Bill. The Baby Boomer.

How many times have you secretly rolled your eyes at a co-worker? Or battled to get your point across to a room full of people unwilling to listen to your perspective? Do you hate feeling like you’re being micro-managed?

You’re not alone.

Go ahead and blame it on your parents because you’re a product of the generation you were born into!

For the first time in history, there are four generations in the work force. And these players are different than ever before. We have a workforce that is increasingly diverse in age, experience, work styles and backgrounds. This is why understanding generations and how they work is critical. Today’s 25-year-old Millennial worker is not the same as a 25-year-old Generation X worker was 10 years ago or a Baby Boomer 20 years ago. There are distinct differences that must be understood – and appreciated.

Check out where you fall into the generations, and see if some of the traits are characteristic of you.

Tradionalists
Birth Years: Pre-1945
Population Size: 75 million (25% are still in the workforce)
Traits: conservative, fiscally prudent, loyal, faith in institutions, sensitive to minority positions, masters of policy, committees and processes, trust credentialed experts.
Communication style: administrative, policy-oriented, letter of the law, masters of the expert opinion, think tanks.

Baby Boomer Debbie. True to her description.

Baby Boomers
Birth Years: 1946-1964
Population Size: 80 million
Traits: ambitious, idealistic, strong work ethic, highly competitive, multi-taskers, value vision and mission, believe in the importance of personal indulgence over institutional might.
Communication Style: megaphone, brilliant message crafters, good creators of content that aligns to purpose and values with appeal to higher purpose and meaning.

Generation Xers
Birth Years: 1965-1981
Population Size: 46 million
Traits: independent, resourceful, adaptable, value pragmatic, realistic approach to daily life, now-oriented, skeptical, distrust institutions.
Communication Style: independent, not connected to an organization, focused on micro-subjects and personal expression of style work, masters of the internet, blogging and publishing resources.

Alissa, a cusper, is quite tech savvy. She feels right at home between Generation X and Generation Y.

Millennial (Gen Y or GenNext)
Birth Years: 1982-2000
Population Size: 76 million
Traits: tech savvy, environmentally conscious, open minded and accepting of differences, socially conscious, value team, cohesiveness and their special mission as a generation.
Communication Style: upbeat, rally together, focused on the activity and approval of their peers, masters of mobile and hand-held devices.

I think the conclusion is clear, awareness is half the battle – understanding the unique traits of each generation and what makes us all different.  So, instead of rolling our eyes about the generation gaps let’s embrace the many benefits of our multi-generational workforce and work together to create a dynamic work environment – but that’s just our opinion as an entitled, lazy, tech savvy Millennials.

So which Generation are you a part of? And what generation dominates your work place?

The co-authors, Brooke and Andrea. Both Millennials.

*Learn more about the generational divide by reading When Generations Collide by Lynne Lancaster and David Stillman.