Cross-Generational Collaboration
The average workplace age range is growing.
There are only two ways in which that can happen.
The first is that more teenagers join the workforce rather than pursue education beyond a statutory age. The number of children of school age not on a school roll has spiralled to over a hundred thousand in recent years but the evidence is that they are not joining the workplace instead. Recent figures show that close to one million aged 16-24 are not in education, employment or training
This leaves the far more common reason. Older generations are staying in the workforce until a much later age.
The proportion of 65+ in the workplace has doubled in the last two decades. The rise in the state pension age, the lack of private pensions and the steep rise in the cost of living are all contributory factors amongst others.
Is the wider gap between oldest and youngest an asset or a liability?
What possibilities, and potential issues, does this open up?
What can cross generational collaboration do in your organisation?
Here’s four elements to consider.
1. This is not a luxury
Cross-generational collaboration isn't just a nice-to-have, it is essential.
The pace of change and complexity of challenges faced by organisations in the modern age requires them to make the most of what they have got.
Similarly, within the workplace colleagues need to make the most of each other. For that to happen they need to understand all perspectives, with a strong sense of collective responsibility for doing so. Staying in their age-related peer group corners is not a viable option.
Utilising the widest available range of perspectives leads to better decisions, more effective problem solving and higher levels of innovation.
When this diversity includes generational perspectives from across the workforce, the benefits multiply exponentially.
All of this needs to be nurtured by a culture which values engagement and encourages new possibilities to be found.
The Post It note and Amazon Prime are good examples of innovations which came from below, not the top table. The value which can be generated from employee collaboration may be game changing.
2. Use Gen Z’s experience
Collaboration is second nature to Gen Z.
They have had a lifetime of creating posts, liking and commenting on each others content and forming online communities. The hair-raising experience other generations had of watching someone else work on the same document/spreadsheet/slide deck at the same time was not theirs. They have never known anything different.
Their TV shows are written by teams, not individuals, and their favourite musical artists collaborate on new material as second nature. They play each other on gaming platforms whilst hundreds of miles apart without thinking about the technology which enabled it.
This experience has equipped them with unique collaborative skills that organisations can harness for their advantage.
Most significantly for the workplace, they understand the merit of working together to find the synergies which otherwise would not exist.
An employee in their mid-twenties may have ten to fifteen years’ experience of collaborating with impact, and a far higher percentage of their work experience spent in that mode. I am stretching it a little to make a point, but the ‘average’ Gen Z does not need much persuasion to collaborate or to do so simultaneously across different communication channels.
They will likely need a lot of persuasion that the best form of collaboration is always a synchronous face to face experience, when asynchronous digital methods can be so productive.
Smart employers bring that experience, enthusiasm and mindset to the table, and make a point of advertising the ‘you said, we did’ outcomes which come about as a result.
3. Age diversity as an asset
This is a topic for a longer piece, or series of pieces, so I will focus on the basics.
Organisations have a wide range of experience on the payroll than they tend to use. The combined set of life experience within an organisation is a serious asset if it can be tapped into.
Yet too often organisations leave their staff in the comfort zone of peers, when their biggest problems are most likely to be solved, and most significant innovations discovered, by the young, old and everyone in between working together.
Modern day challenges demand that the collective wisdom, experience, and fresh perspectives of everyone is brought to the table.
Of course there is much more to diversity than age, and the detail offered from an intersectional perspective is particularly important (not least to Gen Z). All I am saying is that age/generational perspective should be part of the picture.
4. Make the space
Too often the pressure for immediate results crowds out opportunities for meaningful collaboration. Cross-generational teamwork requires time for different perspectives to be shared, for assumptions to be challenged and creative solutions to emerge.
This is not about an away day, a few new chairs in a common area or anything tokenistic. This is about day to day culture on who works with who, on what, how often and for how long.
Google’s 80/20 working pattern, with the 20% reserved for innovation is a classic example of space being made. The results are also unarguable. Gmail, AdSense and Google News are examples of this considerable return on investment.
Not everyone can afford to go for the equivalent one working day per week in the first instance, but an organisation serious about fostering cross-generational collaboration must intentionally create space for it to happen. Examples of this include:
Building collaborative time into project timelines rather than treating it as an add-on.
Considering how virtual spaces and tools can be specifically used for cross-generational interaction.
Recognising and rewarding the outcomes of collaborative efforts and not just seeking the key individual efforts.
A patient, iterative approach which allows for some experimentation.
A cross-generation collaboration runs much deeper than a one-off initiative. People have to develop relationships as peers and colleagues. It can require an extended, yet unpressured, period of time that generates the best conditions for the breakthrough ideas.
The lightbulb moments which represent the best synergies are found by not trying too hard, not by watching the clock until you have to go back to ‘the day job’.
Remember that
Organisations should not just aim to bring the generations together. The focus should be a truly collaborative culture that transcends the boundaries.
The benefits extend far beyond a specific project or set of metrics. Organisations that excel at cross-generational collaboration can expect higher employee engagement, improved retention and confidence in managing the challenges ahead.
How can I help you?
1. Talks, workshops and seminars - including managing topics relevant to the two areas above plus explaining Gen Z to Gen X and dealing with the intergenerational workplace. Speaker showreel here.
2. My book The Snowflake Myth will be published in 2025 - to receive a free chapter (when available 😬) please click here.
3. One to one coaching programmes for senior leaders who are swamped by their jobs so they can thrive in life. Click here to discover where you are on your journey from Frantic to Fulfilled? Just 5 minutes of your time and you will receive a full personalised report with guidance on your next steps.
4. Team coaching programmes - working IN a team is not the same as working AS a team and yet they are often treated as if they are the same. I help teams move from the former to the latter, and generate huge shifts in productivity and outcomes.
