Five Ways to Build Trust on Intergenerational Teams

Working on intergenerational teams is a challenge for older employees, reports Forbes . Building trust on such teams can be accomplished in a number of ways, starting with intentionally nurturing relationships between team members in settings offering universal comfort. "Done right, employee socializing leads to understanding between ages, cultures, genders, and all the rest," says Twitter's Karen Wickre. In view of disparities between members of intergenerational teams, regular check-in times should be scheduled to guard against disruptions and disconnects. Another strategy is to set clear expectations and deliverables, because not all members on an intergenerational team are likely to define success the same way. The feedback loop also needs to be reframed to prevent the erosion of trust on the team. This can be done by holding open dialogue about how much feedback workers require to maximize their productivity. Finally, there must be an intentional drive to foster trust based on differences in intergenerational teams.