CROSS-GENERATIONAL COMMUNICATION: GEN Y AND NONVERBAL CUES

My August monthly Inter-Generational Relations e-Tip was a checklist of differences in and perceptions about communications styles among the generations. (E-mail me at pwhaserot@pdcounsel.com for a copy and/or to be put on the subscribers list.) On a related point, in a fascinating article on the "Taste" page of the Wall Street Journal (August 28, 2009) ,Mark Bauerlein makes a powerful case for the need to bridge the gap between the Gen Y/Millennial texting culture and use of what anthropologist Edward T. Hall called "the Silent Language," nonverbal cues or body language and voice tone. Mr. Bauerlein is a professor of English at Emory University.

Spending so much time with texting and e-mail as well as Facebook from a young age, Gen Y has developed less skill than previous generations reading nonverbal cues and interpreting tone of voice, pauses, etc., that can be experienced in person or on the phone. (Gen Yers use cell phones more for texting than for voice calls.) It seems the lack of nonverbal communication experience would impede interviewing skills and negotiating skills. The primarily electronic communicators are missing expressive behaviors which transmit feelings, attitudes, reactions and judgments. This is even more damaging in cross-cultural circumstances, which becomes increasingly significant in a world of global economic and political dependency.

And many Gen Yers don't realize that others, particularly other generations, do see nonverbal meaning in behavior such as checkling e-mail, etc. during meetings and not looking at a person who is talking to them because they are multi-tasking.

While it may reduce tensions for other generations to realize that this behavior is not intentionally rude, but rather is just young people acting on what they know (or don't know), the fact is the latter tend not to be well equipped for negotiations, interviewing, navigating the "political" dynamics of the workplace, or even their own job interviews.

Employers and managers need to be sensitive to teachable moments and to provide training early on in what we might term "holistic" communications skills.

Please share your thoughts and experiences.

Phyllis Weiss Haserot   www.pdcounsel.com