How to Manage Employees Twice Your Age

With creativity, innovative ideas and a can-do attitude valued more than ever in the modern workplace, the young but ambitious can find themselves managing those nearly twice their age. Now that could be awkward, but there are ways to smooth over this potentially fraught situation and make it productive for everyone. Morey Stettner, writing on Investors.com from Investor's Business Daily, takes on this topic and offers a couple of tips to make sure egos don't get the best of everyone and keep politics from undermining your team:

• Talk Less, Listen More: Managers of all ages risk alienating their staff if they adopt a my-way-or-the-highway bossiness. But younger supervisors who come on too strong can stoke outright hostility among more experienced employees. A little humility can go a long way. Rather than bark orders from Day One, managers in their 20s need to admit what they don't know.... At their first staff meeting, young managers should introduce themselves by making a few brief points about their background and then facilitating a discussion. Allotting more time for employees to share their experience and expertise builds camaraderie and creates better give-and-take. By asking questions and inviting group participation, Gen Y supervisors step out of the spotlight. They gain authority by showing a willingness to defer to their more seasoned, knowledgeable subordinates.
• Stop Pointing Fingers: No manager needs to have all the answers. It's especially important for younger supervisors to seek input from staffers on how they do their jobs.... parents of Generation Y children were often quick to blame teachers or other outsiders for their kid's problems. As a result, [business psychologist Nicole] Lipkin warns young managers to beware of finding fault with their employees.

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