Generation+01

Synthesis Abstract
Abstract: Greg Hammill, author of “Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees,” describes a phenomenon he dubs as “The Power of Four” which depicts the current situation in many places of employment. This situation is that for the first time in history, four generations of people are in the workforce. In a time not too long ago bosses were older than their subordinates, today this is not the case. The combination of these two [|facts] has created problems and unnecessary tensions. Hammill lists the four generations he created: The Veterans (born 1922-1945), the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980), and Generation Y (1981-2000). Hammill says that the misunderstanding between generations can be explained by the differences in outlook and experience in life in such areas as education, [|family], core values, communication, approaches to money, and the day to day dealings in the work place. The methods each generation uses to get information, process information, and delegate or relay information are all different. The idea or main point of the article is to be aware of the differences and to find common ground for all the employees and work together for the best solution.

Synthesis Reflection
It seems as though this article made most of us concerned with what kinds of generational discrepancies we will witness in our future jobs. Though it's certain that we will all face some kind of generation gap or butt heads with colleagues of either older or younger generations, everyone has a willingness to try and work with those who might approach education from a different generational mindset than our own. The chart of traits for the four generations outlined in the article gave most of us an idea of what they might be up against. The distinctions that the article made between each generation were both enlightening and helpful--not always for their exact assessments, but for giving us a general idea of where we stand and the chance to see an outsider's take on the prevalent attitudes of our generation. This article gave us a fresh issue to ponder as we get ever closer to the day of our first class, and though the possible conflicts we might face are not the same as the author's examples, we are optimistic about our ability to maintain a well-functioning working environment with our fellow teachers.

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Rachel Fritschy
The article opens up by reviewing the evident problems in the workplace between different generation gaps. The workplace today is the first where four different generations are working side by side. Years ago, in most cases, the bosses of companies and organizations were older then their employees. The younger employees learned to respect their elders and worked cooperatively underneath them. Today, the age range is much more mixed up with some bosses being much younger than their employees. There is a major problem with generation gaps and communication since each different generation communicates in a different way. For this reason exactly, we all need to realize where each generation comes from so that we can communicate better and understand more fully. Overall, it is important for managers and leaders in a workplace to get to know their employees and how they communicate so that they can have a successful organization. I really liked this article because it definitely pointed out a big problem in the workplace today. Studying to be a teacher, I have seen teaching styles change drastically in a very short amount of time. I know that when I start teaching with my new-age teaching styles, many of the older teachers will probably not approve at first. Throughout my schooling, I have had a mix of teaching styles from traditional to very innovative but I have had pros and cons with both. As a teacher, I am going to try to use a little bit of both because they can both be quite effective when done right. Overall, I thought this article was great in pointing out the problems with generation gaps and how employees and bosses of any workforce need to make an effort to get to know each other. By doing so, communication can be much easier and employees will understand each other much better.

Filbert
Abstract Hammill dissects the differences between the four major generations that current make up our workforce. Each generation acts in different ways from one another in similar situations. Hammill argues that many workforce problems could be avoided if employers took the time to figure out if the problems are generation related. For instance, Generation Y employees, born between 1980-2001, tend to communicate through technology instead of directly face-to-face or even on the phone. This can become an issue when someone from the Veteran generation, 1922-1945, is trying to get a hold of them for something work related. This day and age is unique in the way that there has never before been four generations of employees working side-by-side.

Reflection I never realized that each generation could be grouped according to workforce traits, that's pretty neat. I'm not sure if I buy into the idea that our generational gaps are the reasons for so many issues at work. I think that good communication is good communication. Either you have it or you don't. Coming from a person born in Generation Y, I realize that I do prefer to use technology to communicate, but even email has it's own language for deciphering what people are really feeling. The traits were interesting nonetheless.

