Success Blog

Inspiring and leading older team members is a challenge, but if you can harness their experience and wisdom, targets can be a calkwalk

Here are some tips to successfully manage older members on your team.

PROVE YOURSELF

Do this without showing off. For this you need to have enough knowledge and expertise in your field of work. To build credibility especially with the older employees in your team,  it is important that you are perceived as knowledgeable.  Afterall, power comes with knowledge-goes the adage.

HAVE THE RIGHT ATTITUDE

To get respect, you must in turn show respect. Avoid using authority or your managerial position to get work done. If an elderly person on your team points out mistake, do not get defensive about it. Acknowledge it and make efforts to learn from them. Also never shy away from asking questions if you dont know something.

On the contrary, be forthcoming in seeking their advice on important decision or key issues. This way they will be less likely to consider you as an “arrogant” and ” know-it-all” boss. Instead they will see you an avid learner and respect you for that. Remember there is plentry to learn from the experienced generation even if you are the boss.

BE SENSITIVE TO EMOTIONS

As young manager you need to have an understanding about issues that may upset your older employees. Also be aware of the fact that they might hold some grudges against you because you are making more money or enjoying greater authority than they do. Such situations need to be dealt with some tact, patience and a lot of emotional maturity. Listen to them to them empathetically and encourage them to express their feelings and vent out their emotions. This will help you to garner respect for yourself and in turn foster an environment of openness.

COMMUNICATION STYLE

Understand and use the style of communication preferred by them. Older employees tend to be high on building relationships and consider communications via emails as very cold way of interaction. Thus as a manager when you need to assign them some work, it is best done by walking upto their desks or communicating over the phone. The more human contact you share, the more comfortable they feel scheduling face-to-face meeting on regular basis for feedback or other reasons also makes them feel wanted.

SET CLEAR EXPECTATIONS

Don’t assume that they know what you expect of them. It is important to be very clear on what you want done and waht the measurement of completion and of success will be.

DO AWAY WITH STEREOTYPES

Your older employees are individuals like others in the group, so it’s essentials that they are not differentiated on the basis of some pre-concived notions of age. For instance, believing that all the older employees will have no desire to learn new skills is one of the biggest mistakes people tend to make. Instead, you must encourge them to explore fresh horizons and remain abreast of latest developments in their area.

Send them for training programmes. Research shows that older learner are keener to learn and are as capable as their younger counterparts in grasping new skills.

Use Their Experience Right

Re-engage them in fresh assignments and knowledge sharing roles. Let them coach and encourage younger workers, since these people have a wealth of knowledge and experience they would love to pass on. Give them the opportunity to do so and the entire organization will benefit.

Value Them

You should explicitly acknowledge their expertise and knowledge accumulated over the past several years. These workers can be a great source of wisdom, particularly when it comes to company and customer history.

Synergy Time

For any team or organization to deliver, it is important to bridge the generational conflict. When you synergise your confidence to execute things with the experience and wisdom of older employees, achieving targets becomes a cake walk.

 - Written by Rashi Dubey and originally published in Bangalore Mirror.