited about new opportunities to use interactive tools to inform, educate and inspire our employees, while building engaged communities that can interact and learn from each other.”

It Isn’t Boring at American Express

Audrey Gray

Audrey Gray, vice president, executive communications, began with a quote from Henry James: “The only rule is never be boring.”  You’ve got to keep employees engaged with information that is informative, interesting and authentic. She stressed that authenticity in marketing is actually respect for one’s audience.

Amex’s intranet “The Square” hosts 10 different blogs, company news, tools for accessing company information, and a news story every day, delivered to 63,000 employees globally.  She reiterated what the other speakers said – use “hot headlines,” short quotes, and liberal use of bullet points and subheads. “We’ve changed our writing style so that we don’t use any corporate speak. It needs to be real.”

The most popular feature on “The Square” thus far has been a “live blog” of the company’s annual senior management meeting. Her team was at the meeting and wrote posts all day long for two days, more than 100 in total. “Employees felt they were let in the door,” she said.

Junking the Old Water Cooler

If you read a blog I wrote a while back about the water cooler you know how important I feel it is to bump shoulders with your colleagues. Connections are critical to learning. But let’s face it, there isn’t time and employees are widely scattered, making the wired water cooler an attractive alternative. Besides, most people are glued to their computers all day – so if they can’t get to the water cooler, why not bring the water cooler to them?

How about it? Is your company turning your intranet into a wired water cooler where employees can hang out in chat rooms and form communities with like interests? Let us know.

[tweetmeme]In an economy gasping for breath, searching for a job can leave any individual feeling pretty winded. Finding a job has always been difficult, even more so now that so many are looking and so few are hiring. For college seniors who are graduating this month and still don’t have a job, the future can seem pretty bleak. But it doesn’t have to be.

Gen Y Graduates

Sell your social media skills

20-something college grads searching for jobs have different skills to offer the professional world compared to even ten years ago before Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn were born. We live in a society today that communicates in an entirely new form. Social media and social networking have redefined many aspects of our lives, especially the way we communicate with one another. While there are plenty of individuals out there ready to ridicule this phenomenon, most employers and business leaders recognize that social media is the future. Using social media knowledge as leverage in your job search could be the answer to landing the your first professional gig.

Market Your Social Media Skills

Job seekers should market their social media knowledge during their job search. Many young people just starting out shy away from discussing their social media experience because they’re afraid potential employers will think they spent more time on Facebook then on their textbooks. But that could be a mistake.

Heyman Associates, an executive recruiting firm, interviewed a panel of senior agency and corporate agency executives just this month for their views on social media.  Jonathan Kopp, Global Director of Ketchum Digital, said at Ketchum having digital and social media fluency is an absolute requirement. When hiring, he said the agency looks at a candidate’s social graph – his or her level of exposure and reach across the social web. In the article, Kopp said he wants to bring people on board who are enthusiastic about the convergence of public relations and digital offerings.

So turn your social media smarts into a selling point. Express to potential employers that you are capable of social networking effectively, that you are comfortable communicating within the digital medium, and that you thrive in the fast pace of the online world. This is important even if you’re looking for a position outside of marketing and sales.

The New Personal Communication

Face-to-face communication continues to dwindle (sad to say). Digital communication is the new personal communication. We use email, Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging to communicate with one another. While this has drawbacks (becoming less adept at personal communication), digital communication is becoming the norm in business. Being able to express yourself, your needs, and your interests through online discourse is essential to professional success.

Social media is exploding as the new pipeline for companies to market to their customers and prospects.  So why shouldn’t job seekers leverage their social media skills in marketing themselves to prospective employers? Use your social media knowledge to your advantage. Demonstrate that you are capable of thriving within this new environment. Finding a job is always going to be difficult.  But during your search, be sure you are selling the skills that are marketable today.

Lauren Bailey writes regularly about education and finding the right schools. Visit her website top online universities.  She can be reached at blauren99 @gmail.com.

Hosni Mubarak

[tweetmeme]The riots in Cairo have reinforced the movement exemplified by the Tea Party in the U.S. – leadership by community.  It is the new leadership paradigm — the spontaneous formation of new communities of leaders, made possible by the power of the Internet.  The old paradigm of one leader at the top of the leadership pyramid is crumbling everywhere. We’ll talk later about what this new paradigm means for business.  But, first, let’s learn from what’s happening in Cairo where it is chaos and bloodshed and events are unfolding by the minute.

