Good communication skills are essential for lawyers, whether communicating with clients, courts or colleagues. Good communication does not just mean the ability to speak or write well, but also to be responsive and to choose an effective method of communication. Good communication skills are something that we as lawyers must continually seek to improve, and I see two significant factors that complicate effective communication among lawyers and between lawyers and clients in our society today.

First, the change in communication technology has been dramatic. Devices undreamed of in the 1960s are now obsolete. Data processing capabilities of machines that used to require buildings the size of city blocks to house now fit in a watch. Dick Tracy’s two-way wrist radios of the 1940s and Star Trek hand-held communicators of the 1960s are real technologies today.

And the change continues at an incredible pace. There is now so much information to be learned and processed in our daily living that Bill Gates is reported to be working on a personal assistant program that will track every move you make on a device and then make suggestions on how you can adjust settings and use the device more efficiently. Now, in addition to in-person meetings, letters and telephone calls, there are voice mails, faxes, emails, IMs, texts, tweets, instagrams, videoconferences, face-timing, skyping, snapchats and the list goes on.

Second, we currently have four generations in the workplace, more than at any other time in modern history. Not only are people living longer, but they are working longer whether through economic necessity or by choice. For each generation there are particular experiences that mold specific preferences, expectations, beliefs and communication styles. Today the four generations in the workplace span more than 70 years of socioeconomic and work experiences, with a fifth generation soon to enter the workforce.

Each generation has shared experiences that shaped how they grew up and in turn, influenced their communication preferences. The Traditionalists (born before 1946) generally prefer to communicate during the nine-to-five workday, and are used to a slower style of communication. Baby Boomers (born between 1946 and 1964) tend to like meetings and generally prefer face-to-face communication or speaking over the telephone. I am in Generation X (born between 1965 and 1980). While I tend toward the Baby Boomer communication preferences, I have also embraced Gen X-ers’ preference for email communication.

While there are significant differences between the communication styles and preferences of the Traditionalist, Baby Boomer and Gen X generations, the differences between those generations and the Millennials are perhaps most significant. Born between 1981 and 2000, Millennials (sometimes called Generation Y or Echo Boomers) are the most diverse generation in U.S. history and the largest since the Baby Boomers. Millennials overshadow Gen X because they outnumber them nearly three times. Millennials grew up with the Internet, iPods, laptops and smartphones, and are used to 24/7 instant communication. They generally prefer texting and other social media to using the telephone.

Of course individual communication styles and preferences remain at the heart of most communication issues, and assuming that all Gen X-ers prefer to communicate by email, while Baby Boomers prefer in-person meetings and Millennials are always online can lead to problems. But understanding differences between the generations is fundamental in building successful communications across generations.

For example, a Boomer lawyer may leave a note on a Millennial lawyer’s desk to come to her office and discuss a matter. Rather than walking down the hall the next day to talk with the Boomer lawyer, the Millennial sends a text message at 8 that evening asking, “What’s up?” The Boomer lawyer may dismiss the Millennial as rude and impertinent. The Millennial lawyer may regard the Boomer as grumpy and inflexible, because he thought he was being responsive. The truth is that neither of these conclusions may be accurate.

No one way of communication is the right way. The key is for each party to be clear on what the other wants. With the continuing demographic shift, lawyers who learn to bridge the gap between Traditionalists, Boomers, GenX and Millennials, who are mindful of their different communication styles and preferences, who are responsive and choose an appropriate method of communication technology, and who are able to find ways to communicate clearly will be successful.
 

Tennessee Bar Association President JONATHAN O. STEEN is a civil trial lawyer with Redding, Steen & Staton PC in Jackson. He is a past president of the TBA Young Lawyers Division and a former member of the Tennessee Bar Journal Editorial Board.