Jason Allshouse
The article “Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees” by Greg Hammill is about the new “event” in workplaces across America, that being the first time that four generations of Americans are working in the same place. These four generations are considered: The Veterans (1922-1945), the Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1980), and Generation Y (1981-2000). The main focus of the article is that some real office problems have come about because of ideological differences and differences of how to do things between the generations. For instance, an example in the article deals with the notion of education with Veterans saying “it’s a dream”; Baby Boomers saying “it’s a birth right”; Generation X stating “it’s a way to get there”; and finally Generation Y saying “it’s an incredible expense”. In order to work together and build a decent workplace environment, employees of different generations need to come to some common ground and be able to recognize that there are differences in order to be able to succeed. I think that this is a great article because we, as young perspective teachers, will definitely come into contact with this as new teachers. Many teachers out there are set in **their** ways, ways that we now consider to be out-of-date, and they will not want to change; in most cases, they will not want to hear us talk about things we have learned in school because they disagree or are not aware of new techniques. This is not to say that every “veteran” teacher is like this, but many refuse to change because they do not see what they are doing as “old school”. I think that this generational divide will play a large role in my area of social studies, because more veteran teachers look at world events through their own “rose colored glasses” and will have a distinctly different outlook on things then I might. This also plays a role in societal things such gay rights, abortion, and race relations. To be successful, I think that we must first agree that there will be some disagreements along the way; once that is done you NEED to work to put differences aside in order to do you job. You may decide to agree to disagree, but you at least need to make a conscious effort to try and be civil to one another. I saw this type of situation at Mount Blue High School. Mr. St. Onge, my mentor teacher, definitely came from a different era and he was passionate about certain topics that were often argued about in the teachers’ lounge – his beliefs and methodology clearly conflicted with other teachers, such as Mr. Dunbar, who held different beliefs and was trained from a new perspective, since he had only recently graduated from college. They just seemed like they would agree to disagree and attempt to work together; sometimes, that’s the best you can do.

Kayla Coombs
In his article “Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees,” Greg Hammill discusses how four generations of employees have to work together. These would be the following: the Veterans, which are from 1922 to 1945, the Baby Boomers from 1946-1964, Generation X, from 1965-1980, and Generation Y, from 1981 to 2000. There are many differences among the generations, and these can have an impact on the workplace environment, as each generation has a certain way of approaching and dealing with work. Hammill mentions that everyone needs to be aware of the generation they come from and how it will impact their outlook on and experiences with such aspects of life such as education, family, core values, communication, approaches to money, and various dealings with and in the workplace. The boss especially needs to be aware of these differences in order to make it and efficient and successful place of work. He or she needs to be able to understand these differences and acknowledge them when approaching each individual employee.

Overall I thought this was an interesting and informative article. This might mainly be because this is the first I have heard of my being from Generation Y, and this is the first time I have actually considered the fact that they are four generations in the workforce today. I have always been aware, at all of my places of employment, that there are generational differences with how we approach work, but I never really thought of it in the sense of how we need to focus on understanding these generational characteristics when regarding how to be and maintain a successful working environment for each individual. One significant element of this article that I enjoyed was that it provided so many examples of generational differences and, with the workplace, gave instances where one could acknowledge these differences and ways to work around them or resolve them. I could definitely relate to some of what was appointed to the Generation Y, what with such things like education being an “incredible expense,” communicating with use of the internet, and the interactive style at work being “participative.” I did, however, find myself relating to other generations over Generation Y in the sense of my core values and communication at work being more along the lines of the Baby Boomers.

Jason Malbon
Abstract:

This article has a lot of relevance to what we are preparing for in the classroom. It is all about communicating. Tensions between generations and in particular those that occur within the workplace and in families have root causes. Values and ethics have changes over the decades. Unquestioning obedience toward authority was ok following the World War II era, but not so much with baby boomers and Gen X’ers. Today’s most current generation values balance between working life and private life. This is in conflict with the baby boom work-a-holic mentality. Understanding differences will help me as an educator in bridging the gap between generations. Reflection:

As educators, we not only have to know content, provide engaging lessons and understand the way our students learn, but we need to be effective communicators. This is not only true for our relations with students, but also with parents, colleagues, administrators and the business community. We will have contact with people from multiple generations and their differing belief systems. The charts provided in the article provide good insight into general beliefs about leadership, authority, work ethic and work/life balance. In order to be effective, it will be helpful to have these ideas in mind and remain aware of them. As if educators are not burdened enough with what they must juggle now we must bring generations together. I realize now that teaching will be the most rewarding and the most challenging job possible.

