Outline Take #2 - Under construction

TITLE

Cross-Generational Collaboration in Facility Management

Abstract / Executive Summary

1.     Introduction

Today our workforce consists of four, or in some cases, five generations that are working together in one of the most technological eras in history. While we may, as a society, be facing digital divide issues head-on, the facility management industry hasn't effectively addressed the realities. To create an effective built environment, facilities managers must acknowledge and embrace technological convergence, by effectively balancing new technology with "old ways". Inclusion (Cross-generational leadership) in the workplace is one of the largest hurdles that the facility management industry faces.

According to Bridging the Generation Gap five generations consists of Radio Babies (1930-1945), Baby Boomers (1946-1964), Generation X (1965-1976), Generation Y (1977-1990), and Millennials (1991 to present). There are other definitions that Radio babies, also called the Silent Generation. This generation is most notable of being born during the great depression and fighting in the Korean War. "Youth today is waiting for the hand of fate to fall on its shoulders, meanwhile working fairly hard and saying almost nothing. The most startling fact about the younger generation is its silence." (Time November 5, 1951 | Vol. LVIII No. 19)

In the facility management industry there are easily five generations that are working together in one environment. It is entirely possible to have a Radio Baby that works in a mechanic room who has been in the job for 40 or 50 years, depending on when they started the job, this same position could be occupied by an apprentice that is 16 years old, this is one of the unique traits of Facility Management.

To bring to light the issue of cross-generational collaboration or lack thereof that exists in the facility management industry

2.     Workforce Consistency

a.       Generations

                                                               i.      Who are the generations, by whom are they defined, why are they defined. Generation – Birth Years – Major Events that define the generation. – Quotes from sources indicating their importance on history as well as on facility management.

1.      Radio Babies

a.       Youth today is waiting for the hand of fate to fall on its shoulders, meanwhile working fairly hard and saying almost nothing. The most startling fact about the younger generation is its silence." (Time November 5, 1951 | Vol. LVIII No. 19)

2.      Baby Boomers

            a.   What is the percentage of these in the facility management workforce? How have they come up through the ranks? What is their educational background? What type of work ethics do they have? Why are they important?

3.      Generation X

            a. Who are these "kids"? What are their priorities? What is the difference between them and Boomers? How does their technological skills offer that Boomers don't have? How are they different from Y? What are their "HR" needs? 

4.      Generation Y

            a. Why Y? How much has technology effected / affected this generation? How does this generation's learning style weigh in on the process of facility management (or facilities in general). What does this generation have to offer the older generations?

5.      Millennials (Generation Z)

            a. 

6.   Up and Coming Generation - No Name

3.     Digital Divide

a.       What is the digital divide? Where does it come from? How has it been honed over time? What is the importance of it in facility management?

b.      Technological Convergence in Facility Management

                                                               i.      What is technological convergence and why is it important to the industry? What are types of “technological convergences?

1. Technology

            a. Computers

            b. Cellphones / PDA

            c.  Tablets 

            d. Google Glasses / Wrist Comm devices.

             

2. Computer Automated Systems

a.      CAFM

             i. What is history of CAFM? Why was it created? Who were the initial users of the system? What has it become? 

b.      IWMS

                                                                                                                                       i.      History of IWMS. How it is used? Who uses it? Why it is valuable.

c.       AutoCad/BIM

             i. History

d.

                                                             ii.      Communication

1.      Email vs Memo

            a. What IS a memo? Why were they important? What was the process behind them?

            b. awesome quotes from  http://www.3quarksdaily.com/3quarksdaily/2005/01/a_brief_history.html

            c. Evolution of the Memo: http://siarchives.si.edu/blog/evolution-memo

2.      Phone vs Text

            a.  

3.      Social networking vs Networking

4.     Generational ideology

a.       Passing on of information

                                                               i.      Training

                                                             ii.      Education

                                                           iii.      Mentorships

b.      Anecdotes

                                                               i.      One prime example of this is Pratt Institute located in Brooklyn, New York. The Steam Plant Chief Engineer, Conrad Milster has worked in the facility since 1959, he began working at the age of 23. Today at 78 he works side by side with college freshman, even some high school seniors from Brooklyn Tech High school who are learning about engineering; he is a great source of information if he is asked.

5.     Facility Management Implications

a.      How has it affected other industries and what have their solutions been? 

b.   Why is this a facility manager's problem and not a human resources problem?   

c.    What are some of the outcomes of the generational gap?

d.    How can FMers mitigate these issues? (Turn negatives into positives.)

6.     Conclusion / Call To Action

Works Cited (to be inserted later)

Conrad Interview --- http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5076759