Putting Age Diversity to Work on CD

Data CD -- Research has demonstrated that adults learn best when they’re discussing rather than listening. So why not engage them with a collection of case studies culled from the Center’s two decades of experiences in working with organizations nationwide. Each scenario has been developed to encourage discussion and solution-oriented thinking. The situations illustrated in these studies are designed to help managers see that they are not alone in their challenges and that they can benefit from the input and insights of others.

Of course you and your colleagues will laugh along the way as these short stories stimulate ideas and insights about your own workplace. Encourage those participating to tell stories about their own work environment. (No names, please.) The more engrossed they get in examining the obstacles illustrated, the more likely they are to learn how to successfully resolve the real challenges facing them in your organization.

Each study concise, yet thought-provoking. We keep the text to less than 200 words so you’re not taking time to read about the situation. Discussion is a great way to learn but it also takes time. These studies provide a snapshot without going into the gory details. Each concludes with a question or two to help participants remain focused on the task at hand.

Each of these situations is for real. We couldn’t make this stuff up. In working with hundreds of organizations over the years, we’ve seen both the believable and the unbelievable.

• There’s Gary the retail clerk who comes to work one morning sporting an obscene arm-length tattoo and doesn’t understand why his boss is upset.
   
• You might identify with Aylssa the 20-something fast-food manager who can’t find a polite way to tell her 60-something part-timers to stop telling stories and get to work.
   
• You’ll hear about Crystal who like party on Friday nights and can’t figure out why being late on Saturday mornings is an issue. “After all,” she says, “someone always covers for me.”
   
• Then there’s Jack, the 20-something engineer who doesn’t “do uniforms” in a work environment of 50-somethings who still wear ties to work.”
   
• You’ll learn about Patricia, the young marketing assistant, who assumes that everything that you need to know can be found on the Internet. “I Googled the key words you gave me and this is all there is,” she says.
   
• And then there’s Suzanne, who has rocketed through the ranks and now finds herself in charge of people her parents’ age who resent her very existence. How would you handle this situation?
   
• Your people can discuss Mike, the retail manager who spends time telling people to pick up merchandise that’s fallen on the floor because it doesn’t occur to them to do so.

These short, scenarios are the perfect way to stimulate learning. There are no right and no wrong answers. Everybody has an opinion. Participants learn to deal with the ambiguity of balancing personality with priorities. Supervisory growth can come in a variety ways, but practical application is still the best way to develop the confidence and strategy to act effectively when faced with the real thing.

Save the time and energy of drafting your own case studies. You can use these scenarios as is, or modify them to fit the needs of your organization.

For 30 cents a piece you can have access to the proven scenarios that the Center and its staff use daily in workshops and seminars across the US. We know these work because we use them ourselves. Order this valuable library of ideas before you leave this page.