Kirsten Petroska
I had never put much thought into the idea of generations or that each generation might have different ideals. It was interesting to read this because I hadn’t really been aware of the different characteristics each generation held. I was a little disappointed, however, that there was such a small amount about my own generation (though I suppose that makes sense) and I didn’t feel like all the information was entirely accurate. Like, the idea that the “Veteran” generation expected to communicate via pens and paper or formal memos seems a bit ridiculous. Most work places, even those run by people of that generation, are with the times—it would be bad business not to move forward. I think that the article didn’t give each generation enough credit in its’ abilities to adapt to new times. While, of course, my generation thrives in a lot of areas (working together, technology, etc.), obviously the generations behind us aren’t too bad at this stuff either, as they’ve had to work together and a lot of this tech wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for them. I suppose the biggest thing I got out of this article was the recognition that I will be working with adults who are considerably older than me, and I know I will have to understand that they do have different work ethics than I do, or at least have a different idea of what a good work ethic looks like. And, by the way, I knew how both JFK AND JFK Jr. died, despite what the author of this article might think.

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Kimberly Hudson
In the work place the generation that the person is from greatly affects everything in how the person thinks and responds to people. Learning how to communicate with all the different generations will help and will make it easier for people to communicate and work together. Often generations do not understand other generations. Each generation has their own underlying values and characteristics.

The only effect I see this having between my students and I are technology and instant gratification. Many students in the younger part of the generation expect instant gratification with everything that they do. However, with education things like this do not happen instantly. Also this generation will already be miles ahead of me technology wise. Even though I consider myself to be computer savy, I did not grow up with computers, ipods, and or cell phones. These came later in my life. Also as a new teacher who does know how to use technology and understands new teaching techniques this might cause friction with the older generations. These generations tend to stick to more traditional ways of teaching.

Lizzie Martel
Greg Hammill, author of “Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees”, discusses in this article the generation gap that occurs in the workplace between veterans, baby boomers, generation x and generation y. Each of these generations has their own ideas and traditions set forth by their time, as well as social and personal ideas. This is the first time in our history where there are four generations working together in the workplace. With this high a number of different people working in one place there are bound to be differences. The rules or guidelines for not just work but life, for each generation is different. These differences can cause problems in the work place making it difficult to impossible to continue working with the other generation. The task here, as suggesting by Hammill is to find a common ground on which all of the generations or just a few can work together. For all four generations, they have their own ideas of what the core values, family, education, money and communication should be like and entail. However working to understand these “personal and lifestyle characteristics” is crucial in balancing the work place. Hammill continues on to discuss the workplace characteristics of all generations which only add to the variety found in ideas, implementation, and work ethic. However learning how to use these differences “effectively or to their advantage”, is the way to finding true success.

This article, I found extremely appealing. Not only did I not realize that during my lifetime four generations are working alongside each other, but I did not realize that these generations were so different. Almost everyone can take a look at other generations and find differences, but to see the generations as having gaps so large between them that the work place can’t be helped is absurd. Hammill suggests that there are ways to help these situations but I find him to sound a little negative. I wish that he would try to see it not just as differences but also in similarities between the two and how to use the good to iron out the “bad”. The point of this article, for me as a future teacher, is to inform me of the differences and hardships I will encounter in the workplace. Although there are going to be many challenges, seeing them as bumps in the road and not road blocks is important. I do realize I am traveling down the path to a teaching profession surrounded by people who either don’t know how to drive (teach) or people who won’t drive effectively for all (teach). The problem with a lot of situations where generational gaps occur and there are problems is the notion that people claim to not understand the differences when they simply don’t want to understand the differences. I sincerely hope that through my education and positive and optimistic life attitude I can bridge the gaps and saw others the possibilities that lay ahead in working together.


