The Millennial Invasion: are you ready?

Information Outlook, Nov, 2004 by John J. DiGilio, Gayle Lynn-Nelson

However, the technology may present a bit of a problem. Not many of us can incorporate video games, for example, into our teaching. Rightly, we need to fear distracting our audience from our message. It is OK. With the Millennials at least, the key is really interaction more than bells and whistles. Interaction is something we can bring to a training class with greater ease and far less concern for our message being lost.

There are, however, other challenges in training Millennials. Relevancy is perhaps one of the biggest of those other learning land mines. It is imperative when instructing these newer learners that we make the material relevant to them and their situations.

We need to try to find out what kind of work our students are involved in, and use scenarios that fit what they are doing. For instance, in many law firms these days there is a new move away from general training sessions open to all attorneys toward classes that are specific to particular practice or interest groups. This is a technique that will likely need to be applied to non legal settings as well.

Basically, we should strive to give our audience members just the information they need and spare them the extraneous stuff. Getting to the point is not always easy, especially for those of us with a great deal of experience or who have been charged with the task of having to impart a lot of information. Yet it is a skill well learned as we deal more and more with Millennial learners.

Authority and the Millennial Mindset

Some final concerns and considerations involving the rise of the Millennials in our libraries and places of work involve the ways in which they relate to people in positions of authority. This includes supervisors, management, and trainers. It is important for us to know that because they have been such active participants in the running of their own households. Millennials tend to respect authority without being awed by it. Thus, it is tough to tell a Millennial not to approach a senior vice president directly with a question when he or she has had the ability to e-mail the president of the United States since first grade. This generation tends to see leadership as a participative process and will learn best from managers who engage them in the learning process rather than just lecturing.

It has been noted that this group is usually not satisfied with the old command-and-control motif. For this reason, it should be no surprise that Millennials are also likely to question long-established rules and procedures. Facilitators should be prepared to handle objections easily and comfortably without sounding too officious. Remember that Millennials tend to respect authority. We have been told, all too often, that respect should be a two-way street. Nowhere is this more the case than with this new generation.

To Sum It Up--The Time Is Now!

So, yes, the Millennials are coming. Yes, they are bringing new challenges to our workplaces and to the jobs we perform. Luckily, we are armed with a great deal of knowledge that has already been amassed on this generation. Never before has a group of young people been so heavily studied and scrutinized. Whether this is a testament to the degree of hope and care that has been invested this generation or a simple reflex response to the sheer size of this group that is only now coming into its own, it provides us with an excellent point from which we can begin preparing to meet their needs. What have we learned?