How to Ignite Intergenerational Teamwork

In his impactful article for Forbes, "How to Maximize The Success of Your Intergenerational Work Team," Wayne Elsey, founder and CEO of Elsey Enterprises, shares five steps to "respect different workers and also capture their motivations and mindsets based on the shared experience of each particular age group..."

In Step #4, he suggests:

• encourage an open and transparent atmosphere where essential issues, such as intergenerational collaboration are discussed
• openly talk about generations so people can speak about their experiences, similarities and differences
• create a respectful environment based on the understanding of other people
• don't assume that people in their 20s have experience working with people in their 50s and vice versa

Wayne concludes: "when you promote an environment that celebrates diversity, even in age, your company will benefit from the experiences that people bring to the table, and that will only make your company much more successful. It will help you create better products and services because you have a culture that celebrates the many, and not the few (emphasis added)."

Right on, Wayne!

When we think about diversity, we typically think of race and gender.

Generational diversity is an overlooked component of diversity that all startups (and established companies) can use to become more successful by:

• Creating products and services that markets need
• Being fiscally prudent
• Creating teams with complementary skills, experiences, connections and perspectives

Got Intergenerational Team Building Tips?

Please share tips/lessons/experiences of how you/your company ignite intergenerational teamwork!

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