5 Ways Millennials Are Changing the Workplace

Despite myths and common perception, millennials are a hardworking generation. Still, their definition of hard work and their attitudes are significantly different from generations before. This is no surprise given that this generation came of age during the explosion of digital technology.
Millennials simply feel that it’s quite reasonable to expect to get what they want exactly how, when and where they want it; a result of the massive enablement that technology has brought to society.

This generation just won’t take ‘no’ for an answer both in their personal and working lives.Speaking of work lives, millennials don’t see a definite separation between the Mon-Fri 9-5 routine and their personal lives. Instead, they see life as a rich blend of experiences and are deftly able to move between work and play. Thus, offices designed for the future are openly embracing mobile, social and cloud technology to offer millennials the ‘seamless’ work environment they desire. Offices are being positively disrupted through digitization, artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things and robotic process automation. Thus, the workplace is changing dramatically and this change is being driven by millennials.
We’ve put together 5 important ways that we feel millennials are massively changing the workplace and these 5 things could become the norm within a couple of years. Some of these things aren’t entirely new concepts but it’s only with the advent of new technology that they’ve become easily achievable goals for almost any workplace.

1. The Chief Happiness Officer

Millennials are simply not happy with one size fits all environments and constantly look for unique workspaces. This generation is constantly searching for new experiences and expects their workplace to provide them with options that make them feel good. This is where a CHO comes in and can provide more than just a feel good experience. CHOs can promote employee contentment, reduce turnover costs, spur innovation and boost productivity.

2. More Hipster Coffee Bar, Less Cubicle

The look and feel of offices are changing. Future – friendly office spaces are much more social and, instead of cutting people off from each other, inspire them to mix, meet and chat over a delicious coffee or even something stronger. But this is not a distraction, it’s how innovation happens.
3. All Companies Will Be Like Tech Companies

Tech companies introduced many trends such as informal office spaces and the idea of telecommuting. Going forward, any sector can benefit from embracing workplace tech trends that improve productivity.
4. Hello, Robot

Soon, your co-worker could be a robot and that’s not a bad thing. As we have seen in the past, many human roles will remain vital but the introduction of robots can create new, better roles for humans and increase efficiency overall.
5. Hyper-Personalized, Intuitive Workspaces

Millennials are all about personalization and will go to great lengths to personalize their workspaces. In the very near future, this will likely become even more enhanced with cognitive computing and AI being able to anticipate and produce each worker’s ideal environment from temperature to lighting and music. Digital transformation, driven by millennials, is completely reinventing the traditional office on every level. The kind of workplace that this generation yearns for is slowly taking shape and it’s not just millennials who are benefitting from this change. The new, future-friendly office is a place that anyone, from any generation can appreciate and enjoy.

In fact, it’s probably what everyone wanted in the first place, but it will be millennials who will be remembered as the generation who simply wouldn’t take no for an answer until they got what they wanted!

Unveiling the blackphone 2: privacy without compromise

Jennifer Lawrence, Kim Kardashian, Rihanna, Vanessa Hudgens and Kate Upton have something in common. They were victims of an incident called the The Fappening, where naked pictures of 100+ women were leaked on 4Chan and Twitter in September 2014.

Big data never forgets! What do photo leaks have to do with the launch of a new smartphone? You might ask. Privacy along with the promise to completely secure your data is the answer.

Mr. Michael Berg, Channel Director, of Silent Circle showing the blackphone 2

The CEO of Chelcey Telecom, Mr. Asela Waidyalankara, along with Silent Circle announced the release of blackphone 2, at Cinnamon Grand on Thursday , 3 March 2016, which mainly focuses on the aspect of privacy. Hon. Harin Fernando, the Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, graced the occasion and impressed upon the audience that innovation and creativity is the way forward when it comes to this island nation. While being visibly impressed with the amount of work, time and effort which has gone into the blackphone 2, the minister went on to state his support for such ventures that promoted futuristic innovations.

Hon. Harin Fernando, the Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Infrastructure, being gifted a blackphone 2 by Mr. Michael Berg, Channel Director, of Silent Circle.

Mr. Michael Berg, Channel Director of Silent Circle, stated the importance of privacy in general, but more so when it came to enterprise customers. With a backdrop of celebrity photo leaks, and the NSA accessing private data, there seems to be nothing called – privacy. The truth is people with wealth, power or authority will always be a target for blackmail. The blackphone 2 seeks to change this by making communication and personal details secure. Mr. Berg spoke of how Mr. Phil Zimmerman, the Co-Founder & Chief Scientist, of Silent Circle, is an enthusiastic encryption law activist who fought the U.S. government in the 90s, and built a solid reputation on exporting technology to the rest of the world.

Democratizing the whole process, Silent Circle offers its source code, and requests the public to find out vulnerabilities. The public are paid to find out bugs and since the blackphone 2 runs on Android, Silent Circle works with Google to fix everything within 72 hours. No other company does this. In this day and age, the smartphone is a device of vulnerability. Feeling doubtful? Consider the degree of access rights the apps demand, and you will find, it reaches to ominous proportions.

