I recently read a Fast Company article titled “The 4 Crucial Expectations Gen Z teams have for the Workplace”.
For quite some time marketing conversations about Gen Z have focused on how younger buyers have higher expectations for getting information that is immediate and personally relevant than prior generations.
This article touches on those same two dimensions in the context of the workplace. In addition, expectations for mental well-being and teamwork are covered.
As I read the article, it got me thinking about intentionality in our communications at work.
My Perspective
Considering communication channels available, is there an opportunity to be more intentional with which channel we use for what purpose depending on the mix of the group and the project?
I’m curious what might happen if a team talked about communication norms at the beginning of a project. Decisions could be made like “we won’t use email to talk about this project”. Instead, they might set rules that all communication goes through a Teams or Slack Channel.
Another team might decide each member sends a 2-sentence email at the beginning of each day highlighting what their focus will be for the day.
Or, yet another group might set a 10-minute daily team huddle to quickly review the information live in a roundtable format.
There are so many ideas and options!
Your Turn
Has your team had a conversation around communication norms?
Do you carry over how communications “have always been done”?
Is there an opportunity for the group to discuss and shift with a bit of intentionality?
What can you do to make communications intentional, immediate (when needed), and personalized to your group?