Different perspectives on situations, processes, performance, and relationships—when I reflected on diversity and inclusion in my previous article, another theme naturally emerged: the role of age. More precisely, how it is both overestimated and underestimated. Open communication is a wonderful thing and solves much in business, but in this case, it is not enough. I realized this because cross-generational collaboration within my team has never been more relevant.
Are You Respected? And Understood?
If your team consists of managers from different age groups, the need for respect and understanding becomes more pressing than ever.
Take working hours as an example. If they are not strictly dictated “from above,” some people thrive working on tasks around midnight, while others prefer getting up early. This is not just about age, but about personality traits in general. Still, it matters that everyone in the team accepts this as perfectly okay. After all, the “age factor” in this example overlaps with personal life. Let me explain.
Imagine this:
You’ve carefully built a team to support business growth. You’ve assembled what feels like the perfect group of people. Everything is running according to plan. Age seems to play only a subtle role—at first glance.
But as people grow with the company, they grow in both experience and age. This means their preferences change—including those related to working hours (because of young children, because of a house under construction, because of “catching up on life” once children are grown…). Even if your “perfect team” stays intact, the scenario evolves—and it may no longer feel perfect.
That’s natural—and not at all negative—if you’ve been intentional from the start about how people work together, whether they respect one another even when they disagree.
“Listening does not equal understanding. Perceive. Perceiving and understanding do not equal agreement. You can disagree—but bring arguments to the table.”
Cross-Generational Collaboration = Team Boosting
In a multigenerational team, argumentation is a must—delivered, of course, with respect. The reason is simple: Generation X sees things differently than Generation Y, and Generation Z sees them differently still. I’m not here to put people into boxes, but my own experience with colleagues confirms this diversity.
And it confirms something else: behavior triggers behavior—but so does the absence of behavior. When someone stays silent, disagrees inwardly but refuses to voice it, that too creates a chain of reactions.
If your company has already built a culture of open communication (which is no small feat across generations), then you can unlock the real value of cross-generational collaboration. I’d call it “personality boosting.”
Younger colleagues gain perspective, learn from years of experience in a fraction of the time. Senior colleagues, in turn, are energized by the drive of the younger ones, sharpen their technical skills, and adopt new ways of thinking. As a leader, you can draw from these different “age worlds” through mutual cross-generational mentoring.
Generations (Don’t) Have an Algorithm
Every generation has strengths you can build upon in business (and I like to focus on assets that can drive results). This, I believe, raises the probability of building a stronger company. Precisely because not everyone thinks the same way. Uniform thinking can, in fact, hinder growth.
A multigenerational workplace is a challenge—but it’s a challenge worth embracing. What I resist, instead, is “operational blindness.” I’m convinced that generations are not obstacles but sources of inspiration. They may think differently, use different “languages,” but they can complement each other. From a business perspective, it makes sense to fill the “generational gap” within a team. After all, communication noise can happen even among peers of the same age—but in such cases, inspiration and certain experiences are limited.
To summarize: for a business team, it’s useful to activate multiple “packages” of knowledge, skills, experience, and qualities simultaneously—through cross-generational collaboration. But there’s one more thing I must add:
“Let’s not confuse the benefits of cross-generational collaboration with age itself. Age is both overestimated and underestimated. If you’re younger, it doesn’t mean you’re not competent enough to manage dozens of people. If you’re close to retirement, it doesn’t mean you’re out of touch with innovation or technology. Naturally, I choose team members based on skills and personality traits—not age.”
I’m a fan of meritocracy. I believe business environments should value individual contributions, assess people based on performance, skills, and results—not on how long someone has been in the industry. The more I think about it, the more I feel this deserves a separate article on its own. 🙂
For now, though, the point is this: age diversity within a team can be one of the most consistent driving forces behind a thriving business.
