Intergenerational Workplace Comms: 3 Tips to Connect

How to Bridge Workplace Age Gaps
- Use data to make your case: When pitching new strategies or tools across generational lines, bring clear audience data and facts to the table to answer questions and ease skepticism.
- Connect with core values: Learn what your colleagues care about most so you can frame your ideas effectively and honor the project legacies they want to protect.
- Build intergenerational work friendships: Build trust early and bridge workplace divides by ditching shop talk, asking colleagues of different ages for advice and celebrating everyday wins together.

Age gaps exist all across the organization.

From your eager intern to your seasoned board members (and your program staff to your executive director), you're likely communicating across up to 40 years of generational differences.

Some of our clients are managing four different generations at once.

It’s only natural that there are, at best, questions and curiosities, and… at worst, tensions and misunderstandings.

Here are some tips and tricks to help you stay aligned.

Are you using data?

You’ve heard us say it a million times: at Forthright, data is queen.

And you know what you need to bring to the table to make the case for that new social media strategy, or that change you want to make to the gala?

DATA, my friend. Lemme tell you a little story…

Back when I was in my twenties, I felt strongly that the organization I worked for (an education association) needed to start a Pinterest account. This was back in the glory days of Pinterest, in the first year or two the platform had started.

I needed to convince my boss, then he needed to convince his boss, then she needed to convince the executive director (who was literally retiring in the next year or so). We were communicating across generations for sure.

But you know how I got to open that Pinterest account? Data.

I did what I do best, and I made a bangin’ PowerPoint presentation that tracked our target audience (teachers), and where they were getting their information (Pinterest), the types of information they were getting (classroom tools, just like the ones we provided) and which other competitors were already on Pinterest (not that many, actually, yet).

With a compelling deck in-hand, with data to back it up, I was able to convince all the skeptics that this new fangled social media platform none of them used personally was the right place for us to be. (We even wound up winning a PR Daily social media award for the account!)

Are you tapping values?

When you’re trying to get along at work, it’s important that you know what your colleagues care about and why.

If your colleague is prickly about, say, getting rid of the organization’s annual fundraising gala – what is it that they care about ABOUT the gala?

Identifying what they care about will help you understand what data to bring to the table when you’re trying to change hearts and minds. It will also help you understand what legacy you’ll want to preserve.

Are you making friends?

Let's face it – working in education and nonprofits can be tough, especially when we are fighting the good fight for kids every single day. But there’s one secret weapon that makes those hard days totally doable.

Everyone needs work besties. And studies show that inter-generational friendships – yes, learning from colleagues of all ages – are really important.

Building real, personal relationships will help you bridge a divide when it happens. They create trust early, and can help you get through thorny subjects without anyone getting pricked.

(And let's be honest, in our world, there are plenty of thorny subjects to go around.)

Here are three super easy ways to start:

Ditch the shop talk. Spend the first five minutes of your next meeting asking about their weekend, their pets or their current favorite reality TV show.
Ask for help. Ask a younger teammate to explain a new digital trend, or ask a veteran colleague for the history behind a long-standing project.
Celebrate the small stuff. Send a quick message just to say "you rocked that presentation today." It takes 30 seconds, but makes people feel incredibly seen and appreciated.

At Forthright, we know that great communication starts from the inside out. That’s why we offer custom training to help teams build trust, collaborate across generations and communicate like absolute rockstars.

Go text your intergenerational work bestie right now and tell them they’re awesome.

Katie Test Davis
With nearly 20 years of communications experience across nonprofits and public school districts, Forthright Advising Founder Katie Test Davis knows what it takes to build trust inside mission-driven teams. Having worked in-house at seven different child-focused organizations before launching her national PR firm, Katie draws on real-world management expertise – and her signature mix of empathy and data – to help leaders bridge workplace age gaps and communicate with kindness.