This month, our host, Mike Hrycyk, explores the diverse perspectives and experiences of different generations of testers in the tech world. Joined by a panel of experts from the PLATO Team Nicole LeBlanc, Shawnee Polchis, and Brennan Nadeau, representing Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z, we delve into the unique interactions and communication styles that arise from generational differences. From nostalgic first memories of computer use to the evolving landscape of technology, our panellists share their personal stories and insights. Check out this discussion for a thought-provoking discussion on how generational dynamics shape the world of testing and the way we approach technology today.
Episode Transcript:
Mike Hrycyk:
Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of PLATO Panel Talks. I’m your host Mike Hrycyk, and today we’re going to talk about generations of testers. And what do we mean by generations of testers? Well, we’ve noticed over time that there are different generations of people. We’ve got your Millennials, your Gen Zs, etc., and they have different perspectives on communication and the world, and it’s caused some interesting interactions. So, just so you’re aware of how it goes, we’re a nice big organization with lots of those generations. We’ve assembled today a panel of three testing experts who represent different generations. I’m going to let my speakers introduce themselves. They’ll also tell us what generation they identify with. So, we are going to start with you, Nicole.
Nicole LeBlanc:
Hello, I am Nicole LeBlanc. I’m the Apprentice Manager for Atlantic and Sault. Ste. Marie Regions. I am a Gen X but sometimes referred to as Xennial because I’m in that unique spot that I’m sort of at the tail end of Gen X. So, I was raised part analog, part digital. I really relate to both Gen X and Millennials in quite a few ways.
Mike Hrycyk:
Well, great, thank you. That’s extra representation right there. Alright, Shawnee.
Shawnee Polchis:
Hello, I’m Shawnee Polchis. I’m an Associate Manager in Fredericton. I identify as a Millennial, and my siblings highlight that any chance they get.
Mike Hrycyk:
Thank you. And Brennan?
Brennan Nadeau:
Hi, I am Brennan Nadeau. I identify as a Gen Z. Growing up, I didn’t really know what generation I was. There was a lot of confusion around that, but recently it’s pretty obvious that I’m a Gen Z.
Mike Hrycyk:
Oh, well, we’re going to ask questions about that as we move in. Just in case it wasn’t obvious, all of our panel members today are members of PLATO. We’re pulling from within. So, thanks, guys. Well, let’s get started. But before I do that, I have to self-identify. So I am a Gen X, I’m like Nicole, though I was raised fully analog. Digital came when I started getting into school.
So, the first question we’re going to ask is, what is your first memory of using a computer and to help set the stage for myself and fit in, I will say that when I was a young lad in the range of probably eight or nine, we had been badgering my parents that for Christmas or something, we wanted one of the new game systems there. And for those of you who are younger, a game system then meant Atari or ColecoVision or a television. And we really wanted – all of our friends had them, and they were playing these cool games which would aspire to be 8-bit in the future, right? Asteroids and the like. And so, we badgered and badgered and badgered, and my dad went away to shop, and he went to a place called Radio Shack, which still exists in Canada, but then it was the single source for electronics. And he talked about getting these things, and the sales guy there said, oh, you don’t want one of those, this is what you want. And so, he came home with a system called a TRS 80, which was a RadioShack brand that was also supported by Tandy Electronics, both of which are not really doing that anymore. It had 4K – 2K, it had 2K on the board. But the thing that set it aside that made it not as simple as just a computer is it had cartridges, and the cartridges had games on them, and you could plug the games into the side. But the computer was – this is so long ago that to upgrade the RAM on the board, you had to take the machine apart and solder new RAM chips to the board in different places, which my brother, who is two years older, learned how to do that. And to put programs in, you had to put them in in machine code, which was rows of ones and zeros, thousands and thousands and thousands of ones and zeros and woe to you if you made a typo somewhere, because you had no clue where the problem was. But we did that. We had games, and it was kind of fun, and that was our entry point. So okay, that’s me. That kind of shows you where I am. Nicole, tell us about your first memory.
Nicole LeBlanc:
I think I also would’ve been around the same age, eight or nine. My dad actually worked in an auto supply store when I was a kid, so they had a computer system there for inventory and things like that, and they had upgraded their system, and so the hand-me-downs ended up coming to me, and I can remember I couldn’t lift it by myself. It was huge. I wouldn’t be able to tell you what kind of computer it was. And I would just, I’d plug it in and turn it on, and I would just type, and I would type little stories, and I would just practice my typing. And, of course, it was never saved because I didn’t know how to save it. So, I was starting over every day. And it wasn’t until I started post-secondary in IT in my thirties that I realized that what I’d been typing on was a command prompt. There just was nobody else in my household that – nobody knew anything about computers at all. And it was down in my room. I was just on my own. So, I quickly lost interest in that, probably after about a month. But it was kind of funny to think about later on in life.
