Five tips for coexisting with the office millennials.
同公司新千年一代和平共处的五个小方法
Treat young co-workers like individuals rather than representatives of their generation。
对待年轻同事就像对待个人一样而不是把他们当作他们这一代人。
If your office is like many around the country at this time of year, it might have had an influx of recent graduates pursuing their first post-college jobs – who are now working alongside you as co-workers. Parts of this might be great: you have someone to delegate work to, and they can explain to you who Iggy Azalea is. But other parts might not be so great: they don’t know how to use the copier; some of them call you “bro”; and like generations before them, they overshare about the questionable ways they spent their Friday nights。
在今年这个时候,如果你们公司像其它许多公司一样,可能已经有大量的毕业生在寻求他们的第一份工作—他们现在也应该是你的同事,同你一起办公。有些方面可能会很棒:你可以委派工作,他们能向你解释伊基阿扎里是谁。但是其他方面可能不是很好:他们不知道怎么用复印机,有些人会称呼你“哥哥”,就像在他们前面进入公司的那一代一样,他们会就如何用些有争议的方式度过周五晚上而放肆讨论。
But rather than grumpily eying them in staff meetings and turning yourself into the office curmudgeon, consider cutting them some slack. After all, we were all rookies once. Here are five tips for coexisting with your office’s newest crop of young workers。
但是与其在员工会议上盯着他们,把自己转换成办公室坏人的形象,还不如考虑少让他们放松。毕竟,我们曾都有叽叽喳喳的时候。这里有五条同年轻新同事相处的小建议。
1.Avoid making generational stereotypes。 You don't have to look far to find a wealth of stereotypes about millennials: they can’t work independently; they want constant praise; they don’t want to pay their dues; and they’re obsessed with technology. The list goes on and on, just like it has for every generation before them. These stereotypes are far from being true across the board, and you will do no favors for your relationships with your new colleagues if you assume they are. Treat them like individuals rather than representatives of their generation。
1、摆脱对某一代人的刻板印象。你不用费吹灰之力就能找到一堆关于新千年一代们的各种刻板的印象:他们不能独立工作;他们想经常被称赞;他们不想履行自己的义务;他们沉迷于科技。这个列表会越来越长,就像在他们之前每一代都会如此一样。这些老套的看法远离了现实的真实性,如果你也这样认为的话,这对你和年轻新同事共事没有任何帮助。把他们当做个体来看待,而不是他们那一代人的典型代表。
2. Don’t get frustrated if things that are obvious to you aren’t obvious to them。 It might seem like common sense to you that (of course) employees shouldn't play on their phones throughout meetings. And it may be a no-brainer to you that they should speak up if they don’t have enough work to do. But these kinds of things aren't always obvious to workplace newbies. It can be easy to think, “Well, I would have known that when I was just starting out” – and maybe you would have. But your new co-workers might come from backgrounds where they weren’t taught the same norms that you were, so give them the benefit of the doubt at first. That doesn’t mean you should give bad behavior a pass, but it does mean it would be kind to patiently explain expectations that will help them succeed。
2.如果有些事情对于你而言很明显对他们却并不明显,不要沮丧。员工在会议不能玩手机,这对你而言似乎常识。如果他们没有很多的工作要做,应该说出来,这些也许于你而言是不用大脑思考的事情,但是这些事情对新手来说并不总是很明显。对于你来说“是的,我在开始做之前就已经知道了“,而且你肯定是当时就知道了,不用多加思考。但是你的新同事可能因为他们成长的背景里并没有接受过这种规则的教导,所以让他们一开始就明白利弊和疑问。这并不是说你要让步坏的行为,而是说中肯的解释下期望是有助于他们工作顺利的。
3. Be very clear when assigning work。 If you’re working on a project with a less experienced worker, be as explicit as possible about what a successful outcome should (and shouldn't) look like. Also, detail any constraints that need to be taken into account, resources they might use, who needs to be consulted, deadlines and other pieces of the work that you might normally take for granted. Spending a few extra minutes to make explicit the pieces that feel implicit to you will likely pay off in better outcomes (and ultimately save you time in the long run)。
3.分配工作一定要很清楚。如果你同一个缺乏经验的人一起做项目,尽可能的详述要达到的结果应该是怎样的。详细讲解一些需要被考虑进去的限制因素,可能会用到的资源,需要去咨询的人,项目的截止日期和你可能觉得理所当然的一些其他部分。多花几分钟明确那些对于你而言是想当然的事情,你将会得到更好的结果(从长远来看,最终也会节约你的时间)。
4. Don’t mother them. Age differences can bring out weird behavior in people. But just like you probably don’t want younger co-workers relating to you like their parents, they don’t want you to try to parent them. That means you should cool it with any unsolicited advice about their personal lives or whether they’re eating healthily enough. While behaving maternally or paternally toward younger co-workers no doubt comes from a kind place, it’s undermining to young professionals and their abilities to be taken seriously at work。
4.不要唠叨他们。年龄差距会让人们有奇怪的举动。但是就像你可能不想让年轻的同事一想到你就想到他们的父母,他们可不想你像父母那样对待他们。这意味着在他们的个人生活或者饮食的健康问题方面,你应该冷酷一些,不要给一些未经请求的建议。虽然表现的像母亲似的或者父母似的,这种善良的出发点是好的,但是这会逐渐削弱年轻职场人的专业性,也会让他们工作时不那么严肃。
5. Mentor people when you’re willing to。 Think back to when you were just starting out – there was probably a small number of people who were especially helpful to you. Consider paying it forward now, by helping your new co-workers acclimate to office life. Take them out to lunch, make yourself available for questions, and generally be a resource and someone they can bounce things off of. It can be enormously fulfilling to watch someone you’ve mentored blossom under your guidance and go on to great things. (And they might even be hiring someday。)
5.如果你愿意,教导他们。回想过去,当你刚工作—可能有些人对你而言能够从他们那里获得特别的帮助。考虑下现在就回报吧,通过帮助你的新同事适应办公室的生活。带他们出去午餐,回答他们的问题,并且大方的成为他们的资源,让他们思如泉涌。看到受你指导的人变得优秀成大器就是一件让人有极大满足感的事情。(而也许某一天他们甚至会成为雇主。)