 * McKell Barnes**

Abstract: This article was about how people from different generations are now being forced to work more and more together. They called it the “Power of Four” which is basically how this is the first time in American History where we have had four different generations working together. This raises issues because each generation comes from different lifestyles, communication, behaviors, etc. It is sometimes tough to collaborate with someone of a different generation because they have different views based on the generation they come from. We are constantly forced to accommodate for the different views sometimes producing issues in the workplace.

Reflection: After reading this article I began to think of the workplace I will be in and the different people from different generations I will be working with. I've heard horror stories in the past of friends who have become teachers and how they have had difficult times working with old raggedy teachers who work with only traditional methods. I will obviously be faced with the same issues, and I am unsure of how I will react. If I can I think effectively communicate with these old generation teachers, then hopefully some of the problems will not be prevalent.

Cara
Four different generations are now working together and this is causing problems. The older generations are so accustomed to younger workers doing what the elder workers did, no questions asked. The general attitudes between generations are significantly different and this can cause tension and arguments. The article has a nice little chart that explains each of the generations. I found it interesting that for a veteran if someone says that something needs to be done, they interpret the sentence as a command while a person of the Generation X will only hear it as an observation.

I have seen sticky situations among the different generations first hand. At my job, I am the assistant manager. I am also one of the youngest workers. Often I can tell that the older crew members think that they know better than me and that they should be treated differently from the younger crew members. We base our scheduling on performance and overall attitudes, not on age, and in the past I've had the older crew members complain to me that the youngsters “do not need/deserve” the hours that they were getting. I hope that where ever I may end up getting a teaching position that I can find ways to compromise with the older generations when there is an argument or conflict of opinion. I think the generations can actually learn quite a bit from one another and they are all willing to at least get along and be respectable.arcyarcy = =

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Marcy
Abstract This article described how there are four generations in the work force currently and that they are very different from each other. Each has its own communication style, motivation, and views about how to best accomplish a task. This can cause problems if individuals in the different generations have to work together on the same project. As a person in a leadership position, the best way to get everyone to work together is to meet each person on their level. An example would be an employer has 2 employees, a baby boomer and a gen Y. The employer would call the baby boomer at home or whenever to discuss work and he would email or leave a voicemail for the gen Y employee. The article simply said that being aware of the differences and acting accordingly is the best solution.

Reflection This article specifically talks about a business type work place but this is relevant to my profession. I will be dealing with multiple generations as I teach students in my generation but talk to parents and grandparents in older generations. It is good to be aware of the fact that they communicate differently and to be aware and flexible to find the method that best suits them. It might be easiest for me to send out a quick email reminding parents of an activity the students are participating in but if a student is being raised by their grandparents their grandparents might be expecting a written letter home. I should be aware of this and try to make the necessary accommodations when possible. That is what I got out of the article.

Anna Schools
Abstract/Reflection The article is about the mixing of four generations-veterans, baby boomers, generation X, generation Y in the business world. Each generation has different traditions and personal/lifestyle characteristics. The different characteristics can make it quite difficult to work together. It can be hard for each generation to work together if they don’t understand each other’s work values. However, if each generation takes into account that they have different values, it can help create a better work area.

From a teaching standpoint, I understand that it can be quite difficult to work together. Older teachers can be set in their ways; younger teachers can want to change things. I know certain teachers that want to really change things up in their school; it can really rub people the wrong way. It has to be about compromise and working together. It can create a conflict among the teachers. I hope that when I start teaching, I can work with other teachers to create a welcoming environment. I want to be able to use the other teachers that have been at the school to help improve my teaching performance. I also hope that I can help the older teachers in my school understand the importance of technology. We need to work together to help each other and create a better school environment for our students.