Mike Hrycyk:
That’s kind of brilliant. Think of all of that creativity that’s lost. You could now be a world-renowned author if you’ve managed to save one of your command prompts.
Nicole LeBlanc:
It’s entirely possible.
Mike Hrycyk:
Alright, Shawnee, tell us about your entry into computer-dom.
Shawnee Polchis:
So it was similar with me. It was actually around the same age, around eight or nine. And I remember we had a family computer that I wasn’t allowed to go on the internet or anything because dial-ups would basically ruin phones. So I never really used it until we started getting games in cereal boxes. And we would get little games that would come in the cereal boxes and I was allowed to go onto the game and play. But what I would do would be go into the back-end of those games and or just mess with every setting possible to personalize our Windows desktop to the point where my parents never knew how to turn it back. So, what they would do is they’d wake me up, or they’d get me later, so I’d get more computer time. I would have to go and change everything back. I’d never told them you could create another profile so they wouldn’t see anything different. But I at least got some extra time on the computer because it wasn’t something that we got to do very often.
Mike Hrycyk:
Games like in those little mini CDs?
Shawnee Polchis:
Yeah, you used to get little CDs of a bunch of different types of games. I think Monopoly was one, and Roller Coaster Tycoon.
Mike Hrycyk:
So oh, I played that.
Shawnee Polchis:
Roller Coaster Tycoon was one of my favourites, but it came right in a Cheerios box, I think it was.
Mike Hrycyk:
I don’t think I ever saw that. That’s really interesting. But the generations is already starting to show. So we loaded– our OS was hard coded into the computer to save stuff. You couldn’t save anything at the start. We got a special cassette tape deck, and you could record to the cassette tape, and that sounded like the old-time squealy modems. And then Nicole had a command prompt. At that point, there were probably floppy disc drives. Would that be so, Nicole?
Nicole LeBlanc:
Yeah, I’m pretty sure there was a floppy disc drive on it. I think it also would’ve had the hard disc drive too. It had both, I think. I didn’t know what to do with either of them.
Mike Hrycyk:
Yeah. Brennan, shower us with the brilliance of your entry into computers.
Brennan Nadeau:
So, not necessarily computer but more like tech. The first thing I remember using was probably my grandmother’s iPhone 3, I think. And I would’ve been six years old when it first came out. So, I was super into Star Wars, and I would just watch Star Wars YouTube videos on her iPhone while we were driving around. But if we’re talking about something that was actually mine that I owned, it was probably a [Nintendo] DS, the original DS was probably my first thing. And even then, I didn’t really know how to use it. It’s kind of the same as Nicole. I didn’t know how to save my game. So I would play some games and get really far, and then I would have to restart the game because I didn’t know how to save it.
Mike Hrycyk:
And I mean starting with this question has been brilliant for highlighting this because cell phones didn’t exist. We barely had – we didn’t have push button phones when I started using technology, we had rotary phones and that was way in the future. Videos – we didn’t even have VHS at that point that came in when I was a little bit older. So when we think about the generations of technology, it’s quite reasonable that we have differences.
Alright, let’s move on to the next question. Alright, so I think that this is sort of a good setup question for us in terms of let’s be coming from the same place. So, generations and discussions of generations, there’s a lot of stereotyping and over-generalization that happens with this, and there’s a lot of hopefully friendly chiding that goes between, although I’ve heard it get a little bit aggressive. So, the first question is, is the following statement legitimate? There are definitely generational differences between the working generations. They’re tangible enough that understanding and working with or around them is a good skill in today’s business world. More specifically, how is this a good software and development testing skill? So, I’m going to go to you first, Shawnee, to shake things up a little bit. Is this even something worth talking about?
Shawnee Polchis:
I think that it can be. Personally, before this conversation and looking into this, I never really thought of it from that perspective, but after digging into my thoughts, I think it is good because if you think about it when it comes to testing and your end users, you’re going to have people from all these different generations who will be using your program. And seeing those different perspectives, I think, can be very important to seeing how anybody may use it. Whether they’re an older generation or younger, someone may use it completely differently.
Mike Hrycyk:
I think it’s exceptionally poignant for PLATO because we’re teaching people, and we’re teaching people of all different ages and generations that can bring different foundational concepts and skills. So, I think it is something that we look at that way. Alright, over to you, Nicole. Is this statement reasonable?
