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What Did You Just Say?

By Cindy M. Huss posted 02-08-2016 08:21

  

I recently met a lawyer in her fourth month of practice who shared that she was focusing on learning the different communication styles and social norms of the older generations she represents. In talking to her, I realized all lawyers, regardless of age, would be wise to consider generational differences in order to more effectively communicate with clients, staff, judges, and other lawyers.

In our daily lives, we are likely interacting with people from four different generations:

  • Traditionalists (sometimes referred to as Veterans or the Silent Generation) (born before 1946)

  • Baby Boomers (1946-1964)

  • Generation X (1965-1981)

  • Generation Y or Millennials (1980-2004)

Different life experiences contribute to communication preferences across these generations. Traditionalists may remember the first phone being installed in their home and likely were the last one in their family to get a smartphone. Boomers learned to use a computer and e-mail in the workplace but quickly got a cell phone so they could easily call clients from the road. Generation X came of age with computers, the Internet (probably a dial-up connection), and instant messaging, and they were probably in their teens or twenties when they first got a cell phone. For Millennials, high-speed Internet, smartphones, texting, and social media were always the norm.

It makes sense that these different life experiences have shaped each generation’s communication preferences. Traditionalists and Boomers are comfortable with face-to-face conversations or phone calls (including voicemail), but Generation X can be impatient with in-person meetings and discussions, prefer e-mail or text, and might not even bother listening to voicemail. A Millennial may not notice or care that an e-mail is written like a text with grammar and spelling shortcuts, but a Traditionalist or Boomer will have a negative reaction to that same e-mail.

Generally speaking, as a profession, we probably can and should demand a somewhat formal communication style for ourselves and our staff. But the next time you need to convey information to someone, consider adapting your communication (even just a little) to that person’s generation and see if it improves the effectiveness of your communication. For tips for communicating across generations in the practice of law, see Sally Kane’s article "Dealing with Clients of Multiple Generations."

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