Rachel Lamblin
This article describes the differences of generations in the workplace. Right now there are four different generations all working together. There are veterans, who are born before 1945. Then there are the baby boomers, like my mom. I fit into the generation Y category since I was born in 1989. Each generation has its own set of personal and lifestyle characteristics and also uses different skills and methods in the workplace. The challenge for any business is to learn how to use each generation to its full potential and also how to help them work together with each other. This can be challenging when each generation is predisposed to do the same task in different ways. While I think that these characteristics may hold true in a broad sense, I don’t think that every person fits perfectly into any one category. For instance, my mom was born in 1962, is very technological and would probably prefer to send an email than to communicate in person. What I would like to know is how this article applies to teaching. While I understand that I will have colleagues who fit in each generational group and that collaboration among teachers occurs, I feel that a school environment is a lot different that an office building with rows upon rows of cubicles. Also, how am I supposed to use this information in regards to my professional interactions? I personally don’t see the relevance of this article.

John Thomas
This article both outlines the differences between four generations of Americans and explains why their individual traits often lead to conflicts at work and in society in general. The author stresses generational communication throughout the article, focusing on what he believes to be the main reason the generations have trouble joining their ideas. His concerns rest mostly on the methods that each generation uses to get information, and the kinds of information that each generation retains. While Veterans and Baby boomers are more personally and educationally oriented, Gen Xers and GenYers are more used to indirect communication and educationally skeptical. The author offers a few ideas on how to manage employees of different generations. Most of his solutions involve pairing employees of compatible generations together. The success of the method of pairing hypothetically comes from the traits that he has assigned to each generation.

While this was a good article for informational purposes, I don't think that it has much merit towards the latter half. While it was interesting to know some broad traits of each generation, and to have the names of each generation spelled out for me, the article seemed purely hypothetical to me. Sure, there were some good observations about how each generation learns, communicates, and which values they adhere to. The problem is that the separations of each generation are admittedly vague, and I feel as though coming up with scenarios for workers of a certain generation based on the traits outlined in the chart in the article is misleading. All in all, the article was enlightening, but I think that the author could have stopped at his early observations. It would have been sufficient to raise awareness of differences and come up with some ideas for inclusion, rather than make specific hypothetical situations based on the workplace to exercise some ideas.

**Margaux DePue**
"Mixing and Managing Four Generations of Employees" is an article that discusses the problems that can occur while having four generations of employees work together and show how differences in communication between generations can turn into misunderstandings and arguments in the workplace. What generation an employee belongs to can affect everything from their methods of communication to their styles of problem-solving and behavior in the workplace. Belonging to different generations can also mean conflicting work ethics and values for many employees, another thing to keep in mind in the workplace. The article gives a summary of each particular generation and it's respective values, how those who belong to earlier generations could be seen as more conservative and careful with money and resources while later generations tend to be more liberal in mindset and earn to spend. Being able to take into account certain generational differences will lead to more effective communication between colleagues.

Though I was a bit skeptical of the information provided by the author, he does give a disclaimer that not all of the facts he provides have been researched enough, and most of them appeared to be true to my family. My grandmother, born in the 1920's, is a conservative Catholic who gets furious if you do not send her a letter via snail mail every few weeks, while my parents are the complete opposite. When I step into a school as a teacher, I will have to bear in mind that there are going to be generational differences between my colleagues and I. We may not always see eye to eye, particularly in teaching style; some may feel it is more important to stick to a more strict, authoritative teaching style while others might want to teach using plans that go against the older generations' philosophy. Though there are certain things we may not always agree on, it's important to maintain respect for others in the workplace, meaning that I will not dismiss any of my coworkers because they have a different style of instruction. Since each generation seems to have certain strengths, such as how our generation is more tolerant of others and better at multitasking, there are going to be ways that we can learn from one another as we teach together.