Managing Millennials For Dummies

Everything you need to harness Millennial potential Managing Millennials For Dummies is the field guide to people-management in the modern workplace. Packed with insight, advice, personal anecdotes, and practical guidance, this book shows you how to manage your Millennial workers and teach them how to manage themselves. You'll learn just what makes them tick—they're definitely not the workers of yesteryear—and how to uncover the deeply inspirational talent they have hiding not far below the surface. Best practices and proven strategies from Google, Netflix, LinkedIn, and other top employers provide real-world models for effective management, and new research on first-wave versus second-wave Millennials helps you parse the difference between your new hires and more experienced workers. You'll learn why flex time, social media, dress code, and organizational structure are shifting, and answer the all-important question: why won't they use the phone? Millennials are the product of a different time, with different values, different motivations, and different wants—and in the U.S., they now make up the majority of the workforce. This book shows you how to bring out their best and discover just how much they're really capable of. Learn how Millennials are changing the way work gets done Understand new motivations, attitudes, values, and drive Recruit, motivate, engage, and retain incredible emerging talent Discover the keys to optimal Millennial management The pop culture narrative would have us believe that Millennials are entitled, lazy, spoiled brats—but the that couldn't be further from the truth. They are the generation of change: highly adaptive, bright, and quick to take on a challenge. Like any generation of workers, performance lies in management—if you're not getting what you need from your Millennials, it's time to learn how to lead them the way they need to be led. Managing Millennials For Dummies is your handbook for allowing them to exceed your expectations.

Table of Contents:
Introduction 1 About This Book 2 Foolish Assumptions 3 Conventions Used in This Book 3 Icons Used in This Book 3 Beyond the Book 4 Where to Go from Here 4 Part 1: Getting Started with Managing Millennials 7 Chapter 1: Confronting the Millennial Management Challenge 9 Pinpointing Millennials on the Generational Timeline 10 Spotting the Coming Sea of Change in the Workforce 14 Anticipating the silver tsunami: Baby Boomer retirement 14 Forecasting the perfect storm of Gen X 15 Tracking the tidal wave of Millennials in the workforce 17 Anticipating Gen Edgers on the horizon 18 Getting Grounded in Millennials 101 18 Identifying common traits 19 Identifying common values 21 Gaining insight into what Millennials think of themselves 21 Steering clear of stereotypes 22 Combating Millennial fatigue 24 Recognizing that not all Millennials are the same 24 Differentiating a bad employee from a Millennial 25 Identifying and Navigating Generational Clash Points 26 Discovering What Managers Love About Their Millennials 27 Paving the Path to the Workforce of the Future 28 Chapter 2: Harnessing Generational Theory to Guide Your Management Practice 31 Wrapping Your Brain around the Generations Topic 32 Divvying up what the gen topic is and isn’t 32 Grasping the essential tenants 33 Classifying the different generations 35 Linking generations to events and conditions 36 Overcoming the “Yea, Buts .” 39 Comparing two key perspectives: Sociology versus psychology 40 Contrasting the concepts of life stage and generations 41 Understanding that the exception proves the rule 43 Differentiating between stereotyping and recognizing patterns 44 Taking the negative to a positive 45 Using Generational Theory to Build a Better Workplace 46 Impacting the bottom line 46 Turning the “what” into “so what” 48 Chapter 3: Breaking into the Millennial Mind 49 Viewing Millennials as Whole Beings 50 Differing depictions of Millennials 50 Finding the why behind the what 51 Why You Are Who You Are: Taking a Look at the Formative Years 52 Uncovering the impact of technology 54 Dissecting the “upgrade cycle” generation 61 Tracking the influence of social media: from Friendster to Snapchat 65 Checking Out the Messages that