Managing Multi-Generational Communication in the Workplace

Should you use email or Slack? Meet in person or over Zoom? Knock on the door or pick up the phone?

The best answers to these questions involve a variety of factors, including industry and role, workplace culture, and the shift to remote work. But another important consideration is the communication preferences of your multi-generational workforce.   

For example, research shows that the older generations in the workplace prefer meetings and phone calls, while the younger generations tend to favor instant messaging. Older workers are more accustomed to formal communications, while younger employees communicate in shorter, more casual bursts.  

HR and business leaders today face more generational diversity in the workplace than ever before, and with that realization comes the challenge of trying to understand the communication styles across generations—and how to use that understanding to build an inclusive culture.

“Leading a multi-generational workforce requires flexibility, empathy, and a commitment to inclusivity,” said Johnny C. Taylor, Jr., SHRM-SCP, president and chief executive officer of SHRM.

“Managing a workforce that is becoming increasingly diverse in age is no small task for employers,” he said. “Communication is one of the most difficult aspects of managing multiple generations because communication styles often represent the greatest difference among workers from different generations.”

Generational differences include the unique preferences, habits, and behaviors of people who grew up in different eras. According to the Pew Research Center, there are primarily four distinct generations active in the U.S. workforce:

• Baby Boomers (born between 1946-1964).
• Generation X (1965-1980).
• Millennials (1981-1996).
• Generation Z (1997-2012).

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the U.S. workforce breakdown by generation is 15% Baby Boomers, 31% Gen X, 36% Millennials, and 18% Gen Z.

“Understanding and accommodating communication preferences across generations can prevent miscommunication,” Taylor said. “There’s a bit of concession building that will have to happen—especially on teams that span generational talent. But doing so early and with transparency will create stronger connections.”

Effective communication is especially important because communication directly impacts how people learn, collaborate, and respond to performance management.

“Miscommunication stymies relationships,” said John Baldino, president of Humareso, an HR consulting firm in Vero Beach, Fla. Poor communication can also erode trust, add tension to team dynamics, lead to stereotyping, and hurt productivity.

“Each of us has a bias that the way we like something is the way others will like something,” said Cam Marston, speaker, author, and president of Generational Insights in Mobile, Ala. “Once we understand that each generation mirrors their own communication preferences in the workplace, and that we have the potential to alienate a lot of people, we can learn what to do to better connect.”

It is the duty of the information sharer to know their audience, Baldino said. “I don’t say things the way my parents did, and I don’t say things the way my 20-year-old children do. It’s not bad or good, it’s just different.”

Baldino added that there is a general lack of appreciation for generational differences at work. “What it means to be a 20-something today is different than it was 10 years ago, and 20 years ago,” he said. “Communication is often contextualized to the sharer’s generation rather than to the receivers. We don’t think about that enough.”

4 Generations at Work

Experts agree that just like any other diversity lens, you want to be very careful about broad simplifications.

It’s helpful to understand the communication styles of each generation, rooted in the influence of the events, technology, and values present in the world around them while they were growing up. But it’s important to recognize that individual preferences can vary widely within any generational cohort, and you certainly want to avoid stereotypes, said Bruce Tulgan, founder and CEO of RainmakerThinking, a management training and consulting firm. Tulgan is also a leading expert on generational differences in the workplace.

“You do not want to end up with cheat sheets for communicating with Baby Boomers or Gen Z, for example,” he said. “Imagine if someone said they have a cheat sheet for communicating with people in any other diversity category.”

It’s also important to be aware that some preferences and behaviors may be more related to age—youth or seniority—than to generational cohort, making them applicable to people within all generations at some point in their career. Further, communication preferences may evolve as people progress throughout their career.  

But experts also agree that there is value in understanding basic communication guidelines based on the unique experiences that each generation has lived through, taking care to avoid rigidly classifying people based solely on age.

For example, “the Baby Boomers, generally speaking, are a collaborative generation, with a preference toward group decision-making and building consensus,” Marston said. “They prefer in-person face-to-face interactions and getting together to discuss something.”

On the other hand, Gen X is more self-directed and less collaborative, he said. “Gen X prefers asynchronous email chains until a face-to-face meeting is necessary.”

It’s not surprising that the older generations are more comfortable with the communication methods—phone calls and in-person meetings—that were common during most of their careers.

Baldino said that the younger generations like to receive information in a multifaceted way—visual, auditory, and kinesthetic. “Millennials and Gen Z want succinct information. They want IMs over email. Information is best disseminated not just by being spoken, but also demonstrated through pictures and hands-on tasks.”

Tulgan noted a few basic trends as the generations get younger, including that information exchanges are more frequent and less structured; there is less conformity with traditional rules of communication, including in punctuation, grammar, and the use of slang; there is a greater desire for more frequent recognition; and there is more acceptance of the latest communication technology.   

“But in a certain way, we’re all Gen Z,” Tulgan said, meaning that everyone in the workplace finds themselves having to use the latest technologies, including instant messaging and video conferencing. A difference, though, is that younger people haven’t known it any other way, he noted.  

Best Practices for Multi-Generational Communication

Experts provided several tips for managers regarding how to communicate with employees from different generations.

Get the right mindset. Start with the idea that people generally want the same things at work, but maybe they want to receive those things differently. “As someone from Gen X, I want feedback on my performance,” Marston said. “Someone from Gen Z wants that same feedback. Maybe they just want it more frequently. Take the time to be self-reflective and think about your own communication preferences and blind spots.”

Customize to the individual. This is the most important thing to remember. Yes, there are overarching generational preferences, but managers should tailor communication mode and style to each person. So, how do you know what those preferences are?    

“Just ask them,” Baldino said. “Bring them in privately and ask them how they want to engage. But don’t leave it an open question. Go through the options. Email? Text? Brief face-to-face meetings?”

When accommodating the whole team, try to find an approach that everyone can adapt to. You won’t always be able to cater to every person’s preferred mode, but you can identify their preferences and seek to balance communication styles that suit everyone.

Provide training. Provide training on effective communication across generations, especially for people leaders. Establish clear guidelines and expectations for communication channels and response times.

Mix generations. When assigning teams to work on projects, mix and match employees of different ages, ensuring that both new and long-tenured employees have a voice and feel comfortable sharing their viewpoints.

Create psychological safety. Reframe generational differences as opportunities for collective learning and respectful engagement. By creating psychologically safe and inclusive environments, managers can build the trust needed to welcome broader perspectives.

Collect feedback. Collecting employee feedback on communication methods is the quickest way to dispel assumptions and form an effective communication strategy for all generations.

Be a role model. Show your direct reports that you are willing to step out of your comfort zone and compromise on communication methods. For example, you might engage more day-to-day on Slack or Teams but meet in person for more important conversations.