When we did our interviews with Millennials as part of the research for When Millennials Take Over, we were struck by how…perplexed the Millennials were with the way organizations are run. They just don’t understand why they are forced to use outdated or ineffective tools, or why information is not shared across levels or across departments. They are not demanding change in some “entitled” way, as older generations often accuse them. They simply don’t understand, and at times they are frustrated.

One recent study of IT-related issues found that while all employees were frustrated by challenges like wasting time searching for documents or figuring out who has the right information internally, the Millennials were noticeably more frustrated. We need to make some adjustments here. According to the study,

as these tech savvy younger workers take up their roles in organizations across the globe, there needs to be a balance between maintaining security measures and control over corporate data and enabling people to get their jobs done quickly and efficiently.

We need more speed (the last of the 4 capacities we discuss in When Millennials Take Over is “Fast”), and both IT and Millennials will play a role here. It’s not that we need to do whatever the Millennials want. Just remember, they are like our secret decoder rings that show us what the future of work is going to look like. You can ignore them and fall behind, or you can pay attention to them and lead the revolution. The choice is yours.

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