Bentley University’s Millennial Preparedness research study raised a number of issues about millennials in the workplace. Each week the PreparedU Project, in a series entitled Generational Voices, presents opinions from millennials and non-millennials alike on a wide variety of these issues. These views may contrast or coincide, but each provides perspective designed to enhance insights resulting from the PreparedU data.

The Millennial Point of View

Claire Meyers, Health Care Professional

Business has always been about who you know. Success in any field requires forming relationships and bolstering connections with like-minded professionals. Despite the fact that many millennials are now using text messaging as their primary means of communication, we must remember that nothing can ever replace a firm handshake. And a recent Bentley study suggests that millennials are beginning to catch on.

To understand why, let me speak in terms that a millennial might understand. Let’s talk about online dating; after all, courting a new suitor isn’t too different from landing a new client.

So, you’re swiping through countless photos of singles on Tinder, a popular dating app, and a certain guy catches your eye. You decide to “heart” him and, upon doing so, find that “It’s a match!” Now that both parties are interested, based primarily on photos, you take it to the next level, striking up a conversation via the app’s built-in SMS feature. Lo and behold, he sounds like a total catch, and funny too! So you both decide to meet up for coffee a couple of days later. Mr. Match on Tinder strolls into the café, and you almost spit out your latté! He's six inches shorter than you pictured, his shoes are terrible, and his voice is a few octaves too high for your liking. If you squint your eyes, and tilt your head to the side, it kinda, sorta, maybe looks like the dude from the photos.

Here we have it, the result of a text-only-based communication, or, should I say, mis-communication. Now, do we really think the CEO of your dream company is going to hire someone without a face-to-face first? No way.

This isn’t to say that text messaging isn’t a valuable asset when it comes to doing business in the age of smart phones. In fact, at my current job, working in a busy medical office, I often text the doctors with simple reminders about an add-on surgical case or a quick question regarding clinic hours. Sometimes, it’s even a text inquiry about their location within our office building.

Text can be an efficient way to get an answer. But keep in mind these are my colleagues I’m texting, people I’ve known for a while, people who know me.

Texting is a way to supplement our communication, not the only way to communicate.

The Baby Boomer Point of View

Marcy Porus-Gottlieb, Executive Coach/Career Development Consultant

It’s not a surprise to anyone that one of the greatest skills our young millennials bring to the workplace is their knowledge, use and fascination with technology in general, and, more specifically, with social media.

And the skills they bring undoubtedly aid them in the work they do — ideas can be shared more easily and quickly and widely, leading to greater buy-in, better decision making and more impressive results.

Right?

Right! Except for when it doesn’t.

As an executive coach (and a baby boomer), along with the benefits listed above, I see some of this speedy connection — via texting and the like — presenting a real problem for both millennials and their workplaces.

Here’s my take:

• Texting can be distracting, interrupting a flow of thought or work that may never get recaptured. The same goes for constantly checking email. (And the newer the software, the more distraction is built in, showing us instantaneously each time a text or email comes in.) Not to mention the vibration, ping or other sound that we are attuned to — and distracted by — when someone sends something our way. In short, I see creativity, thoughtful and considered analysis, and robust solution making as only three possible victims of this practice — which can’t be good.
• Receiving this almost constant input or feedback creates an external need for it. (Dare I say that we are enabling Praise Junkies?) Overreliance on external input for ideas or performance is also a dangerous pattern. In coaching, more than any other concept or technique, I remind clients that the confidence to move forward — in anything — comes from inside. 

That said, texting isn’t an altogether bad thing — used wisely and more sparingly. And I see the benefits that quick hits of communication can bring.

But allowing texting to distract from the bigger picture of delivering well-thought-out work, or relying on it as an external confidence builder, is not a smart strategy.