❯❯ Manage Millennials and find yourself struggling
❯❯ Want to improve your multi-generational management skills
❯❯ Think Millennials are gems, or at least cloudy gems, that need some buffing (if you are here to read about how terrible Millennials are, you’ll need to find another book)
❯❯ Have a general curiosity about generations broadly, and Millennials in particular
If any of the above are a fit, then you’ve come to the right place. Please fill free to jump around and choose the sections that best fit your unique need.
Conventions Used in This Book
When writing, we skewed toward keeping it simple. In so doing, we adopted a few conventions to make reading an enjoyable and confusion-free experience:
❯❯ When we refer to Millennials, we’re talking about the cohort born between 1980 and 1995.
❯❯ Nearly all elements of the book are grounded in U.S. generational theory, so the Millennials we refer to work in the United States.
❯❯ In our eyes, managing and leading are of equal importance, so we use both verbs throughout the book.
Icons Used in This Book
Throughout your exploration of this content, you’ll find a few markers along the way. Our approach calls out certain elements throughout the book. The images in the left-hand margin of the book are signs to pay attention. Here are what those icons look like and mean.
Beyond the Book
If you’re more of a bullet-point, “give me the a skimmed virtual version so I can read it on my phone while in line at the grocery store” kind of person, we’ve got you covered. To view this book’s Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Managing Millennials For Dummies Cheat Sheet” to find a handy electronic reference guide that answers the most common generational questions.
Where to Go from Here
Your adventure has only begun, and we look forward to where it takes you! Before exploring the wealth of knowledge these pages have to offer, remember to walk (or read) without judgment and be willing to change your perspective by donning different generational hats. This book is designed for you to choose the adventure, plot your course, and curate the information that is most useful to you and your endeavors.
If we could wave our magic wands and cast a spell, we’d have you read this entire book cover to cover. Alas, we are mere muggles, and aren’t imbued with such powers, so we’ll tell you this: Read what matters most to you. We know that time is of the essence, and we’ve written this content for busy people on the go. This book is “skippable,” crafted so you can jump around to any section of the book and pull bite-sized pieces of information that give you the most bang for your buck. Gray sidebars are intended to give you a dose of the interesting but slightly tangential (not the essential need-to-know) info that should be seen as extra spice, but certainly not your nourishing generational veggies. They’ll (hopefully) be fun to read, but not pivotal enough to change the course of your management approach.
The content within each chapter varies, and the title should very clearly point the way. Some chapters are focused on providing actionable strategies, while others raise awareness and start a dialogue. You may be inclined to skip the awareness chapters (Chapter 2, 3, 4) as unnecessary fluff, but we encourage you to take a look if/when time allows. Awareness is a huge piece of solving the generational management puzzle. If you’re well-versed in who Millennials are, skip ahead to the generational clash points in Part 2. If you want to know about a deeper, more nuanced dive into the Millennials you don’t usually hear about, skip to Part 3.
Our ultimate goal is for what you read in these pages to trigger an aha moment and inspire you to take a different approach. So, venture on, dear reader. Millennials aren’t half as bad or challenging as they may seem, and the information held herein will help you come to that realization, if you haven’t already. Turn the page. Your sojourn into the mind of the Millennial awaits you.
Part 1
Getting Started with Managing Millennials
Uncover why managing Millennials can be so tough.
Orient yourself with generational birth years and key events and conditions that shape the people you live and work with.
Gain an understanding of where generational theory comes from and how to use it (and how not to!).
Take a deep dive into the Millennial psyche.
Decode who Millennials really are, how they got that way, and how they show up at work.
Distinguish fact from fiction when it comes to Millennial stereotypes.
Compare and contrast Millennials to Baby Boomers and Generation Xers.
Understand and eliminate your own generational biases when managing Millennials.
Chapter 1
Confronting the Millennial Management Challenge
❯❯ Introducing the generational timeline
❯❯ Examining shifts in today’s multigenerational workplace
❯❯ Meeting the Millennials: traits, insights, and subtleties among them
❯❯ Recognizing clash points
❯❯ Finding a lot to love about Millennials
If you felt the need to pick up this book, page through chapters, or scan a series of helpful lists, you must have a reason. You may love every Millennial you work with and want to learn more about them. You may scratch your head anytime a Millennial asks when he can move up the ladder. You may struggle to motivate a generation that wears headphones at work and longs to bond with you at happy hour over a local IPA. You may be a Millennial yourself who doesn’t understand your own generation. Whomever you are, we’re glad you’re here, because this whole “Millennial thing” isn’t made up, and we understand your interest to learn more.
It’s no secret that Millennials are winning the generational media popularity contest. In 2015 alone, approximately 44,000 articles featuring Millennials graced the digital newsstands, partly because they’re a massive generation, set to comprise 75 percent of the global workforce by 2025. This coverage, bordering on excessive, has given Millennials a pretty notorious PR problem, often slandered as lazy, narcissistic, entitled brats.
Once upon a recent decade marked by neon fashion and big hair, another young generation entered the work arena. They appeared apathetic, wore flannel, rocked out to Nirvana and Run DMC, and entered work determined to succeed and enforce balance. Bosses and colleagues welcomed them with (somewhat) open arms and chuckled with a profound sense of knowing: “Someday we’ll figure out these kids, but until then they’ll have to figure it out themselves.” Now these flannel-wearing kids are Gen X managers and leaders running organizations. The companies who welcomed them reaped