The Power of Twitter and Facebook

The images from Cairo on TV are frightening and Twitter is again center stage with a continuous stream of updates, many with links to videos from the scene.  Here’s how it all started:

Before the Egyptian government shut down popular networking sites, many thousands of disaffected young Egyptians joined the Facebook community entitled We are all Khaled Said, which called for the downfall of the current regime and where members post updates of events on the ground in real time.

According to Newsweek, “The anonymous Facebook page administrator who goes by the handle El Shaheed, meaning martyr, has played a crucial role in organizing the demonstrations, the largest Egypt has seen since the 1970s, that now threaten the country’s authoritarian regime.”

No One is in Charge – Everyone is in Charge

Yet, through the coverage of this historic uprising, you learn there is no one leader in charge. Instead, a spontaneous community of protestors has literally linked arms in the “march of millions.” They have coalesced around a unified theme – changing the regime. They want better lives for themselves. It’s as simple as that.

As one my favorite leadership gurus, John Kotter says, “leadership is about coping with change.”  By his definition, Egypt’s long-time ruler Hosni Mubarak failed to recognize the terrain shifting under his feet. He lost his leadership role, not because he was overthrown by another leader or in a military coup, but because power had spontaneously transferred to rule by the community. Now he’s being forced out and it’s gotten ugly and brutal as he tries to hang on to power, at least for now.

In the U.S., the Tea Party movement is another community that emerged and coalesced around the common goal of bringing change to government they thought had become too big and intrusive.  Luminaries like Sarah Palin and Rush Limbaugh at first appeared to assume the mantle for the Tea Party, but no one single leader has emerged.  Yet, loosely affiliated local Tea Party groups are toppling existing office holders and pushing through changes in how cities, states and the federal government operate.

What This Means for Business Leaders

So what has this got to do with our business leaders as they “cope with change,” as Kotter puts it.  Anybody who ever doubted that the old “command and control” model is dead just needs to examine the paradigm shift in Egypt and U.S. politics. My view is that the corporate CEO is now just another member of the broad community in his or her organization. Companies that openly invite employees to share their ideas for innovation to make the organization smarter, more competitive and more profitable will be the big-time winners.

The Journal Register Company is a great example of how a company unleashed employees to give it a new lease on life.  The company owns 170 publications, including 18 daily newspapers in major markets including Philadelphia, Detroit and Cleveland. In a blog post to employees in December, CEO John Patton wrote:

“Folks, in 2010 you proved that a tired, old, broken down and bankrupt newspaper company like the Journal Register Company could be turned around. You proved that a company’s strength resided in its employees and not its infrastructure of buildings, trucks and I.T. The wonderful Ben Franklin Project proved that determined employees could find the strength and energy to innovate — and you published daily newspapers and websites using only free web-based tools. You proved that while many in the newspaper industry might be devoid of ideas you were not and the ideaLab was born.”

Google is another company that carves out time for employees to go off and think about new ideas. Look where they are.

The revolt in Egypt is a vivid and brutal example that leadership by fiat is dead. Anyone disagree that we’re experiencing a new leadership paradigm?

Addendum: My colleague Bea Fields added her perspective on this post in her blog Self Directed Leadership Defines a New Era for Egypt and the World, noting that many protesters are under 30, or part of the Gen Y generation. Visit her blog for her take on how Gen Y is going to respond to this historic event.

[tweetmeme]Thanks to Mashable, which carried this video in today’s updates, I was able to see the real Mark Zuckerberg as a surprise guest on Saturday Night Live. I’m just kidding about where I went wrong. What I mean is when did 20-somethings start ruling the world? I was still in college at his age (went nights and started later), but at the tender age of 26 he’s a gazillionaire. And Jesse Eisenberg, who was the guest host and portrayed Zuckerberg in “Social Network,” is only 27 and already up for an Academy Award. (Maybe it helps if your last name ends in “berg” as Zuckerberg’s continuing character on SNL is Andy Samberg.)

Tells me that no matter what your age, you better keep up or watch the rear ends of those passing you by.  Here’s the video.  Enjoy.

Kyle-Beth Hilfer, Esq.

[tweetmeme]As 2010 drew to a close, TIME magazine named Mark Zuckerberg its “Person of the Year.” The  power of social media as a dynamic advancement in global communications had been officially recognized. Just as the Internet transformed our nation’s economic infrastructure, social media has evolved into a powerful marketing tool.

