But what if they did?

Often by changing our perspective, we can see a connection that we didn’t see before. Much like if you change your approach and drink the OJ before you brush your teeth, the two flavors don’t have the same adverse reaction.

So explore with me if you will, an environment where Baby Boomers and Millennials complement each other; where their strengths offset their weaknesses, and they come together to form a company’s dream team.

To do this, we must first gain a better understanding of their similarities, strengths, needs, and wants.

What do they have in common?

• Desire for work/life balance
• The drive to see and be a part of the world becoming a better place – a need for purpose

What are their strengths?

• Millennials = Potential
  • Intuitively understand technology
  • Unjaded perspective and an openness to exploring new ideas
• Baby Boomers = Experience
  • Strong communication skills
  • Decades of experience and the knowledge that comes with it

Where do their needs and wants overlap?

• Millennials value knowledge and want mentors. They don’t want to waste time and are constantly looking for ways to speed up their learning curve.
• Baby Boomers want to give back. They have a sense of responsibility, a need, to pass along all of the knowledge they’ve gained throughout their years.

Now that we have a better appreciation for how Baby Boomers and Millennials complement each other let’s take a look at how to structure a team made up of the two groups.

Emphasize the significance of communication.
Communication is key. It’s better to have your team over-communicating than experiencing a lack of communication. It’s vital the group understands the importance of sharing their achievements and excitement as well as their frustration and confusion with each other.

• Baby Boomers should set the example for Millennials and teach them how to communicate and work through the different situations that arise when working in a team.
• Millennials should see the communication process as an opportunity for personal growth and development.

Define projects by purpose.
By doing this, you can appeal to the Baby Boomers and Millennials similar desire for purpose. It will also help the group to be on the same page for what they are trying to accomplish with the project.

The team structure is horizontal.
For them to act as a team, they need to be a team. Meaning no member is more valuable than the other. Each has a strength and weakness, and they need to learn to work together.

Clarify your expectation for two-way teaching and learning.

• Encourage Baby Boomers to mentor Millennials by helping them identify their strengths and how to improve their weaknesses. Make sure they understand the value of sharing their experiences from past projects.
• Empower Millennials by making them responsible for introducing software and online tools that might help aid in the success of the project.

It took many years for me to realize some of the barriers I faced at the beginning of my career had to do with generational differences. Since that realization, I have practiced how to break down those barriers in my company.

I share this with you in hopes that it might help you or someone you know gain a new perspective on how to approach the challenges facing today’s multi-generational workplace.

Related Articles:

The Millennial Movement
Meetings Millennials Want

Until next time!

The post Creating a Boomer-Millennial Dream Team appeared first on dynami.

SMM is a discipline which provides for effective oversight and fiscal management of your events, meetings, incentives and trade shows.  A properly designed SMM solution starts with an easy to understand policy championed at the Executive level. Consistent processes should support the policy for operations enforced by Procurement and Legal.  Engaging professional event managers to execute and drive for expected outcomes provides insight into which events support revenue generation, enhance your reputation, solidify brand awareness and maximize business.  Precise measurement of the event values and integration of event level data with existing customer data to guide your engagement investment ensures strategic milestones can be met in every business environment.

Supporting sales generating events is an easy decision.  Getting the most out of non-sales focused programs is an often missed investment opportunity.  Organizations spend millions on product and delivery training programs, but rarely measure on-going knowledge retention rates beyond the event.  Even less often, they measure the application of the training strategy in an actual business environment before moving on to the next initiative.  By tying your event data to these types of events, you can improve the overall environment in which every sale is made, and every customer interaction is delivered.

As our businesses globalize, and the Millennials take over the majority stakeholder position in the workplace, utilizing data to drive business strategy will be a key success factor.  The ability to make smart data-driven decisions on where to invest in the right face to face engagements will be a market differentiator.  No matter the size of your organization, the face to face engagement is one of the most valuable marketing vehicles in business today. By investing in accurately managing these opportunities, you can create programs designed to support organizational objectives and grow your business.

In future posts, I’ll share tips on how to define and design a workable Meetings Policy that is easy to follow and protects your organization without bogging down the planning team.  I’ll also be sharing some best practice execution processes, savings tips and insight into monetizing the non-revenue driving events for valuable ROI.

Related Article: Keep it Simple – Strategic Meetings Management

Until next time!

The post Strategic Meetings Management appeared first on dynami.

In case you missed the introduction, here is a quick summary:

Millennials want to hear about networking opportunities, personalized education, and insight on career paths. They respond best to transparency, clear objectives, and a connection to “what’s in it for them.”