Nicole LeBlanc:
Yeah, it’s definitely reasonable, and I see this every day. And some days, am I teaching you, or are you teaching me? I’ve learned so much from some of the Gen Z Apprentices, I really have. At the same time, sometimes there are scenarios that they don’t really necessarily think of, because sometimes you have to remind them to think like their grandparents or think like somebody who was not raised with technology. So, having all the different perspectives we do, I think in the end up covering more scenarios and uncovering more issues.
Mike Hrycyk:
Today, more than ever, a core testing skill is being able to put your brain in the shoes of the user. Your users will also span generations. So really a useful thought. Alright, Brennan, over to you. There are definitely generational differences between the working generations. Is this a good statement?
Brennan Nadeau:
Yeah, yeah, I do think so. And I kind of agree with what Shawnee and Nicole said. Definitely, it’s good to have a lot of different perspectives on things. I kind of feel like maybe my generation might push things a little farther, so I think that’s good for testing. So, maybe not follow the rules as much and break something in a way that someone else wouldn’t, if that makes sense?
Mike Hrycyk:
I think that what you said there is true in a couple of different ways, like you said there. I think that Gen X pushes in a different way. They push because they flounder. Things aren’t as intuitive, and they just do willy-nilly things until something works, or, God, my dad, a Boomer, he’d just poke things until something works or it breaks and then ask for help. But I think the other end of that spectrum is Gen Z, who are not rule followers and are making choices, which is something that testers have done for all generations. They’re doing that. But now we have users doing that. It’s a really good point. Thank you for that.
Afia Darkwa:
My name is Afia Darkwa. I am an Apprentice Manager based in Calgary to newly hired Indigenous QA Software Testers. A diverse range of ages and generations brings incredible value to any team, particularly in a collaborative and innovative environment like a testing team. Each generation offers unique perspectives shaped by their experiences, which can lead to more creative problem-solving and well-rounded decision-making. For example, experienced team members offer deep industry knowledge and a historical understanding of processes. While less experienced members can contribute fresh ideas, technological savvy and innovative approaches. This blend of generations helps teams adapt to challenges, address varying user needs and develop solutions that resonate across different demographics.
Mike Hrycyk:
So, I just want to make sure that we’re all going to use the same understanding and terminology today. So, what I’ve written down is that the generations that we’re talking about are Boomers, generation X, Millennials, and generation Z. There’s also the alpha generation, but they’re not really in the workforce yet, so they’re not as concerned. And maybe if we get time at the end, we can talk about what can we expect in the next 10 years. And then there was also Nicole, who had used a term, was it xennial, xillennial?
Nicole LeBlanc:
I’ve never heard it spoken out loud. I’ve read the term. So it could be either/or I suppose.
Mike Hrycyk:
So, without being mean-spirited and speaking mainly for your own generation but also pulling in what you’ve seen, what do you see are the differentiating characteristics? So, we’ll start with the old folks, no offense Nicole, tell about Gen X and how you see us, but also how you see the other generation.
Nicole LeBlanc:
Gen X sometimes has a bit of, I don’t know, a reputation of being – I think Gen X, we’re considered to be a very resilient generation. A lot of us were like the latchkey kids and we were out on our own, all the stereotypical stuff about being outside until the streetlights came on, things like that. So I think a lot of times that Gen X sometimes has trouble asking for help because we’ve always sort of been raised, for the most part, to do things on our own, figure it out on our own. A lot of stereotypes and perceptions about millennials are that they can be close-minded. I don’t think it’s true. And the Gen Z, I think the perception about Gen Z is a lot of people think that they don’t have as much work ethic as the other generations. It’s difficult for me to say these things because these aren’t things that I think, these are things that I think are perceptions that are not true.
Mike Hrycyk:
Okay, well let’s shift over to Shawnee so you can defend some of that. Tell us what you think the defining characteristics of Millennials are and then tell us about the others.
Shawnee Polchis:
So, my habit is to stick to the technology part of it. When I think of some of the differences, I think of my family because my parents they’re significantly older than me, and then my siblings are all 10-plus years younger than me. So, some of the things that I’ve noticed for differences is, again, back to technology, I get super excited about new technology. I get excited about the opportunity to learn about it. But if I compare that to with my mom or somebody who may be a little bit older, I know that she’s not as comfortable. I could be completely comfortable with having a smart home, having everything automated for when I come in, and things like that. And it almost feels exciting for me that I get to learn that. Where if I looked at my sister, she would think that I’m a little crazy for not already having it or having it set up in a certain way. That’s just what they grew up on and always having a mobile device. I didn’t have a mobile device until I was in my twenties, so I was a little bit older, but they were able to have it from a younger age. So, seeing those differences from that perspective was just something that kind of stood out to me. When I think about the generational differences, just the different types of being comfortable.
