You like cappuccino, she likes hers black. You love your IM but discover he expects you to walk to his desk for even the most mundane messages. You value work-life balance; she stays late deadline or not. And while you head out the door to your daughter’s preschool play, you think you see your boss looking down his nose at you through those face-consuming horn-rimmed glasses.
While these differences seem trivial to some, they can either make or break your workday and you know that more than enough nights are spent wondering how you can better relate to your baby boomer boss.
Rest assured — and a whole lot better — when you arm yourself with these tips on working with baby boomers who are your colleagues and managers. And who knows? You might want to don a pair of horn-rimmed spectacles yourself. Rumor has it they’re back in vogue.
1. Boomers value hard work. Not only do boomers value hard work, they also define it by long hours and sometimes as a higher priority than their personal lives. Born between 1946 and 1960, a time of considerable progress, boomers have great expectations for success. Expressing your commitment to work and keeping your work hours as close to traditional as possible goes a long way toward impressing your boomer boss. Does that mean you shouldn’t support your family life or leave work early when you’re done with your daily tasks? Of course not. Just let your boss know in advance and assure her of your productivity and progress toward company goals first.
2. Boomers may not fully “get” technology. While there are truly tech-savvy boomers in the workforce today, email, cell phones, text messaging and other newer forms of communication are still relatively new to most and they may not understand your dependence on such devices. While you shouldn’t give up this modern — and ubiquitous — form of communicating entirely, you should prioritize communication over the mode, and make sure your message isn’t misunderstood. Remain courteous and avoid abbreviations and shortcuts as much as you can when communicating with your boomer boss.
3. You may remind your boomer boss of his son or daughter. A baby boomer in management should view all of his team members as individual adults, but if you’re the same age as one of his children, he may struggle comparing the two of you. If you feel that your manager is treating you more like a child than an adult, he may need a simple, friendly reminder of who you are. Kindly tell him how you feel — also acknowledging you may be wrong in your perception — and remind him that you are a professional colleague. He’ll likely garner a smile and appreciate the reality check.
4. Your boss may not retire as soon as you would like. The workaholic nature of boomers combined with difficult financial times, means baby boomers are staying in the workforce longer than anyone expected them to. Instead of resenting them as an obstacle to your career growth, seek to understand their needs, too, and try to learn as much as you can. They know more than Generation Y often gives them credit for.
5. Boomers are people, too. Although they may seem like they’re from Mars, boomers are in fact, people, and individuals, too. Avoid stereotyping and seek to know more about the life stage of your manager. What does his retirement plan look like? Is she caring for her aging parents? Is he adjusting to grandparenthood? What health issues is she facing? Knowing your manager as a person will help you relate to him at all levels.