As companies embrace social media in 2011, they should consider the role of their employees as their online representatives. Instead of prohibiting social media activity altogether (a practice that may sustain legal challenge),  companies should allow their employees a social media presence while providing some rules to govern their conversations.  Well-written policies prevent public relations disasters and potential legal liability. In addition, when done properly, they also create environments that foster productivity and loyalty among employees.

Below are 10 steps to guide employers in creating policies for their employees:

1.    CULTURE:  Are you a small company with employees who are under 30 and attached to their smart phones? Are you a large corporate employer with multiple offices and hundreds or thousands of employees to supervise? Your corporate culture will determine the specificity of your policy, its tone, its contents, and its enforcement policies.

2.     CONSISTENCY: Provide clear guidance on how to use your trademarks and copyrights consistently on the Internet. Also, caution against use of third party intellectual property without clearance. If marketing to children, the policy should delineate rules for COPPA compliance.

3.     TRANSPARENCY: Require employees, third party bloggers, and marketers to disclose their material connections to your company when posting information about your company. Otherwise, you (and they) may find themselves under investigation by the FTC for violating its Guides on Testimonials and Endorsements.

4.     CONFIDENTIALITY: Take care to protect your confidential information with a clear list of do’s and don’ts for employees. This includes any posts about project ideas or meeting locations.

5.     MEDIA: Clearly state how employees should handle media contacts. The policy should include a clear statement of how to respond if the media approaches an unauthorized employee and should direct the employee to notify the authorized personnel within the company.

6.     RESPECT: Caution employees about speaking respectfully about your company and fellow employees. You do not want to open yourself to a discrimination or harassment suit.

7.     DETAILS: Provide examples throughout your social media policy wherever possible. Employees will understand the protocol of good behavior if you provide real life examples of prohibited behavior.

8.     SEPARATION: Encourage employees to separate their professional and personal social media presence. This means separate Facebook profiles or groups and not friending professional contacts on the personal page.

9.     TRAINING: Provide hands on training sessions to employees that incorporate active discussions, hypotheticals, and role-playing. These seminars should teach employees how to behave responsibly and clearly demonstrate what the employer will not tolerate.

10. MONITOR: Monitor your employees’ online behavior, but think carefully about when to discipline and when to use the social media conversation as a chance to communicate your side of the story.  Consult an attorney to understand your rights and obligations as an employer before taking disciplinary action.

Remember that your policy needs constant updating in the changing world of social media.  Most importantly, does your company have a social media policy?

©Kyle-Beth Hilfer, P.C. 2010. Kyle-Beth Hilfer, Esq. specializes in advertising, marketing, promotions, intellectual property and new media law. For more information about her and her law practice, please visit Kyle-Beth Hilfer Law. 

[tweetmeme]I was reminded of one of my favorite books, “Mass Career Customization: Aligning Today’s Workforce with Today’s Nontraditional Workforce,” by a recent article in which the author listed his 10 worst business books of all time.

In my view, “Mass Career Customization” is one of the best business books ever published, garnering awards when it was first published three years ago.  Since then, social media has spawned many changes in how employees communicate with each other and manage their careers.  Companies have lost much control of their key messages to employees, not to speak of customers.

Climbing the corporate lattice

I just went through the book again, which I had filled with many yellow highlights, and it holds up even better on second reading for precisely the reason that social media and the depressed economy have changed everything about how we live, work and view our careers.

The Corporate Lattice

For those who don’t have time to read the book, there is an excellent summary on Deloitte’s website, as the authors, Cathy Benko and Ann Weisberg, work there.  Here is the key premise:

“…we see the corporate ladder model for career progression already giving way to what we term the corporate lattice. In mathematics, a lattice ladder allows one to move in many directions, is not limited to upward or downward progress, and can be repeated infinitely at any scale. In the real world, lattices are living platforms for growth, with upward momentum visible along many paths. The corporate lattice model of career progression allows for multiple paths upward taking into account the changing needs of both the individual and the organization across various intervals of time.”

They give a number of examples of how this works, such as the former Marine with an MBA who stayed home for three years with his children.  He didn’t get off the career ladder, he simply went sideways for a while, in a lattice movement.  The lattice model, which Deloitte has adopted, is an example of employee engagement at its best.

Gen Y Workers Would Stay Put

“Even Gen Y workers, who have a reputation for being fickle, would actually rather stay with one organization if that organization delivered on its commitments and allowed them to grow and contribute” on their terms with the support of their company, say Benko and Weisberg, .

