Talk to me!

I am meeting a friend for a coffee and she looks fried. Early starts? Heavy workload? Family demands getting out of hand?

Nope. It transpires that the reason for her exhaustion is a busy (open) office.

"Those youngsters just wouldn't stop yapping!", she exclaims emphatically. She has a multigenerational office, where her younger colleagues have taken to talking non-stop about things that range from current work tasks to the detail of their physical and mental state (intimate specifics of which are discussed at length..)

"No subject seems to be out of bounds. They are just as likely to talk abour the state of their menstrual cycle as they are about chasing a client for an unpaid invoice", she rolls her eyes.

I kinda know what she means. And now as she stares at me, I am feeling the pressure to "explain" that latest Gen Z quirk, having been christened the Gen Z whisperer*.

"I feel like they're coming to it with good intentions", I venture. "The thing is, Gen Z lost a huge chunk of their formative years to various forms of isolation - from lockdown to remote or hybrid studying - so their communication skills are not exactly super well developed. Yet, social connection is an evolutionary need. So their yapping is merely a poorly executed but ultimately well-intentioned attempt to connect with their coworkers."

"Wow", she utters. "I've not thought of it that way. But I suppose it makes sense"

"Would it make it easier for you to tolerate that background chit-chat now?", I wonder

"It might", she considers. "What it might also do, is encourage me to join in some time. You know, just in the spirit of offering them a masterclass on how proper office communication is done", she winks.

Bussin! (as my Gen Z friends might say)

* One of my client has coined that term when introducing my talk, so I'm taking it onboard. Thanks, Laura!

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