Keep this in mind as we take a deeper dive into what appeals to Millennials so you can have a stronger grasp on how to engage, motivate, and empower these pivotal employees by maximizing the value stemming from your meetings and corporate events.

The Human Factor

The number one thing to keep in mind when gearing meetings towards the needs of Millennials is the value this group puts on face-to-face opportunities that will help them propel their careers forward.

When you’re in the planning phase, consider using pre-event assessments and surveys to gauge attendees’ interests and goals. Use this information to pair participants in small group situations that will allow them to build new relationships. Try not just to match groups based on similarities. Instead, factor in unique differences, such as pairing junior and senior employees, or attendees from distinctive backgrounds, to ensure they haven’t already interacted with one another.

Use social media tools and apps that let event organizers and owners better communicate with attendees as well as pave the way for participants to interact with one another. Examples include Bizzabo, which lets users see the conference agenda and message other attendees, set up face-to-face meetings, receive suggestions of personalized business opportunities, and integrate the app with their social media accounts to keep in touch with the people they meet at events.

Enhance networking opportunities by offering interludes during meetings and corporate events.

The key here is to keep your meeting interactive and driven by the human element.

Provide Choices and Flexibility

Millennials value a sense of choice and autonomy, which is a major component leading them to be innovative, willing to embrace change, and creative.

Consider this when designing your next corporate event.

Give Millennials the freedom to choose everything, from which small groups they’ll participate in, to their food and beverage options.

You can also integrate a sense of personalization into meetings by letting participants drive the discussion. Use opportunities for interaction, feedback, and questions as a way to determine the direction the meeting will take.

Millennials grew up using tools like social media and have come to expect to the ability to voice their opinion. They appreciate chances for collaboration, sharing, and rethinking conventional concepts.

Bring Social Elements into the Mix

We all know, Millennials are incredibly comfortable with social media and digital technology. So why not bring this into your meetings? Just be careful not to replace the essential human component.

Use social media as a way to enhance meeting content and objectives, rather than having it dominate meetings.

You can use social tools to take live polls and get a feel for what the audience is thinking, include gamification throughout sessions, or create a hashtag that can be used to Tweet and post on what’s happening during an event.

Embracing the Millennial Viewpoint

Millennials are a unique generation. They have a fresh, innovative approach to the workplace and how meetings are conducted.

They crave the opportunity to build relationships that can create a sound basis for their line of business. They want meetings that challenge them, interest them, and are a way to enhance their career.

This generation is desperately trying to navigate their way through the business world. And it may come as a surprise to you, but they value advice from their superiors. Millennials want mentors.

Our next article in this series will go over how to utilize meetings to break down communication barriers between different generations and ultimately bridge the skills gap.

Photo Credit: Charlie Edward / Shutterstock.com

Related articles: The Millennial Movement

Until next time!

The post Meetings Millennials Want appeared first on dynami.

The result – The Millennial Movement.

Understanding The Millennial Movement comes from appreciating how the world was when they grew up. At a formative age, Millennials experienced the Technology Boom. They were born between the early 1980’s and early 2000’s. This group watched lives change as the impossible became possible. Millennials are the best-educated generation in American history. They also have a strong sense of global awareness.

Innovative by nature, Millennials have been responsible for 160,000 startups a month (Study by US Chamber of Commerce). To them, any hurdle can be overcome with a quick Google search. And if they don’t find an answer via the internet, they seek to create a solution.

My experience has led me to see Millennials as a misunderstood generation. Their higher level education sold them on an idea that their degrees would give them their pick of jobs, only to graduate into a job market suffering from one of the largest economic downturns. Nowadays, solid education and strong work ethic don’t always translate to job security. It’s a reality that has left Millennials unwilling to compromise their quality of life for a career. Their lack of patience stems from growing up in the “get it now” era but also from a race against time. Millennials are trying to make up for the slow start had at the beginning of their careers.

Today, Millennials see less value in advanced degrees or longevity with one company. They believe networking and industry education are the fastest methods for professional growth. This perspective puts meetings in the power seat for attracting, retaining, and growing Millennials.

“How?” you ask.

The answer is simple. You connect the objectives of your meeting to the motivations of your audience.

Many organizations forget the importance of marketing to their audience. A costly mistake when trying to reach Millennials. For this group, you will want to communicate how your meeting will help them grow. Millennials want to hear about networking opportunities, personalized education, and insight on career paths. They respond best to transparency, clear objectives, and a connection to “what’s in it for them.”

I hope you enjoyed the introduction to our mini-series on The Millennial Movement. Stay tuned for best practices on engaging, motivating, and empowering Millennials through corporate meetings and events.

Related Article: Meetings Millennials Want

Until next time!

The post The Millennial Movement appeared first on dynami.