There are too many gems to include in this post.  I hope I have piqued your interest and you will go to Mass Customization to learn more.

Oh, in case you’re interested, here is the other list I referred to “The 10 Worst Business Books of All Time” by Geoffrey James on BNET.  He gives his reasons in the article, but I’ll simply list them here and you can decide if you agree with him.

#10: Reengineering the Corporation

#9: Jesus CEO

#8: The Fifth Generation

#7: Radical E

#6: Countdown Y2K

#5: Dow, 30,000 by 2008

#4: The Leadership Genius of George W. Bush

#3: In Search of Excellence

#2: Corporate Magick

#1: Leadership secrets of Attila the Hun

Is she checking the want ads again?

[tweetmeme]I was rather shocked the other day to receive my daily BNET newsletter carrying an article by Penelope Trunk entitled “Why Job Hoppers Make the Best Employees.”  As of this writing the article had generated 127 comments ranging from huzzas to hisses.  I didn’t comment but belong to the latter category.  Here are her five points, which she describes in more detail in her article

1. Job hoppers have more intellectually rewarding careers
2. Job hoppers have more stable careers
3. Job hoppers are higher performers
4. Job hoppers are more loyal
5. Job hoppers are more emotionally mature

To summarize her thesis, because they change jobs so frequently, job hoppers are challenged to a new learning curve at each company where they work and it makes her certain that job hoppers “know more.”  People who work for lots of companies have a larger network than people who stay in one place for long periods of time, which is why she’s convinced that “job-hopping creates stability.”  Are you getting the message, or are your eyebrows beginning to arch?

According to Ms. Trunk,  “job hoppers are always looking to do really well at work, if for no other reason than it helps them get their next job.”  In other words it looks good on their resume. This seems like a new high (low?) in cynical thinking.   Also, she states, “job hoppers want to bond with their co-workers so they can all help each other get jobs later on.”  This is after her point number 4, that job hoppers are more loyal.  Huh?

And, finally, job hoppers are more emotionally mature, because they know when to quit – even if it’s after only two weeks in a job they hate.  OK, a little bit of truth to that, the part about quitting as soon as you know you’re a square peg in a round hole.

Not Everyone Likes Job Hopping

But I’ve re-read the article a couple of more times and no where do I see anything that says many people don’t like job hopping. They don’t job hop over any burning desire to leave their companies for new and exciting adventures.  They leave because they were fired or laid off.  I wonder if she spoke to any people on the unemployment lines in her town to see how happy they were to be moving on to their next company – if they ever find a job.

Job-hopping can be emotionally wrenching.  Even if you leave your former employer voluntarily, you can’t be sure the next job will be stimulating, energizing and filled with learning opportunities.  It could just be another dud.  Then what; start the search all over again?  Think this is easy?

And who are the people hiring these go-getters who can’t wait to jump to their next jobs?  Why, they are the grey beards, the “lifers” who have risen to positions of authority where they get to say who gets hired and who gets fired.  And, as she points out, a lot of them are old guard and are suspicious of someone who’s had five jobs in five years.

Many companies engage their employees

The idea that you can become stale at a company after two years isn’t a universal truth.  Many companies purposely rotate their employees through different departments to enhance their learning and to keep them engaged and energized about the company.  They are the company’s future.  My brother was a 34-year “lifer” at the company he retired from and he loved every minute he was there.  He rose through the ranks from junior accountant to CFO.  What’s so bad about that?   Why is it laughable to have a retirement party for someone and give him a gold watch?

I’m a person who has made a lot of moves, not all entirely because I wanted to.  I’m in an industry – marketing and communications – that is known for volatility.  I learned how to move on, but the idea that I was planning my escape the minute I sat down at my new desk never occurred to me.  For me, at least, it wasn’t possible to give everything I had to my company if my eye was always on the want ads.

Here is my advice to people starting out:  delete the words “job hopper” from your vocabulary.  It’s toxic to most employers.  Sure, have a plan for your career, but be prepared for course corrections.  Have you noticed how everything seems to change by the minute?  Remember My Space?  Or Gateway computers?  Or Netscape?  They were the rage for about five minutes and faded.  Be happy if you’re in a company that recognizes and rewards you and is willing to invest in your future there.  You’ll have plenty of opportunity for learning and bonding and advancement right where you are.

Staying someplace for 20 years means you’ll be calling the shots one day.

For those of you who do not know me, my name is Bea Fields, and I coach, consult and train executive level and senior manager level leaders for a living. There is one truth that I have discovered (not THE truth but one truth that I see every day in the work that I do as a leader.)