Mold Millennials 71 Gaining insight into the effects of the self-esteem movement 71 Getting behind the idea that there truly is no “I” in “team” 75 Globalization: Understanding a generation that knows no borders 77 Feeling the impact of homeland violence 79 Reeling from the economic roller coaster 81 Exploring Millennial Values 83 Breaking the Mold: Rejecting Millennial Stereotypes 84 Chapter 4: Discovering How Millennials Differ from Boomers and Gen Xers 87 Breaking into the Baby Boomer Mind 88 Getting the 411 on Boomers 88 Exploring where Baby Boomers came from (and how it compares to Millennials) 90 Discovering Baby Boomer workplace traits and what they mean for managers 94 Exploring Baby Boomer values and how they influence work style 97 Breaking into the Gen X Mind 98 Getting the Scoop on Generation X 98 Looking at where Xers came from (and comparing it to Millennials) 100 Discovering Xer workplace traits and what they mean for managers 102 Exploring Xer values and how they influence work style 105 Comparing Traits and Values Across Generations 106 Chapter 5: Managing through Your Generational Lens 109 The Parent Trap: What Happens When Boomers Manage Millennials 110 Capitalizing on the unique Boomer/Millennial alliance in managing 112 Avoiding common mistakes 112 The Annoying Little Sibling: Why Xers Struggle to Manage Millennials 114 Taking advantage of the natural alignments of Xers and Millennials 115 Navigating through the inevitable collisions 116 The Twin: Why Millennials Managing Millennials Is Not All Smooth Sailing 117 Unleashing the power of the Millennial-Millennial relationship 118 Easing challenges of managing someone in your own generation 119 Part 2: Navigating Potential Clash Points 121 Chapter 6: Adapting to Changes in Organizational Structure . . . The World Is Flat 123 Transitioning from Hierarchy to Network 124 Embracing the changing nature of the org chart 126 Explaining to Millennials the long-standing merits of the traditional structure 128 Managing the generation who grew up tweeting the POTUS 129 Understanding the upgrade cycle at work 130 Looking at Transparency in a Networked Structure 132 Using Your Adapted Organizational Structure to Recruit, Retain, and Engage 134 Utilizing your brand story over brand reputation 135 Creating the perfect open-door policy 136 Inviting Millennial input from day one 137 Motivating through career progression without promotion 138 Engaging alumni employees 139 Dealing with Special Circumstances 140 Managing Millennials remotely 141 Working in an extremely traditional environment 142 Working in an extremely nontraditional environment 143 Chapter 7: Encouraging and Facilitating Collaboration — Go Team! 145 Shifting Your Perspective on Collaboration 146 Boomers: Come together, right now 146 Gen Xers: Stop, collaborate, and listen 147 Millennials: We belong together 147 Reconciling Differences: Independent Xers versus Collaborative Millennials 148 Looking through Gen Xers’ eyes 149 Seeing Millennials’ viewpoint 149 Finding the right ways to manage collaboration 150 Understanding what Millennials really want when they ask to collaborate 151 Helping Millennials do independent work 152 Onboarding Millennials 154 Training Millennials 156 Mentoring Millennials and Vice Versa 157 Checking out the Millennial mentor and mentee roles 158 Establishing effective mentorship guidelines 159 Harnessing the power of reverse mentorship 160 Building a Collaborative Infrastructure 161 The changing physical office space 161 Utilizing instant messaging as a key workplace tool 164 Collaborating from afar 165 Chapter 8: Supercharging Your Feedback Loop Gold Stars Abound! 167 Giving Feedback in the Instantaneous Age 168 Speed: I can’t wait a year for feedback 168 Frequency: I want to be kept in the loop 169 Transparency: I want the whole truth 169 Avoiding potential drawbacks of the instant feedback style 169 Rethinking the Review Session 170 Knowing what works for Millennials 171 Differentiating between formal and informal feedback 172 Determining the right frequency 174 Mastering the compliment sandwich (hold the cheese) 175 Avoiding the “participation trophy” mindset 177 Ditching the “but I had to figure it out on my own” mindset 178 What are the best of the best doing? 