2024 NZPI CONFERENCE PRESENTATION
SESSION: Thursday 21st March, 4:10pm - 4:40pm
PRESENTED BY: Grant Eccles, Damon Burdett & Anh Tang
With boomers, Generation X, millennials and Generation Z all in one workplace and increasingly communicating online, some of the quirkiness of each generation has come to light.
The result: the potential for confusion and misinterpretations of what your colleague is saying, especially as younger workers introduce new lingo and expressions that older workers just don't understand. And the other way around - do younger workers actually understand the phrases and language that older workers use in day to day conversations and communications?
If we don't all "speak the same language" depending on what era we grew up and entered the workforce in, how do we make sure that we collaborate and work well together? And how do make sure that the language we use as planners in our documents and communications is inclusive for people of all generations, so that they can understand and participate effectively in planning processes?
This session will take a light hearted look into bridging the generational communication divide, and how to avoid offending someone with a thumbs up emoji.
Grant Eccles
Technical Director - Planning, Tonkin and Taylor
Grant Eccles has 28 years' professional planning experience and has been a consultant based in Hamilton for the last 26 years. In that time he has worked throughout New Zealand on a wide range of projects with people of all ages. He is also the father of twin 20 yr old daughters, who have made him understand that while different generations "speak the same language" our lingo is often completely different.
Damon Burdett
Planner, Tonkin + Taylor
Damon Burdett has been working as a consultant planner at Tonkin + Taylor Auckland since the start of his career, where he has been involved in various infrastructure projects across the country since 2021. Damon is even younger than some of the legislation he works with, but still doesn't consider himself a member of the "trendy youths". However, his recent entry into the professional world has emphasised some of the different quirks of communication between the generations in the internet age.
Anh Tang
Planner, Tonkin + Taylor
Anh Tang started her journey as a consultant planner at Tonkin + Taylor in 2021 and has since worked on a wide range of infrastructure projects. Originating from Vietnam, Anh relocated to New Zealand at the age of 12 and undertook the challenge of learning a new language. Today she finds the challenges of communication continue in the professional world, from keeping pace with the ever-evolving trends of the younger generation, to deciphering the slang of her more experienced colleagues.