At the end of the day, your company will either sink or swim based on how well you communicate.

I am sure you have heard this 1,000 times…”Great communication is necessary for great leadership” or “We must communicate better if we want to be successful” , womp, womp, womp. The topic of communication has been beaten to death, so we have become numb to its importance. We go about our day not returning phone calls to customers, sending out curt, hurtful e-mails, turning a deaf ear to our employees and just basically shutting people out or cutting them off at the knees.

In this day and age, I have a prediction…and I am not a futurist. I believe that those companies who will succeed in the future will be those companies who learn to not only communicate better with their customers but who take the time to actually learn how to communicate across generational and cultural barriers. I believe those companies and businesses who choose to ignore this important aspect of communication will perish. In order to be successful with this process, you do have to take the time to learn about each generation in our workforce… their values, key motivating factors and how they best like to communicate so that you can begin to knock down the walls which are so strongly holding up the divide.

So, here is a run down of the six generations who are alive and well in our world and interacting with our businesses as consumers, investors and advocates. I do want to state upfront that there is a great debate about the birth years of each generation and about stereotyping based on birth years. Just to set the record straight…these traits have very little to do with the age of each generation and much more to do with the world events which unfolded during their early years (ages 5-19) which helped shape the world views, mindset and values of each generation. This one piece of the puzzle is critical to understand…that our environment and marked events do shape our thinking…and our thinking shapes the way we communicate.

So, here we go…The 6 Generations:

1920's Businessman

THE GI GENERATION

Birth Years: 1901-1924

Significant World Events:

• The Roaring 20′s
• The Birth of Scouting Clubs
• Invention of Vitamins
• Movement into the Great Depression
• Telephone calls made via operator until the rotary dial telephone became commonplace (circa 1919)
• Telephone transmission across major cities becomes the norm
• First transcontinental telephone communication

Characteristics:

• Achievers
• Believers
• Inventors

Values:

• Simplicity
• Uniformity
• Cooperation
• Leadership
• Saving the world

Communication Preferences:

• Face to face communication
• Rotary dial telephone
• Hand written letters

Communication Obstacles:

• E-mail
• Fax
• Cell phones
• Text
• Social networking sites

The Teletypewriter Comes Alive in 1931...Leading the Way to Fax Machines

TRADITIONALISTS

Birth Years: 1925-1945

Significant World Events:

• The Great Depression
• The end of the affluence of the Roaring 20′s
• World Wars I and II
• The Korean War
• The G.I. Bill
• Teletypewriter service is initiated

Characteristics:

• Waste not, want not
• Loyal
• Patriotic
• Faith in institutions
• Hierarchical thinking

Values:

• Logic
• Loyalty
• Discipline
• Tradition
• Family
• Leaving a legacy

Communication Preferences:

• Face to face communication
• Formal typed or hand-written letters

Communication Obstacles:

• E-mail
• Fax
• Cell phones (most use cell phones for emergency only)
• Text
• Social networking sites

The Touch Tone Telephone Revolutionizes Communiciation in the 1960's

BABY BOOMERS

Birth Years: 1946-1964

Significant World Events:

• Vietnam war
• The move to suburbia
• Color television
• Street drugs
• Assassination of President John F. Kennedy and Dr. Martin Luther King
• Civil rights protests and movement
• Woodstock
• Invention of the touch tone telephone
• First video phone

Characteristics:

• Hard-working
• Keeping up with the Joneses
• Idealistic
• Questioning authority
• Climbing the corporate ladder
• Highly competitive
• The first “me” generation

Values:

• Hard work (70 hour work weeks)
• Getting ahead
• Being noticed, becoming famous
• Money
• Freedom
• Being “me”

Communication Preferences:

• Telephone
• Face to face
• Fax
• E-mail (and a lot of it!)
• Group/team meetings (and a lot of them!)
• Cell phones for talking (not necessarily for texting)
• Neighborhood street parties

Communication Obstacles:

• Social networking sites
• Blogging
• Texting
• Technophobia

Bill Gates & Steve Jobs Then and Now...They Changed the Way Future Generations Will Communicate Forever!

