Old, Young, and In Between

We know very few people who look forward to getting old. But the truth is that none of us can stop the clock. Stay in business long enough, and you end up becoming the writer who is a little long in the tooth. In this business, you're either a young one at the beginning of a career, an oldster who's been around the block, or someone right in the middle.

Even though we still consider ourselves to be young, we've been in this business for a while. Lately we've been working with younger and younger team members who communicate a bit differently than we do. The differences can be startling.

To help you navigate these generational differences, we pulled together a few helpful tips so we can all get along, regardless of our age. 

• Be respectful of different communication styles. Differences are what make life exciting, but understand that just because you like to communicate in a certain way doesn't mean everyone else does. For example, some people don't like being interrupted constantly by emails so they check their inboxes at set times throughout the day; others prefer to be alerted every time a message arrives. Different strokes, as they say. But if you aren't sensitive to these differences, it can cause problems from a communication standpoint.
• Understand that you may need to adapt, and be willing to do so. If you're working on a project with a tight timeline, you'll have to answer emails as soon as they arrive. Conversely, if you don't need an answer to an email immediately, don't pester the recipient. Even if you don't get a response to an email within, say, 30 minutes, it's not necessary to send a second email--and sometimes a third followed by a phone call--asking if she read the first email.
• Just because you are working on a project at 10 pm doesn't mean that
  your client is. Anyone young, old, or in between can be a workaholic. Nevertheless, don't expect colleagues to be available after the end of the work day, unless you've agreed ahead of time to after-hours telephone calls or emails.
• Be aware that each generation has unique personal obligations that impact their work lives. Younger colleagues may need to run out of the office at exactly 5 pm to pick children up from day care, but they'll work in the evening after the children go to bed. More mature colleagues might have to work from a hospital waiting room when an aging parent has surgery. Everyone has hobbies and activities they like to pursue in their spare time. Again, be sensitive to these differences.
• Don't assume that everyone uses technology the way you do. Early adapters, no matter what their age, buy the latest gadgets as soon as they become available. Slow adapters are, well, slow to catch on. We know more mature medical writers who are among the early adapters and some younger medical writers who are slow to adapt.
• Age has nothing to do with how skilled we are. Don't discount colleagues because they are younger or older than you. Be willing to listen to what they have to say.
• Professionalism never gets old. Make sure that all your communications with colleagues leave them with a professional impression of you.

JB Priestly summed it up succinctly when he said, "There was no respect for youth when I was young, and now that I am old, there is no respect for age--I missed it coming and going." Each generation wants to feel as though they are respected and their contributions valued. And they can be. It just requires us to tweak our mindset.

If you'd like to read more about how generations can get along in the workplace, we recommend these books:

• Generations, Inc.: From Boomers to Linksters--Managing the Friction Between Generations at Work
• Retiring the Generation Gap: How Employees Young and Old Can Find Common Ground

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