In the workplace: Tips for managing different generations

Bold and brash versus cautious and formal. Putting clichés and stereotypes aside, it's time to get a grip on the reality of today's IT workplace environment. Different generations have different work styles, and it's important to appreciate those differences, and find ways to listen and respect each other.

John Sisti, General Manager and Vice President, Reotemp Instrument Corp., a manufacturer of temperature and pressure instrumentation in San Diego calls it the "old pilots" versus the "bold pilots" versus the "old bold pilots" view. A younger IT professional may rush into troubleshooting without necessarily considering all of the potential issues, which eventually may add to recovery time. IT veterans, on the other hand, typically have a more measured approach.

"Those who are newly minted are generally much more aggressive and don't have the wisdom as to how [to] approach something new or the experience that you pick up over years," says Sisti, who bases this observation on more than 30 years of technology experience.

While IT veterans are said to be more risk adverse, work at a more measured pace, and have the advantage of years of experience, their younger counterparts make up for their youth and lack of experience with high energy and creativity. For instance, older IT workers often view a BlackBerry as simply an email tool, while younger workers are quick to find creative uses for the hand-held device, such as downloading database information for quicker troubleshooting.

Eric A. Mortensen, lead database administrator/database architect at The Sherwin-Williams Co., a manufacturer of paints and coatings, in Cleveland tells this story to illustrate how different generations approach IT troubleshooting.

His Oracle work environment requires frequent patches to fix bugs or add software functionality. Unless a specific Unix variable is set correctly, patches may fail on application.

When more experienced DBAs first encounter this problem, they generally research Metalink, Oracle's online knowledge database for a solution. Less experienced colleagues, on the other hand, tend to e-mail peers for recommended solutions.

"The interesting thing is that both methods do work and, in reality, the method that the younger workers apply probably can get them a quicker answer to their immediate question," says Mortensen. The problem though is that they don't gain the important research skills he has acquired over 15 years.

Different tools

Experts point out that younger IT workers were weaned on computers, and are naturally more comfortable with social networks and technology such as instant messaging and Twitter. "Their tools are different from our tools," says Philip DesAutels, Academic Evangelism Manager at Microsoft Corp.

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