Aimed squarely at enterprise customers, the blackphone 2 is crafted to ensure complete privacy. When apps can listen to what you are saying, take pictures, and listen via a smartphone’s microphone, the blackphone 2’s Silent OS can shut off surveillance and location tracking with a few quick clicks. With a plethora of nifty tricks up its sleeves, the blackphone 2 promises secure calls, SMS, and file sharing. The blackphone 2 is multiple phones in one phone; it’s secure from the start. It was launched at the end of last year, and is brought down to Sri Lanka by Chelcey Telecom.

Effective Workplace Communication

Communication is something we do reflexively — like breathing. We talk to our spouses, kids and friends without giving much thought to how we’re doing it.

It might seem easy, but communicating effectively actually takes quite a bit of finesse. Choosing the right words, listening with our minds instead of just our ears, and getting our message across are skills that we all need to work on.

At home and in social settings, miscommunication can lead to arguments. In the workplace, the repercussions can be far more serious. Poor productivity, unmotivated employees — even lawsuits — can result from communication breakdowns at the office.

To improve communication within your team and throughout your entire company, you need to implement a few easy but important changes to your corporate philosophy and practice.

In this article, you’ll learn some of the tips management experts use to improve communication. You’ll also see how changing your communication strategy can lead to real improvements in employee motivation, productivity and profitability.

Handle Conflicts with Diplomacy

We communicate in different ways to different people, but we have to be very careful about the way we communicate at work.

Put a group of different personalities in the same room for 8 hours a day, 5 days a week, add the stress of multiple deadlines, and you’ve got a recipe for conflict. No matter how well intentioned and intellectually compatible the group of people you’ve hired may be, inevitably you’re going to have squabbles over who jammed up the copier or accidentally deleted a co-worker’s file.

Most minor issues will blow over on their own, but a few can turn into major disputes. Some office arguments can be serious enough to prompt legal action.

To prevent small conflicts from exploding into major crises, nip issues in the bud right away. Let employees know from the start that your door is always open. Encourage them to come to you by creating a safe environment in which they feel comfortable honestly and openly voicing their frustrations. All conversations held in your office should remain completely confidential.

When you respond to conflicts, do so with an open mind and a nonjudgmental approach. That means absolutely no personal attacks. By asking questions and really listening to the responses so you understand how each person in the dispute feels, you can help the two parties reach a resolution that’s acceptable to everyone. Finally, if company policies are to blame for the issues, go to management and suggest some permanent policy changes.

Give good feedback.

No employee wants to exist in a vacuum. Whether they’re working tirelessly to get projects done or slacking off, your workers need to know that you recognize and appreciate their efforts — or expect them to work harder.

You don’t have to hold regular meetings to share feedback, although that’s one way to do it. There are many other ways to let your employees know what you’re thinking — through e-mail, phone calls, or a brief status update a couple of mornings a week.

When you do give feedback, make sure it’s as clear and detailed as possible. Try to offer solutions if there is a problem. For example, don’t just say, “You aren’t putting in enough effort.” Instead say, “When you are late 3 weeks in a row filing your budget reports, it gives me the sense that you don’t have enough time invested in your accounting procedures. Can you let me know why you’ve been late and how we might help you get back on track with these reports?”

Don’t forget to give positive feedback, too. Praise and recognition make employees feel important, which motivates them further. Take your team out to lunch to celebrate a sales milestone, get key employees gift certificates to say thanks for a job well done, or just tell them, “You did a great job on that presentation. Good work.”

Take your emotions out of the equation

You try to promote professionalism at the office, but that’s not always easy to do when so many different personalities converge in such a small space.

Sometimes work discussions can turn into personal attacks. When an employee is starting to get under your skin, take your emotions out of the equation. Instead, take a deep breath, count to 10 and respond in a calm, unemotional way.

When you do respond, don’t make it personal. For example, instead of saying, “You did a terrible job putting together that sales presentation!” try, “Here are a few points I think you need to work on that will really add to what you’ve already written,” or “I’m having some trouble understanding what you’re trying to get across in this presentation. Can you please explain it to me?”

Also, make sure the person on the receiving end isn’t taking your comments the wrong way. Everyone views the world within his or her own emotional framework. No matter now innocent your intentions, they can be misconstrued.

Ask for clarification at the end of conversations to make sure you and your employee are on the same page. You might say, “My intention in talking about your recent absences is to make sure everything is okay with your job and your health, and to see what we can do together to improve the situation. How do you feel about the issues we’ve discussed?”

Make work fun!

Who said a 9-to-5 job has to be drudgery? It doesn’t matter whether you’re producing movies or computer chips, the work day can be as fun and exciting as your company wants to make it.

If you visit certain offices, on any given afternoon, you might find employees racing paper airplanes in the atrium or relaxing in recliners and listening to the soothing sounds of the ocean in the company’s “rejuvenation station.” Other companies have set aside a break area for their employees to “hang out,” or bring in an ice cream truck once a month.

You don’t have to come up with these kinds of creative ideas yourself. There are companies that specialize in coming up with and implementing employee perks that will do all the work for you.

Giving employees as little as 15 minutes a day to cut loose can make them much more appreciative — and productive — when they do need to put their noses to the grindstone.