Generation Y 2.0

In a week of chaos across Britain as it continued to snow, more in inches than metres, and whilst our Aussie colleagues were literally BBQ’ing on the beach, what were our Y folk up to? Was there some positive light to come out of the week or was it all grey slush and misery?

So ok, getting anywhere on any kind of transport was difficult and well done to all of you who battled through to get to your destinations and to panic buy all those cartons of milk (did you need so many?!). Shame on you who used it as an excuse to stay home! No seriously, was staying home such a bad idea? What about the perils of bad weather and associated safety risk? What about all those important events and practise nights. What of productivity and the effect on industry at a time when businesses need every drop of income right now? More doom and gloom I hear you say.

Perhaps there are other ways to look at this. What about the peace and quiet to get those reports done and catch up on all those emails? Two days in your PJ’s and with your favourite snacks to hand and iTunes to play without headphones, could you breathe a sigh of relief that you didn’t have to go to college or the office and save a bit of time? Well many could see that there was an awful lot of time being spent on Facebook and online chat this week, and a remarkable number of photos of snow filled driveways, gardens and parks! What an industrious lot we are, and yes we still know how to build snowmen and other well known snow loving (?) British characters .

But here’s the thing, while many were concerned about the country skiving off, there was something else happening. A lot of work was being done from homes, a lot of team bonding going on out in those parks, offices lots and on social networks. Lots of banter, lots of sharing, lots and lots of needing to find other things to do to cure the boredom. So, some families have been stuck at home together for the evening, having home cooked meals and keeping warm by the fire - aaww. Homework and reports were getting written and those computer games were being played. Lots of research on the net, lots of chatting with friends and contacts overseas, lots of sleep for some and relationship ups and downs for others. Did people prise themselves away from the computer to go and get some fresh air and frolick in the snow? You bet. Wow would that be exercise?!

There were debates about global warming, about snow on Mars, energy bills, the homeless, the elderly and saving fuel. Plenty of people signed up to new causes and many others planned for holidays and meeting friends. Plenty of laughter and plenty of cocoa. Lots of “love it or hate it” discussions about the weather and ….

…Plenty of frayed tempers. Long commutes, broken appointments, cold extremities, all the things that generally upset our GenX (and boomers) with the disrupted routines. Discomgoogolation from interrupted or reduced internet and mobile services for some - no laughing matter we say! Many took to alternate and sharing transport, well done, and others were seen helping stranded cars and pedestrians, as postmen battled on through the icy paths with their safety shoes.

One organisation, HSBC in Canary Wharf, apparently thought about the safety and welfare of stranded workers by procuring more than a 100 sleeping bags and ordering bottled water and takeout for all. Ok it sounds a bit uncomfortable to sleep on the office floor (and wasn’t sleeping in the office a thing of the 90s before we allegedly embraced Working Time Rights and work-life balance?) but what a great way to look after staff and create an opportunity for team spirit! No we’re not suggesting that offices try to lock their employees in overnight but maybe we need to think about that community spirit and resolve to pull together to try something new and turn a difficult situation into something positive.

As one politician said, we do need to get up on our feet and get on with keeping the country running. Hear hear! But let’s also look at the benefits of this week, perhaps these few days have provided a bit of much needed respite, something else to think about, after the non-stop rush and stress of the holidays and the gloom of a recession hit January?

While we were getting distracted by the white stuff and chatting with our friends, did we also get some things done, did we have any new ideas, did we get to know something more about ourselves and our friends and colleagues? What were our teens and under 30′s up to? Were they involved in coming up with some of the ways to get through the week? And those of us with Y behaviours, how distracted were we?! Did we freshen up our senses and call to action?

We’d like to hear your stories.

This entry was posted on Friday, February 6th, 2009 at 10:11 pm and is filed under 3 Generations : 1 Workplace, Genera(lisa)tion Y. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.