2042: Learning New Tricks: Five Productive Practices Millennials Instinctively Grasp by Laura Stack of The Productivity Pro

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[00:00:57] This is Optimal Work Daily. Learning New Tricks. Five Productive Practices Millennials Instinctively Grasp by Laura Stack of the ProductivityPro.com. Quote, End quote. Ian Somerhalder, American Actor and Entrepreneur.

[00:01:24] In recent years, I've heard managers gripe that millennials are lazy, needy, entitled narcissists, non-team players with no sense of loyalty. From what I've observed in my client organizations, in my personal interactions, and with my own three millennial children, none of these labels are true. Millennials do indeed have a sense of loyalty to the causes and the people they care about.

[00:01:47] Businesses look out for themselves first. Why shouldn't people? More people should have this outlook. You can't expect loyalty when you offer none. The truth in some of the other claims lies in practices millennials instinctively grasp because of their personal experiences, as well as the environment they matured in, not just as people, but also as professionals. Let's consider a few productive practices that come naturally to millennials. 1. Technology equals freedom.

[00:02:15] You no longer have to stay in the office to be productive just because you keep your machines and files there. Think about it. The smartphone in your hand has more processing power than most desktops did until the 2000s. Plus, there are so many productivity apps, backup services, and online document sharing programs available, you can basically take everything with you. If you carry a laptop and tablet to boot, you need only a Wi-Fi connection to do your work.

[00:02:40] You can work at home, in the doctor's office, in the line at the DMV, wherever you can connect. And that's almost everywhere nowadays. So, what if you're not sitting in the office from 9 to 5, unless the job requires it, like a manufacturing line? Only Cro-Magnon bosses insist on that. And another thing, if a millennial automates a repetitive task because she doesn't want to do the same thing over and over again, that doesn't make her lazy. It makes her smart. Now she can spend her time on more important things.

[00:03:09] 2. Work-life balance matters. When it's time to work, millennials work hard. But they also want to have a social and personal life apart from work, so I suspect far fewer of them work 60 hours a week like their predecessors. They've also learned how breaks – coffee, lunch, weekends, vacations – are all important for recharging their creative productivity. So far, the economy hasn't fallen apart. 3. Regular feedback is important.

[00:03:38] Millennials want to know how they're doing more often than once or twice a year. This has given them a reputation for being needy, but really, they just want to know they're on the right track and not wasting their time. This seems wiser than working away at something they don't understand and will have to redo. They would rather make waves than sit there like a mushroom in the office. 4. What you do every day should matter. Does anyone actually read the report you prepare every week? Are you creating value?

[00:04:05] Would you do your job better with specialized training? Are you helping to achieve the goals of the team and the company? Let millennials find the answers to these questions because it might just increase their productivity. Everyone, not just millennials, needs to know these things, but they seem to be the main ones asking about them. They want to know that what they do matters to them and how what they're doing matters to the organization. Remember, the better engaged the employee, the more productive they tend to be.

[00:04:35] 5. Experimentation is a good thing. It may sound silly to you, but in a way, millennials have trained since childhood to solve problems and take initiative. If nothing else, playing puzzling video games has drilled into them the fact that sometimes you have to try something unusual or unexpected to get what you want. Can you blame them for generalizing this to the real world? The thing is, it works. Sometimes it's obvious to them that a new way of doing things will save money and time.

[00:05:01] Sometimes they see a solution older colleagues don't because they're more familiar with bleeding-edge technology. Change for change's sake is a time waster, but a willingness to try a new process or use a new vendor can open doors for your team. Give it a rest.

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[00:07:31] And if that wasn't enough, her client list includes top Fortune 500 companies, including Starbucks, Walmart, Bank of America, GM, Wells Fargo, and Time Warner, plus government agencies like the U.S. Air Force Academy, the Census Bureau, the U.S. Senate, and the IRS. So there's a lot to learn from her, and you can come by theproductivitypro.com for much more. Laura has her videos, books, store, newsletter, and blog all right there. Again, that's theproductivitypro.com.

[00:08:00] But that should do it for today. Hope you have a great rest of your day. And I will, of course, be back here reading to you tomorrow. And that is where your optimal life awaits.