Mike Hrycyk:
Yeah, I think about it when you say stuff like that. So part of it might be coloured by the fact that you went into IT, but I think it’s when we look at sort of a scale, and you might think Boomers and technology, the abject terror. If you think of Generation X and technology, it’s trepidation, and it’s a job to do. Millennials, it’s an idea of exploration. And we’re going to go to you, Brennan, so you can speak to this in one second. When we go to Gen Z, it’s more along the lines of I expect this to work, it should just work. Why isn’t it working? All right. Over to you, Brennan.
Brennan Nadeau:
Yeah, so I do agree with what Nicole was saying. How you were saying that’s not how you feel about our generation, but personally, I have seen it. So I kind of think that we’re kind of underestimated in what we can actually do. We have a lot of diversity. I think there are a lot of people who do want to work, but then there are a lot of people that, as you said, just want things to work when they want them to work.
Mike Hrycyk:
Do you have any strong perceptions? If I say to you Millennial, or I say to you Gen X, do you have a strong perception of what that means?
Brennan Nadeau:
So not necessarily in a rude way, but I do kind of feel that maybe they’re a little more strict and maybe a little more on the line. Whereas Gen Z is not really afraid to speak up and say what’s on their minds or not be so serious about a lot of things.
Brian Doyle:
Hi, I’m Brian Doyle, and I’m the VP of Service Delivery for Atlanta, Canada, at PLATO. With a generational mix of team members, we gained the benefit of a holistic view of software applications. Older, more experienced resources may tend to focus largely on functionality and requirements. They rely on specific requirements and business rules and often tend to perform their tasks within those boundaries. Younger resources may assess software from a completely different viewpoint. Their first focus, having grown up in the smartphone age, may be on mobile usability, touchscreen functionality, ease of use, or availability of shortcuts to perform a task. Of course, the big advantage of having a generational mix is that it creates a steady inflow of young, enthusiastic resources who can learn from and be mentored by experienced team members. This creates a cycle of continuous knowledge flow where, over time, those young and eager to learn resources eventually become the older, experienced team members, and the cycle continues with the influx of subsequent generations.
Mike Hrycyk:
So, something that I’m hearing here that is quite interesting to me, and Nicole, you’ll probably remember that if you go cycle back 10 years, a conversation that was being had repeatedly was exactly that same conversation but replaced the Gen Z with Millennial. They’re directionless; they don’t have any ambition, and it’s hard to get them to focus. And I find that really interesting and kind of cyclical. In the same way as Nicole said, well yeah, Gen X are the ones who are a little bit more timid to take technology. And my brain has said no. That’s how we think about Boomers. And so, maybe shared understanding is just what we all need. But Shawnee, have you heard what I’m talking about here, where Millennials used to be painted with the brush that we’re now talking about with Gen Z?
Shawnee Polchis:
I would probably say yes. I do remember just being told that Millennials were lazy or not really interested in the same type of workforce. And it also comes back to, again, with my siblings being so much younger than me and being part of Gen Z, sometimes when I say something or do something they’ll say, oh, that’s so Millennial of you, or something along those lines. And it never really bothers me. I find it kind of funny, but I do think about some of the things that I’ve done that are just a little bit different than they may do, and it just kind of stands out.
Mike Hrycyk:
It becomes difficult to have this conversation because it’s hard to separate the idea that some of it is a youth maturity progression, right? Oh yeah, is there a generational difference here, or are they just young? And because when you were 10 years ago, when you were young, it was a career, whatever, I’ll think about that later. And there are different spectrums in that, too. And so, you have the next generation, say they have no focus, and then you’re 10 years old, and you’re pretty dedicated to your career. I see that you have ambition, etc. And so, maybe that’s maturity because now you’re looking at the people who are coming up and saying the same thing. But there are generational differences because we’ve just talked about them too. There’s this expectation that if you have a Nest Home, everyone should have a Nest Home. And when you walk in and it’s like, Hey, can you turn up the heat? And you’re like, okay, and they pull out their phone, and you’re like, no, you have to walk over to that thing on the wall, and it’s a dial with numbers on it, and you’re like, what is this a log cabin? What’s going on?
So, we’ve sort of agreed that there’s some differences, but let’s dig into that a little bit. And so, this is sort of an open question. Whoever has an idea? First, the media portrays our groups in certain ways. Let’s call out some of those portrayals that we feel are unjust.
