Project Stakeholder Management

Managing the expectations of people from different generations can be a huge challenge, especially in today’s very complex workplaces. Here we look at the general workplace expectations of stakeholders from three distinct generations.

Three generational cultures

‘Baby Boomers’ are now aged between 45 to 59 and occupy many senior management levels. They see their work as being a reflection of their success and expect a strict office hierarchy.

‘Generation X’ are in their 30s and 40s and have a focus on individual branding and lifestyle, valuing technology, family, cultural diversity, education and self-improvement. They will want to be involved in interesting projects in which they can be collaborative and express their creativity.

‘Generation Y’ are in their 20s and have never known a world without technology. They are likely to be entrepreneurs and value free agency over loyalty to one company. They want to be part of a friendly workplace that actively contributes to society and has an environmental awareness, valuing time over money.

In terms of Project Stakeholder Management, very different approaches are required for people in these three groups. For example, ‘Generation Y’ workers may prefer to have a flexible working environment. Both ‘Generation X’ and ‘Generation Y’ workers value collaboration, preferring an open seating arrangement whilst the ‘Baby Boomers’ expect a more formal structure and closed office space.

Project Managers from one generation may be called upon to manage stakeholders from different generations, so they need to adopt a flexible management strategy.

Rapport Building

As in many areas of human relationship management, the best single strategy for managing people from other generations is to build rapport with them. When each age-group understands more about the individual work preferences of the other generations, a win-win situation will develop where all stakeholders are individually valued members of the project team and workforce.