style="font-size:15px;"> ● Baby Boomers (born 1946 to 1964) are highly competitive and define themselves by achievement. Many are workaholics. Although Boomers wanted to change the world and fought for change (civil rights, women’s role), on the whole they respect authority, loyalty, position, and hard work that creates upward progress. They would like today’s young people to advance the same way they did: earning rewards (and confidence) gradually over time.
Communication style: Good with confrontation and face-to-face; hold meetings often; like the telephone, email, and detailed information; get information from newspapers and television; many use Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter.
React badly to: Younger people’s perceived lack of respect, low commitment level, expectations of fast progress, constant need for mentoring, arrogance about their own superior technology skills, and careless writing!
React well to: A can-do attitude, willingness to work hard and overcome obstacles, respect for their achievements and knowledge, and well-planned and proofed messages.
● Generation X (born 1965 to 1980) is a relatively small generation literally caught in the middle. They are often middle managers and must translate between those they report to and those who report to them. They are hard-working, individualistic, committed to change, and seeking life balance. They value opportunities to build skills.
Communication style: Depend on email, preferably short and efficient; would prefer to skip meetings; comfortable with new technology and social media (especially Facebook) to varying degree, but without the full enthusiasm of younger people; refer to television and to a lesser extent, newspapers, for information.
React badly to: Autocratic, unappreciative managers; an air of entitlement from subordinates and subordinates’ need for constant attention, encouragement, and supervision, and unwillingness to go the extra mile and adapt to workplace needs; impatience; “unearned” confidence.
React well to: Resourcefulness, independence, sense of responsibility, attention to detail, willingness to take on “uninteresting” assignments, good communication.
● Millennials (also known as Generation Y) (born 1981 to 1996) belong to an especially large generation and face strong competition but fewer opportunities. They are highly social and communal-minded, preferring to work in teams and in close touch with everyone else inside and outside the office. They want responsibility – quickly – plus intensive mentoring. They expect to spend their careers job-hopping and experimenting with other income sources. They are non-materialistic and typically leave jobs quickly when unengaged, even without another in sight. Accord high value to active experience, inclusiveness, and tolerance.
Communication style: Digital all the way; prefer to interact through texting, instant messaging, and social media, especially Facebook; draw news and information from the Internet; use email only as required; unenthusiastic about telephone contact, meetings, and confrontation.
React badly to: Lack of respect; insufficient encouragement, appreciation, inclusion, and fast rewards; not being given reasons for assignments; not being accommodated in lifestyle preferences; being required to work with old technology.
React well to: Coaching, opportunities to learn and grow, sense of purpose, being valued, explanations, new experiences, constant communication, teaming, and insights into the big picture.
● Generation Z (also known as the Homeland Generation) (born 1997 to 2010) is an unknown element of the workplace as yet. Growing up with the experience of a Great Recession and the War on Terror, this most parent-protected group of all shows signs of being more conservative, fearful, pragmatic, and concerned with privacy. They are the first “true digital natives” and use their smartphones for all information, entertainment, and communication, but few phone calls. In social media, they prefer the ephemeral Snapchat and Instagram.
Perhaps defining your goal and audience so thoroughly sounds like unnecessary busy-work. But doing so helps immeasurably when you’re approaching someone with an idea, product, or service that you need him to buy into.
Suppose your department is planning to launch a major project that you want to lead. You could write a memo explaining how important the opportunity is to you, how much you can use the extra money, or how much you’ll appreciate being chosen for the new role. But unless your boss, Mark, is a totally selfless person without ambition or priorities of his own, why would he care about any of that?
You’re much better off highlighting your relevant skills and accomplishments. Your competitors for the leadership position may equal or even better such a rundown, so you must make your best case. Think beyond yourself to what matters most to Mark.
A quick profile of Mark reveals a few characteristics to work with:
❯❯ He likes to see good teamwork in people reporting to him.
❯❯ He’s a workaholic who is usually overcommitted.
❯❯ He likes to launch projects and then basically forget about them until results are due.
❯❯ He’s ambitious and always angling for his next step up.
Considering what you know about Mark, the content of your message can correspond to these traits by including:
❯❯ Your good record as both a team player and team leader
❯❯ Your dedication to the new project and willingness to work over and beyond normal hours to do it right
❯❯ Your ability to work independently and use good judgment with minimal supervision
❯❯ Your enthusiasm for this particular project, which, if successful, will be highly valued by the department and company
Again, all your claims must be true, and you need to provide evidence that they are. For example, you could include a reminder of another project you successfully directed and handled independently.
Your reader profile can tell you still more. If you wonder how long your memo needs to be, consider Mark’s communication preferences. If he prefers brief memos followed by face-to-face decision-making, keep your memo concise, but still cover the major points to secure that all-important meeting. However, if he reacts best to written detail, give him more information up front.
Creating a reader profile enables you to create a blueprint for the content of all your messages and documents. After you’ve defined what you want and analyzed your audience in relation to the request, brainstorm the points that may help you win your case with that person. Your brainstorming gives you a list of possibilities. Winnowing out the most convincing points is easy, and you can organize simply by prioritizing, as I show you how to do in Chapter 3.
