Our workplaces are becoming more age-diverse than before. To ensure that the workplaces remain effective and productive, it is extremely important to monitor the impact of age-diversity in leadership and team communication.
Now, leaders are typically sensitized with required communication skills to ensure that they regularly communicate to provide directions to the team. However, the age gap often leads to a scenario where employees hesitate to step up in communicating their ideas to the leaders. Typically, communication trainings are organized for team-members to fix this gap. They are taught about building confidence to share their ideas, techniques to structure their ideas, and tools to effectively pitch their thoughts. However, these trainings often do not solve the problem of the broken upward communication. There stays a psychological safety gap, which only the leader needs to address.
This paper highlights the conscious communication styles that the leaders need to practice in order to make the upward communication flows happen.
We already know from the Sender-Receiver Model of Communication that a Sender will adjust the message as he or she perceives the Receiver. This is point where we need to analyze the interpretation of age of the leader as a proxy of the perception of the leader.
Thus, using the lens of the team members, we divide the leaders into 2 categories:
1. Authority figure – A person who will judge the younger team member for anything done wrong. The communication from the team member will always be guarded to avoid mistakes.
2. Benevolence figure – An experienced person who will guide the younger team member in case he does anything wrong. Here the communication is more open and seeking inputs that will help the younger team member better navigate through complexities.
Similarly, using the lens of the leader, we divide the team members into 2 categories:
1. Proactive – A person who is curious, asks questions and is eager to learn
2. Passive – A person who will wait for and follow instructions
Now, this leads us to 4 scenarios in the 2*2 communication grid:
1. Scenario 1: Leader is perceived as an authority figure & Team member is passive- In such case, the leader needs to invest time in opening up the team member through:
a. Identify a strength of the team-member & guide to grow
b. Connect with a prior personal vulnerability that the leader observes in the team-member & guide to grow
2. Scenario 2: Leader is an authority figure & Team member is proactive – Here leader needs to consciously crystallize intelligence and share more about his sensing and decision-making lenses. This is more about tools-sharing so that the young team member feels empowered to take up responsibilities and, in the process, share his/her observations.
3. Scenario 3: Leader is benevolent & Team member is passive – Leader needs to share consequences of passivity & nudge with Call To Action. In this scenario, if the team member is not opening up despite persistent inputs, it is okay to share the perceived picture of the team member being disengaged.
4. Scenario 4: Leader is benevolent & Team member is proactive – Here the leader should actively listen to the team member’s aspirations and coach for growth. This is not about sharing own career story, which often today’s team members initially resist as unwanted advice.
These 4 varying scenarios and actions will help the leaders be more effective in their communication and connect with the team members, thereby overcoming the perception barriers of the age difference. Once the connect and the relationship is built, the perceived barriers will automatically lapse, and then the free flow of communication will happen both ways.
