Poll: Is your boss older than you?
Thank you, as always, to the folks who took a moment to chime in on the homepage poll (www.augi.com, in the right-hand column). This month, we took a look at comparing ages between AUGI members and their bosses (manager, director, ceo, whomever you report to).
According to the 2014 Annual Survey, the average age of an AUGI member is 42, and 50% of respondents have a boss who is older than them. 3% don’t have a boss, whether because they have their own company or are unemployed. That leaves 20% who are approximately the same age as their boss, and 27% who are older than the person they report to.
Personally, I have not yet worked for someone younger than me. But, I do remember, back when I worked in fast food, I was promoted to supervisor when I turned 18. That move resulted in everyone older than me quitting in protest. Of course, we AUGI members tend to work in a far more skilled environment and so I think we are going to be more concerned with knowledge and competence than other more superficial factors.
A couple years ago, my Director at the time had our department, anyone coordinator level and higher at least, attend a seminar on working across generations. The attendees ranged in age from 25-67, and it highlighted the commonalities and differences in approaches to work and communication. While most of us get along just fine, it never hurts to learn more about where your peers are coming from, so I’d encourage anyone to do some readings on the subject, or attend a seminar if possible. We all focus a lot on technical aptitude and discipline-specific skills, but, I have gained appreciation for interpersonal relations and management training over the years. Wikihow, Forbes, Monster, US News and World reports all have articles and how-tos on working across generations, hit Google and see what you find.
As long as you’re on the AUGI site reading this article, take a moment to hit this month’s homepage poll on public speaking. While many of us present and teach year-round, the topic is fresh on the minds of many presenters getting ready for Autodesk University in a couple of weeks. So, how scared are you?
Melanie Stone is a CAFM/ IWMS Specialist & System Administrator supporting and writing about ARCHIBUS, FMInteract, Tririga, Revit, AutoCAD, BricsCAD or similar. She served as an AUGI Director/Officer for over 6 years and is currently involved with the STLRUG. Melanie can be reached at mistressofthedorkness@gmail.com or found on Twitter as @MistresDorkness on YouTube or on her Mistress Of the Dorkness blog.