180 Realizing that Feedback Is a Two-Way Street 182 Ignoring your inner voice (“But in my day, I never gave my manager feedback!”) 182 Soliciting valuable input 183 How to stop (or at least control) the floodgates 184 Acting More Like a Coach Than a Boss 185 Common Feedback Troubleshooting 185 Delivering tough feedback 186 What to do if a Millennial cries 187 What if Mom and Dad get involved? 188 I think my Millennial is about to quit 189 Chapter 9: Motivating Millennials — Generation “Why?” 191 Managing for Meaning 192 Looking back across generations 192 Connecting the dots for Millennials 194 What if the job isn’t particularly meaningful? 195 Engaging in philanthropy 196 Compensating the Noncompensation Generation 198 Finding out why compensation isn’t enough 198 What is it with YOLO? 201 Rewarding Millennials 202 Making the most of the almighty dollar 202 Rewarding the individual versus the team 203 Finding nonmonetary rewards that motivate 204 Giving Millennials shareable work moments 206 Helping Millennials find their squad 207 Giving ’em a buddy 207 Offering up office extracurriculars 208 Chapter 10: Dropping Workplace Formalities: Let’s Be Friends 209 Distinguishing Between Formality at Work and Work Ethic 210 Checking out work-ethic mindset through the ages 210 Unpacking the impact of dress code 212 Turning off the clock: The impact of work hours 216 Working hard or hardly working 222 Drawing the Fine Line Between Manager and Friend 223 Telling Millennials when it’s just TMI! 224 Navigating social media 225 Explaining work social events to Millennials 225 Placing boundaries where needed 226 Channeling Your Inner Emily Post: Communication Etiquette 227 Accepting the habit of multitasking and its side effects 228 Understanding (and accepting) why Millennials won’t pick up the phone 229 Figuring out who needs to adjust 231 Part 3: Accommodating Individual Differences Among the Millennial Masses 233 Chapter 11: Managing Millennials ’Round the World 235 Viewing Generational Theory through a Global Lens 236 Implications of globalization, the Internet, and technology 238 Noting some regional differences 240 Looking at Global Millennials’ Uniting Trends and Key Differentiators 242 Similarities in Millennials across the globe 242 Distinguishing Millennial features by region 243 Tapping into the Power of Generational Theory Around the Globe 245 Becoming a generational expert 246 Honing the fine art of asking questions 246 Chapter 12: Adapting Your Management Style to Different Millennial Personas 249 Coping with the Needy Millennial 250 A portrait of a Needy Millennial 250 Surviving the Needy Millennial 252 Hangin’ in There with the Hipster Millennial 253 A portrait of a Hipster Millennial 253 Handling the Hipster Millennial 255 Finding a Way to Deal with the Hidden Millennial 255 A portrait of a Hidden Millennial 256 Dealing with the Hidden Millennial 257 Dealing with Denial in the “I’m-Not-a-Millennial” Millennial 258 A portrait of the “I’m-Not-a-Millennial” Millennial 258 Working with the denial of the “I’m-Not-a-Millennial” Millennial 260 Preventing the Demise of the Millennial Martyr 261 A portrait of the Martyr Millennial 261 Stopping yourself from getting sucked into the Millennial Martyrdom 263 Chapter 13: Making Adjustments for Ages and Life Stages 265 Meeting Cusper, the Friendly Ghost 266 How to identify a cusper 266 The power of being a cusper 267 Introducing the Xer/Millennial: The Oregon Trail Generation 268 Exploring events and conditions 269 Recognizing workplace traits 269 Understanding key differences 270 Snagging management tips 271 Getting a Glimpse of the Millennial/Gen Edger: The Snapchat Generation 271 Exploring events and conditions 272 Recognizing workplace traits 273 Understanding key differences 274 Snagging management tips 274 Modifying Your Style for Old Millennials versus Young Millennials 275 The things that divide them 275 The ties that bind 276 The different managerial approaches 277 Meeting Millennial Parents 277 What does the new working mom look like? 278 Meet the Millennial dad: #RedefiningMasculinity 281 Adapting the workplace for a new brand of parent 282 DINKs: Motivating the Dual Income No Kids Subset 283 Chapter 14: Tailoring