To see more Contributing Writers Managing Millennials is different than managing other groups. While Baby Boomers considered themselves a dynamic generation that came of age in the 1970s, they mostly lived in the 9am to 5pm, white picket fence, gray flannel suit world their parents established. Similarly, Generation X went to college when personal computers were new and cell phones didn’t exist. Millennials grew up without the boundaries of Baby Boomers and without the contemplative, pre-tech, personal time.
So how do we engage with Millennials
How do we manage them? Here are five tips: 1. Be flexible with your work schedule. Millennials aren’t constrained by a 9am to 5pm work schedule; they work best with flexible schedules. I’ve met millennials who come in at 6am, work in the afternoon, and then go home to work in coworking spaces until midnight.
I know this because I get their work
I try to make this “flexible work schedule” orderly because we work in the government, which is particularly sensitive to accusations overseas chinese in uk data of absenteeism and “lazy bureaucrats.” But part of being a good manager is recognizing who your employees are and aren’t. Millennials work hard, but they’re not 9am to 5pm employees, so be flexible with their schedules.
Don’t bother with the dress code.
Millennials aren’t professionals in gray flannel suits; they don’t like suits. They prefer what was once called “business casual” and now team members realtime updates and announcements seems to be “standard business” attire. They compensate for this relaxed aesthetic with fancy socks (for men) or trendier clothes (for women), or so they think. This used to drive me crazy because I was one of those people who wore acceptable but boring gray, blue, or black suits.
It wasn’t just the suits we were required to wear,
It was the heels, the stockings, the hairstyles. When I was in law school, I spent my summers at the federal courthouse in lower Manhattan. The rich data weather was hot and the commute was miserable. One day, I wore a pair of open-toed shoes without nylon socks, and an older female attorney scolded me for it. Later, I felt that she and all those like her were dead wrong. Wearing open-toed shoes is against professional ethics. Would you also consider my work output unprofessional?