Communication for Millenials. And everyone else, too.

This post is a joint collaboration between my favorite school-owner, Annie LaCroix, and my favorite new graduate, Kat Mayerovitch. There is simply nothing more key to your success than great communication skills. There are lessons in here for massage therapists of all ages and genres. Find them, use them. We all win when communication skills improve.

This is to the millenials. Yes, you guys. You text-obsessed, under-30 people who barely remember a time before “friend” was a verb. I have a secret for you:

Many of us find communicating with you really, really annoying.

This wouldn’t be so much of a problem if it weren’t for the fact that people older than you still pretty much rule the world (and the admissions office). If you’d like to be in that enviable position sometime in the future, you’re going to have to learn to deal with us.

Luckily, it’s not actually that difficult.

Talking to “Old People” 101

Text Messages

Texting is great for a lot of things, including:

Confirming lunch plans with friends
Letting your nervous mother know your plane landed safely
Sending sexy notes to your significant other

Texting is not appropriate for:

Checking to see if a school is accepting applications
Responding to an ad for a job opening
Asking for directions to an interview 10 minutes beforehand
Anything at all if you’re driving at the time!

Basically, limit texting to your personal life, and limit your professional communications to phone calls and email.

Phone Calls

As a school owner, here’s what Annie likes to hear in a phone call:

First, ask to speak to the person handling admissions. “Hello, my name is ____, may I please speak with the admissions office?” works wonderfully, even if the school doesn’t even have an admissions office. When you get in touch with the person you’re looking for, introduce yourself again (full name), and explain what you’re calling about. (Hint: “Can I get in the next class or something?” is not what you’re calling about. Keep it formal!) When you’re finished, be sure to thank the person for their time before saying goodbye.

Keep up this format (introducing yourself, asking for the person you want, reintroducing yourself, saying what you want, and offering thanks) for all professional phone conversations from now until you die. It also helps your professional image to check your voicemail and respond to it. With a phone call, not a text.

Emails

There’s an important difference between millenials and older generations when it comes to emails, and recognizing it will prevent a lot of drama. While you basically think of emails as longer text messages, older folks see them as electronic versions of letters, which is why they still hold on to a lot of snail-mail conventions. Some of these include:

Address the recipient. “Dear ____,” is the most common. I know nobody but your grandmother would ever call you “dear” in person, but it’s still traditional in writing. “To Whom it May Concern,” is acceptable letter-speak for “I have no idea who the hell this email is going to, but I want to sound polite about it.”
After addressing the reader, introduce yourself with your full name, and explain what you’re writing about. (Sound familiar? This is just like a phone call.)
Write out numbers as words. For example, “I have been working as a nursing assistant for the last four years,” not “for the last 4 years.”
Avoid initials or acronyms like TTYL or IDK. Also avoid shortened words like “thnx.”
Close with “Thank you,” or “Sincerely,” on its own line. The last line should be your full name, even though you already gave your full name at the beginning. If you already know the person you’re writing to, it’s okay to use just a first name here.

In-Person Interviews

Don’t forget that handshake, both at the beginning and the end.
Turn your phone off. Not on silent, but OFF. Or leave it in your car.
Make eye contact and smile, even if it feels awkward. Practice if you need to.
“Thanks” is even more important in person than in writing.
Communicate through your clothing. Dressy, non-sexy, clean, unwrinkled. You get the idea.

For the Non-Millenials in the House

You didn’t think I’d notice, did you? I know you’ve been reading this, hoping to gain some insight into the elusive psyches of the young. Well, here are some tips for communicating with millenials without pulling your hair out.

Try texting. Millenials don’t always feel comfortable stopping what they’re doing to have a phone conversation, but texting is quick and non-intrusive. You’re much more likely to get an immediate response to a text message.
Starting a Facebook group is a great way to ensure your messages will be read.
When using email, keep it brief. Millenials want you get to the point, not write around a subject with anecdotes. The more long-winded the message, the more likely it will end in the trash.
Good luck with phone calls. Millenials hate to feel stuck in a conversation they can’t get out of, and so they often won’t answer when it rings.
Learn to have patience with impatience. Otherwise you’ll both go crazy.

Go forth and communicate.

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{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

Geordie Romer | Leavenworth WA February 16, 2012 at 4:25 pm: Great tips! In my experience, I’ve found that parents of teens tend to text quite a bit as well because their kids have trained them to. I always let my clients lead. If they contact me via email, then we communicate via email. If they prefer Twitter or FB messaging then I use those modes of communication. I agree with your premise though, email and phone calls should always be the default mode unless or until you find out otherwise.

Dale Favier February 16, 2012 at 7:26 pm: Apparently I’m an elderly, displaced millenial! That explains a lot. When I was hesitating about whether to jump ship on being a programmer and become a massage therapist, five years ago, the thing that made me hesitate most was that I knew I’d have to learn to make phone calls.

I make a point of asking people who reschedule how they want to be contacted (for appointment reminders and so forth), and of honoring that. This is definitely one of those realms in which the customer is always right. I wince, in my heart, when they ask for phone calls, but I bite the bullet and make them

Kat February 17, 2012 at 7:58 am: I should probably clarify that I am an actual, honest-to-goodness, born in the early ’80s millenial myself. I’m just a cultural attache to Grown-Up Land.

Michael Reynolds February 17, 2012 at 1:57 pm: I LOVE this post, with one exception:

‘Address the recipient. “Dear ____,”’

I can’t think of any reason to start out with “Dear” in an email unless you’re Jane Austen and you’ve been cryogenically frozen, revived, and are now learning to use email.