Your Millennial Management Style to Different Work Settings 287 Managing in Silicon Valley versus Wall Street 288 Viewing Silicon Valley 289 Weighing in on Wall Street 290 Adjusting for Blue Collar versus White Collar 293 Wearing a white collar 293 Going with a blue collar 294 Adjusting Your Style in the Arts versus the Sciences 297 Stirring passions in the arts field 298 Being mindful of the science field 299 Part 4: Gearing Up for the Coming Changes 301 Chapter 15: Paving the Way for Millennial Leadership 303 Grooming the Leaders to Be 304 Knocking down mental blocks 304 Where to focus now 307 Predicting future leadership challenges 310 Bringing Out the Best Millennial Leadership Skills 312 Where they will shine 313 Where they could coast 314 Where they might struggle 315 Preparing Millennials to Manage Up 315 Preparing to deal with potential negativity 316 Millennials managing Boomers 317 Millennials managing Xers 319 Getting Millennials Ready to Manage Across and Down 320 Millennials managing Millennials 320 Millennials managing Gen Edgers 322 Chapter 16: Preparing for the Next Generation in the Workplace: Gen Edge 325 Warning: This Generation Is Still in the Works 326 Sizing up Gen Edge 327 Playing the name game 328 Decoding What Gen Edge Events and Conditions Will Mean for Managers 329 The event that gave them an edge 330 The conditions that sharpened their edge 331 Adapting Your Management Style to Accommodate Gen Edge Traits 336 Getting in Their Heads and Hearts: Gen Edge Values 337 Getting a Jump on Creating a Workplace that Works for Gen Edge 338 Predicting the Future: Potential Gen Edge Clash Points 340 The clash — Millennials versus Gen Edge 340 The clash — Gen X versus Gen Edge 341 The clash — Baby Boomers versus Gen Edge 342 Chapter 17: Forecasting the Great Unknown 343 Using History to Predict the Future 344 Yes, the generations are cyclical 344 Using parenting trends to predict 346 Making sense of Millennial parenting and its implications for the workforce 346 Keeping Watch on Technology, Economy, and Trends 347 Technology 347 Economy 350 Trends 350 What We Know We Don’t Know 351 Part 5: The Part of Tens 353 Chapter 18: Ten Things that Motivate Millennials Other than Money 355 Providing Exposure to Other People in the Organization 356 Giving a Good Old-Fashioned Thank-You 356 Tossing Out Tailored Treats 357 Having Fun with Co-Workers (Yes, That Means with You Too) 357 Showing a Path to Promotion 358 Giving More Responsibility 359 Utilizing Half-Day Fridays or Part-Time Tuesdays 360 Allocating Time for Passion Projects 361 Dressing Down the Dress Code 361 Offering Up Team Wins 362 Chapter 19: Ten Millennial Strengths to Capitalize On 363 Taking Advantage of Tech-Innate 364 Tuning in to Team-Focused 365 Motivating by Meaning 365 Embracing Diversity 367 Urging an Eagerness to Help 367 Capturing Innovation 368 Staying Networked 369 Recognizing a Fear of Failure 369 Showing Informality at Work 370 Being Ready for Fun 371 Chapter 20: Ten Millennial Stereotypes that Are Misinterpreted 373 Hating Face-to-Face Communication 374 Having the Attention Span of a Goldfish 374 Operating with No Work Ethic 375 Wanting to Have Fun All Day 376 Refusing to Do Work that Is “Beneath Them” 377 Being Young and Inexperienced 377 Fearing Going Solo 378 Thinking They’re All the Same 379 Having No Ambition 380 Relying on Mom and Dad for Everything 380 Chapter 21: Ten Tips on How to Become the #BestBossEver 383 Asking Them Questions — All the Time 384 Learning to Like Them, Genuinely 384 Individualizing Your Approach with Each Millennial 385 Giving Them an “A” for Effort (Even if the Results Are More Like a B+) 386 Challenging Them to Do More 386 Sharing Yourself with Them (Yes, This Means Beyond Your Work-Self) 387 Giving Some Good Ol’ Tough Love 387 Making Sure You Don’t Let Them Down 388 Setting Clear, Structured Expectations 388 Inviting Their Input 389 Index 391

About the Author :
Hannah L. Ubl is the Research Director at BridgeWorks and transforms data into stories for the masses. Lisa X. Walden is the Communications Director at BridgeWorks where she delivers compelling, breakthrough generational content. Debra Arbit is CEO of BridgeWorks: a generational consulting company (www.generations.com).