Pushing the boundaries to find petroleum
Are young people really more collaborative?
A common thread of these intelligent energy discussions is that young people are more geared to collaborative working. Is this true? Collaborative working generally means moving outside your comfort zone - we can all work collaboratively with the 5 people we share an office with, but its not so easy working together with someone halfway around the world we don't know. Going into this more deeply: e-mail is a very poor collaborative working tool - people generally don't reply to e-mails from people they don't know asking for help. Collaborative working centres aren't much use if people don't go to them. Videoconferencing isn't much use unless both people have the same equipment and they have the systems set up. But the humble telephone is great. It can be intrusive, but that's because people often use it to ask people they don't know for help - that's collaboration. Using a telephone takes great skill not everybody has. Would you say that this skill is more often possessed by older people than younger people?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Jon D. Smith on -
Are young people are more geared to collaborative working?
To a degree...yes. In my opinion (and thinking back to my early days in the industry), this is probably due to a level of inexperience and the desire to grow. One of the best mechanisms for growth is collaboration. I don’t think what we are seeing now (i.e. MySpace, etc…) is indicative of a new level of collaboration in the work force than any previous generation.
As individuals mature, they lean towards getting the job done in the most efficient and productive manner. Dependant on the task being addressed, this may be through individual efforts or team (aka collaborative) efforts. Team efforts can be very important however; improper or over usage can be a detriment to maintaining project time lines.
“…e-mail is a very poor collaborative working tool”. I disagree.
E-mail can be an extremely valuable tool in conveying information. Due to global time differences, it can make conveying information in a timely fashion much more efficient. This does not take the place of phone conversations, but it is a viable and needed supplement.
One of the main pitfalls is the fact that it can be difficult to convey intent in writing emails. Often, the written word can be received in a manner that is completely different than the intent of the author. This challenge can be magnified if the recipients are in different areas of the globe. Great care should be taken when composing emails to ensure that statements/requests can not be construed in a negative light due to language challenges.
“Would you say that this skill (telephone conversation) is more often possessed by older people than younger people?”
My inclination would be yes however; this has to do more with the basic fact of experience. As a mature person, you generally will have years of experience conversing on the phone, in person, in groups and perhaps, in public. You handle your conversation based on the individual or individuals. Some younger people are challenged with this due to the fact that they feel like they will be judged poorly for not knowing more about a particular subject. We’ve all been there at some point in our lives and must encourage our youth to overcome this fear and grow.
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Permalink Reply by Amit Mehta on -
This is an interesting read Karl. I believe, working collaboratively is not a function of old or young or skill but really the Attitude. Social networking works really well today facebook/myspace etc. as young members collaborate with friends who they share some part of their life outside work and basic human desire to seek attention/get noticed.
If companies encourage the free flow of thoughts, encourage more friendly atmosphere, feed basic desires of young or old they will accept it...in my 2 cents. I think some majors are using Advanced Data Centers-Decision Centers to encourage that behavior but it can be done much cheaply...think !
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Permalink Reply by David Lecore on -
My take would be that generally yes, because
1. I believe younger people are generally more confident at say 25, than most 50 yr olds were when they were 25. I think this is due to a change in attitudes of both 25 yrs olds - more willing to contribute, and 50 yr olds, more willing to listen to a 25 yr old. Hence younger people are more collaborative than their 50 yr old conterparts were 25 years ago.
2. Of course this is helped by technology. Younger people, when willing to contribute, are more able (generally) to use the tools available.
NB: Regarding "people generally don't reply to e-mails from people they don't know asking for help" I depends on which company you work for. I ferequently respond to requests for those I don't know and vis-a-vis
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Permalink Reply by Allan Rivera on -
In my experience, colaborative effords equals with the need to fulfill a void. Is not a matter of cronologics, but kinetics: make the proyect move to a mission and vision. Is more puzzle work than time.
As an example, I know few english but read and write in several languages in materia that is of my interest and collaborate in some of the efforts to educate in sustantability and RE in Puerto Rico and the caribbean from the standpoint of the consumer.
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Permalink Reply by Faisal AL-Taie on -
I think, being colaborative depends upon the personallity, its culture and imbition, if the person is faithful of the necessity of helping others, he \she is colaborative and vice versa.
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