The new american workforce

The New
American
Workforce
How Pre-boomers, Boomers, Gen X-ers, and
Millennials Can Survive, Thrive, and Collaborate
Effectively in the 21st-Century Workplace
Footer, Date, Page 1

The State of Today’s Workforce

• We are drowning in data
• We are increasingly mobile
• The lines between work and life are
increasingly blurred
• Enterprise collaboration is becoming
the norm
• Our brains are struggling to adapt to
information overload
• For the first time, four generations are
working together

Copyright © 2012 Mindjet LLC 2

Drowning in Data

1.8 zettabytes of new data were created in 2011, compared to 0.6
zettabytes in 2010. That’s the same as:

• 116 Billion 16GB iPads

• 64,800,000 years of
HD video

• 1,800,000,000,000,000
,000,000 bytes


Drowning in Data

It’s no wonder that interruptions caused by information overload
cost U.S. companies $650 billion a year.
Source: Basex – Information Overload: We Have Met the Enemy and He Is Us


Mobilization of the Workforce

There are roughly 60 million
mobile workers in the U.S.
alone. That’s over one-third
of the workforce!

Help your team thrive in the 21st-century workplace.


Blurring Lines
2 in 3 information workers use software/devices for work and personal purposes.


The Collaborative Enterprise

Enterprises are betting heavily on collaboration

"49% of organizations will
have invested in enterprise
social software by the end
of 2012.“

Source: Forrsights Software Survey, Q4
2011


Changing Brains

The demands of the 21st-century workforce are forcing our brains to adapt:

• We need to know where to
find information rather than
how to remember
information

• The rapid flow of
information can exceed our
cognitive load

• Constant interruption hurts
productivity and
effectiveness


Changing Brains

Nicholas Carr, author of The Shallows: What
the Internet is Doing to our Brains, argues that
to cope with information overload, our brains
are literally changing.

Consequences of information overload
include:

• Shorter attention span
• Skimming vs. reading
• Lack of deep knowledge


Changing Generations

For the first time in history, four generations are working together, all with different
work styles, communication preferences, strengths, and challenges.


Pre-boomers

In Context
• Ages: 67 and higher
• 5% of the workforce
• Came of age during the Great
Depression and World War II
• Their workplace was
revolutionized by: the
telephone, the typewriter,
the copy machine

At Work
• Attitude: No nonsense, pragmatic, waste not want not
• Values: Hard work, stability, respect, loyalty
• Communication style: Formal, precise
• Strengths: Deeply committed, moved by needs rather than fads
• Challenges: Adapting to change, finding balance between traditional institutions and
modern business needs


Boomers

In Context
• Ages: 48 to 66
• Came of age during the
major social changes of the
1960s
revolutionized by: women
entering the workforce, the
personal computer
At Work
• Attitude: Optimistic, confident, proud
• Values: Self-reliance, strong work ethic, face time
• Communication style: Person-to-person
• Strengths: Highly adaptable, skilled networkers, deep experience and expertise
Challenges: Workaholic, command-and-control style of leadership, slow to adopt new
technologies, struggle to delegate

Generation X
In Context
• Ages: 30 to 47
• Came of age during the
materialistic 1980s and the
stock market crash of 1987
revolutionized by: working
moms, the Internet, IM

At Work
• Attitude: Lone-wolf, flexible, realistic
• Values: Independence, clear expectations, professional growth
• Communication style: Email-centric
• Strengths: Extremely independent and resourceful, act as a bridge between Boomers
and Millennials, well-suited to change management
• Challenges: Can come across as cynical, limited loyalty, overly self-reliant


Millennials

In Context
• Ages: Under 30
• Came of age during the .com
boom and the Great
Recession
revolutionized by: social
media, smart phones,
telecommuting
At Work
• Attitude: Constantly connected, high self-esteem, idealistic
• Values: Meaningful work, flexibility, transparency
• Communication style: Instantaneous and deeply social
• Strengths: Digital natives, natural work-life integrators, strong communicators
• Challenges: High-maintenance and high expectations, managing the information
deluge, struggle with de facto authority

The Way We Work

"The next decade or two will be
defined more by fluidity than
by any new, settled paradigm; if
there is a pattern to all this, it is
that there is no pattern.“

~Fast Company, Jan 2012

Not only are four different generations trying to work together; the ways we
work are constantly evolving. And the future is nothing but chaos.


The Way We Work

The Evolution of a Job

• Work 1.0: (Yesterday) Having a job
for life

• Work 2.0: (Today) Increasing
flexibility and collaboration but still
within a static workplace
environment

• Work 3.0: (Tomorrow) Independent
workers who are remote, mobile,
and highly connected in real-time,
Help your team thrive in the getting projects done
21st-century workplace.


The Way We Work

The Three Elements of Any Successful Project

Seeing Doing Avoiding Silos


The Way We Work

Most collaborative work management tools fall into one of two camps:

Document-centric People-centric


The Way We Work

Collaboration shouldn’t be either-or. In today’s highly-connected work
environment, traditional models for working together break down.

The solution must be both Document-centric + People-centric


8 Tips for Successful Collaboration

#1: Use the power of
visualization

• Overcome information
overload

• Enable common
understanding



#2: Lead by example

• Become a user yourself

• Appoint “social
ambassadors”



#3: Join vision (seeing) and
action (doing)

• Forcefully break
communication silos

• Foster a culture of
transparency



#4: Set team goals and
expectations

• Make them SMART
(Specific, Measureable,
Attainable, Realistic,
Timely)

• Hold your team
accountable



#5: Hold “collaboration
retrospectives”

• Focus on improving how
you collaborate

• Don’t just point out
weaknesses. Celebrate
successes, too.



#6: Choose the right tools

• Combine seeing and doing

• Join people and content

• Intuitive to use

• Available whenever and
wherever you are



#7: Make time to turn it all
off

• And just THINK!



#8: Check out and follow
the Mindjet blog

• For more tips to help
your team collaborate
effectively, visit
blog.mindjet.com


The Future of Collaboration

• Knowledge will flow
across and between
organizations and people

• Seeing and doing will be
tightly connected

• Technology will be an
enabler, not a barrier


Thank you!
Help your team thrive in the 21st-
century workplace. Try Mindjet free:


The new american workforce

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