Try discussing communication without mentioning technology and you start to feel old because you have to revive images of how people did their jobs “before e-mail” or “before the Internet.” It is therefore not surprising that stories about controversies involving communication and technology tend to have legs, a la “Chris Avenir, Facebook and Ryerson” tale, which reared its head in a National/Financial Post/canada.com article by Blair Makin.

(I have to say that I do not envy Ryerson the negative PR they appear to continue to garner! See my discussion from my earlier post on this story.)

I think that Mr. Makin misses an important part of the need for Gen Ys to communicate effectively with each other and with their organizations: the problems are rarely about the technology! Compromised intellectual property and security are important, but far from the largest concern when opening communications and harnessing the collaborative nature of Web 2.0. The problem that communications and technology run into is that I lose control of the ability to choose who sees my message. This takes away the essential “positioning” (e.g. grease for the wheels) that has to take place with those who may trust me to a lesser extent because (a) they don’t know me yet, or (b) they have made up their mind, based on previous communications, that they shouldn’t. (If I have the time and skill to bullet proof my arguments, I needn’t worry. Case in point: how many iterations did this piece go through before being released to editorial staff at the Post? I would guess lots!)

He glosses over the challenges of collaboration when “young egos are at stake.” I would be worried more about the higher-ups, who may be feeling a tad insecure about all the change and may respond negatively because of their own ego issues. Beyond ego, there is old-fashioned manners and respect (here I go sounding old again!), which are tough to convey electronically in a written form. These subtleties can be conveyed in an voice or face-to-face interaction, but will be inferred from an written communication. If you have the benefit of the doubt, you need not worry. If you don’t (and you don’t!), you may affect your reading on the benefit-of-the-doubt meter.

Not surprisingly from an executive from a communications technology provider the article concludes that “Today’s bright and energetic Gen-Yers” need to be given connectivity tools. If no one is listening to them anyway (because they have failed individually to garner the benefit of the doubt), connectivity merely enables more noise in the workplace. The non-Yers, sadly, may decide to disconnect.

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