GENERATION X: THE LOST GENERATION

Birth Years: 1965-1978

Significant World Events:

• Expanded technology (computer mania)
• Dot.com boom and dot.com bust
• Sesame Street
• The start of the melting pot syndrome
• The AIDS Epidemic
• Climbing divorce rates
• Latch key syndrome kids
• MTV and VH1
• First cellular phone (yet not sophisticated) was introduced
• Apple and Microsoft become tech giants

Characteristics

• “Reality Bites”
• Skeptical of higher institutions
• Cynical about marriage and life
• Fiercely independent
• Questioning everything
• Tech savvy
• Globally concerned

Values:

• Independence
• Freedom
• Friends
• Mobility
• Security

Communication Preferences

• Let “me” choose my communication and how often I do it
• E-mail
• Cell phone
• Text
• Blogging
• Instant message
• Online forums

Communication Barriers:

• Face to face communication
• Formal letter writing
• Team discussions (better one on one or alone)
• Difficulty with communicating up or down a generation
• Some barriers with social networks

Social Media Sites Burst Onto the Front Lines of Communication in the 1990's

GENERATION Y:

Birth Years: 1979-1997

Significant World Events:

• September 11
• High speed access
• Overnight delivery
• The information age
• You Tube
• “Everything and Anything Goes” pop culture
• Helicopter parents and the birth of the self esteem movement
• Shootings at Columbine and Virginia Tech
• Cell phone mania
• Invention of online social networks (Facebook and My Space)

Characteristics:

• Open and accepting of diverse backgrounds
• Very concerned about social and global issues
• Worldly
• Knowledge workers
• Team players
• Multi-taskers
• “Me”
• Impatient
• Need for speed and thrill

Values:

• Live first, work second
• Speed
• Information/knowledge
• Friends
• Fun
• Saving the world
• Creativity
• Simplicity
• Balance

Communication Preferences:

• Text
• Online social networks
• E-mail (but only for work or school)
• Instant message

Communication Obstacles:

• Face to face conversations
• Telephone conversations
• Professional or even casual letter writing (what’s that?)

THE RISING GENERATION (BORN AFTER 1997)

This generation has yet to be profiled. Some people are calling this generation “Generation Z,” and many demographers believe that they are going to look very much like our Traditionalist Generation. (Generations do repeat themselves every 80 years or after 4 generations have evolved…they begin to repeat. As an example, Generation Y is actually looking very, very much like our G.I. Generation.) Our current recession is more than likely going to create a generation that is frugal, socially conscious, and craving the need for integrity. This generation is yet to be defined, but I believe this generation along with Gen Y are going to be radically changing our world! Having said this, we are, however, already seeing that texting is indeed one of their favorite forms of communication, and cell phones are being placed in their palms at an earlier and earlier age, as early as age 9.

So, now that I have profiled the six generations, what does this mean for you? Here is a quick punch list of things to consider:

1. Each generation has a unique mindset…this world view was formed through the course of significant events which took place in their lifetime and left an imprint in their minds.

2. As technology evolves, each generation will develop unique communication preferences and obstacles which come about as we grow and evolve.

3. In order to truly be able to make it in this world, I believe that each person needs to know how to do it all, including knowing how to:

• Write a well-written, thoughtful letter…both a personal and professional letter
• Hold a professional and personal conversation by telephone which is relaxed and engaging
• Use the most up to date technology, including e-mail, blogging, cell phones, text messaging, instant messaging, Skype and yes…social networks such as Twitter and Facebook
• Speak to others in a face to face interaction without feeling anxious or awkward
• Speak in public to others (I do believe that each person should know how to deliver a public speech…even if it is only a 3-minute speech)
• Blog…blogging is the present and future of web presentation (who knows…it will probably go out of style in the next decade, but for now…blogging is where the juice is, because a blog stimulates the dialogue that we are all craving in life!)

If you know how to communicate using each and every tool, then 75% of your work in communication will be so much easier. Each generation will know and understand that you respect them enough to learn how to use the communication tools they most prefer. And…if you are of a more senior generation…trust me on this…it is your obligation to our future generations to set the tone and to step up and be the first to take on learning how to use a new communication tool (YES! That means…if you are a technophobe and you are out there making fun of Twitter, it’s time for you to start Tweeting and posting notes on Facebook!) Once you model this willingness and commitment to learning new approaches to communication, you will be able to connect with your younger generations long enough to teach them a few skills (such as face to face interactions, letter writing and speaking in public) which will strengthen their ability to be successful for a lifetime.

This post was contributed by guest blogger, Bea Fields.  Bea is the President of Bea Fields Companies, Inc. and the co-author of Millennial Leaders:  Success Stories From Today’s Most Brilliant Generation Y Leaders.