The workplace is more intergenerational than ever. No wonder it's getting awkward…

For the first time, five generations are working side-by-side. No wonder it's getting awkward…

In offices around the world, people whose careers began before email are working alongside colleagues who have never known life without smartphones. Some instinctively pick up the phone, where others would rather quit than answer it. Some believe respect is shown by arriving early and dressing smartly (a Birkenstock-free zone). Others think respect is measured by outcomes and the rest is none of your business. It just means it’s fertile ground for misunderstanding.

The internet is full of sketches about Gen Z, Millennials, Gen X and Baby Boomers trying to decipher each other's habits. kerryltruelove's videos tickled us this week and capture this brilliantly. They're funny because almost everyone can recognise a colleague (or themselves) in the stereotypes.

The difficulty is that organisations often acknowledge these differences without really helping people navigate them. It's easy enough to joke about Gen Z not answering the phone or Baby Boomers printing off emails, but none of this builds understanding and this is where stereotypes become shorthand for assumptions, and assumptions have a nasty habit of hardening into labels.

Recently, we worked with a global organisation that wanted to better understand the experiences of its increasingly intergenerational workforce. Rather than presenting another deck full of research about generational characteristics, we designed a series of realistic workplace scenarios based on conversations we'd had across the organisation. They explored everyday moments that most people recognise but rarely stop to examine: giving feedback, challenging senior colleagues, expectations around flexible working, communication styles and what "professionalism" actually looks like today.

The scenarios felt so believable that participants repeatedly asked us if they were real but in fact, they were composites, built from recurring experiences that surfaced across generations and this turned out to be a strength.

Rather than debating whether another generation was "wrong", people became curious about why someone else might approach the same situation differently. The discussion became an opportunity to understand the context of other generations.

Too much of the conversation around intergenerational working assumes that the challenge is one of difference. We think the challenge is actually one of interpretation. Friction is commonly caused because people interpret one another's behaviour through their own experiences. We naturally assume that our version of professionalism is simply common sense, when in reality it’s how we’ve learnt to work.

Healthy organisations need different perspectives and this will always be a positive thing. This is where inclusion becomes far more practical than many organisations imagine. Rather than erasing generational differences altogether, we need to look at creating enough understanding that people begin asking questions instead of making assumptions.

Organisations that understand the diversity of perspectives within their own workforce are far better equipped to understand the diversity of perspectives outside it. Inclusion creates relevance, and relevance creates growth.