Whether you work in an assisted living facility or in a larger corporation, there’s a good chance that—if you’re in a management position—you’re going to be working with people throughout multiple generations. And because people from different generations can often have a very different outlook on life, especially when it comes to the workplace, knowing how to best manage people can be extremely beneficial. 

So if you’re going to be managing people far older or far younger than you, here are three tips for managing employees of a different generation. 

Get Everyone Working Toward The Same Goal

When you have a team of people from all different generations, it can sometimes be hard to get everyone on the same page and working effectively together.

If this is an issue you’ve been trying to deal with, one thing that can make this easier to handle is to get everyone working toward the same goal. Once everyone knows what the main objective is for their team and is committed to doing whatever it takes to get there, you may find that the different approaches in how to accomplish this goal can actually be a benefit to everyone on your team. Just make sure that you’re not forcing everyone to work in the same way to reach this goal, as this would likely not work out as well for you or the other members of your team. 

See People As Individuals

We’ve all heard of the stereotypes associated with different generations. In fact, you might have even experienced some of these stereotypes being pushed onto you in the past. But if you’re going to be managing people from different generations, you’re going to want to put these stereotypes to the side and see each person as an individual. 

Making assumptions about people on your team based on what generation they’re a part of can be rude and inaccurate. Rather, get to know each person on your team for their individual strengths and weaknesses. You might be surprised how different they may be from what you assumed. 

Discover People’s Reasons Behind Doing Something

Even if someone of a certain generation seems to be stereotypically from that generation, what can be helpful for you as a manager is to uncover why that staff member works in that way.

For most people, their core motivations and intentions are often the same. However, the way they go about putting those things into action may be what’s different. But when you understand people’s reasoning and why they work in a particular way, you can use that knowledge to the advantage of your team and your organization as a whole. 

If you’re a manager of a team that consists of people from all generations, consider using the tips mentioned above to help you learn how to best work with your team.