Nicole LeBlanc:
I see a lot of, and I’ve been seeing it for years, the housing market and the Boomer age people thinking like it’s your avocado toast and your Starbucks, and if you didn’t do that, you’d be able to afford a house. You still see a lot of stuff like that going on. Even though the world has changed, the economy has changed. And I think some generations are just very set in their ways, and they think that – not all the time, but on a lot of different topics, they think that everything is going to be the same for each generation. And then there’s always the, oh, kids these days, they have no respect. And I feel like that’s been said about every generation that’s been the youngest generation by the oldest generation. You can watch it happen in cycles.
Mike Hrycyk:
Yeah, I mean, even just think about the fact that when Nicole and I were growing up, having a personal computer in your home was odd. It was generally, if you were buying it yourself, it was the rich families that had it, right? And the fact that Nicole had one because the work was discarding, it didn’t come with understanding and training and stuff like that. Whereas it’s abnormal for people not to have some sort of computer now.
Arnold Murphy:
My name is Arnold Murphy, and I’m an Associate Consultant at PLATO. As an older worker, I really enjoy being around young workers, and I enjoy exchanging knowledge. I also enjoy learning and I also enjoy being around older workers who’ve been around. That all being said, I think it adds value because it makes the team more resilient, reliable, dynamic, and interesting. So work becomes interesting. We all have things to share. I think it increases the value of what we bring to the table.
Mike Hrycyk:
Okay, I like the conversations so far, but let’s put some meat on it so that people out there can provide value in it and help them adjust in their lives. So, let’s talk specifically about the way generations communicate and the differences in the way they learn. Both of these are sort of areas to pull from. So, tell us some real examples of how we’ve seen those gaps or those differences, and how do you work with them? Nicole, I think you’re a good person to start.
Nicole LeBlanc:
Email communications. That would be the one that I noticed the most. The Gen X people are very formal. Maybe not as formal as it would’ve been five or six years ago. That seems like it’s starting to ease up for the most part. But sometimes I feel like, not really the Millennials, I guess, but the Gen Z, you might see an email go through to somebody, and you think it’s just a little too informal.
Mike Hrycyk:
I think it’s a good point in communication styles. Just think about emoticons. If you go back five years, you would never have put a happy face in your email, but we’re growing to accept that. Some emails I get from Gen Z people, and some of the points are just emoticons. So, there’s been some learning around that because the just emoticons is not really acceptable in business. Maybe that statement is even too ensconced in generational learning as well, but we do have to have a certain amount of understanding of exactly what it is you’re looking for. We’re in IT, and requirements are necessary. Understanding what people want is necessary. So, emoticons don’t always have that, right? But the other part around that is a willingness. Do we have enough willingness to understand what other people are saying?
Nicole LeBlanc:
I have found also that there have been cases in which there can be misunderstandings over the tone of written communications. For example, I one time sent my daughter a text and it had a period at the end. My daughter would be Gen Z, and she is texting me back saying, what’s wrong? Why are you mad at me? I said, what do you mean? And she said, well, you never put periods on the end of your text. And I find there are lots of little unknown things like that, that sometimes people will misinterpret that can cause some conflict. So, I think we do have communication differences in that way.
Mike Hrycyk:
So, you might’ve just hit on something that’s interesting to me. When you say she said you don’t put periods on, did she mean you, Nicole, don’t or people don’t in general? You never put a period on the end of things, or Nicole, Mom, you never put periods on the end of things. What’s the difference? Which of those two is it?
Nicole LeBlanc:
I think it’s everybody. And it’s true. If you think even to communicating over a [Microsoft] Team’s message, most of the time a sentence doesn’t necessarily always have a period. And it’s something that we’ve started to leave out. And there have been times that I will get a message from somebody that has a period on it, and for a split second, I think, that seems a little different and a little short. And, even if I’m about to send something myself, I’m thinking, is this going to seem harsh if I don’t put a smiley face or something like that? So, I think sometimes there’s a little bit of overthinking that goes on just because there does seem to be some differences between the generations in that way.
Mike Hrycyk:
And I think that for us older folks, we have a really big intuitive base built around understanding verbal communication. And so, if you’re on the phone with someone that when you’re having that conversation that you understand where they’re coming from and you understand the tone, and we are set in our ways of that’s the best way to do it. And we’ve been learning how to read those tones in emails and texts etc. But if we look at Brennan, you’ve always had that, and you understand that tone better. It’s just something that’s part of the way you do things. And we are learning to understand tone better in the way we communicate. But Gen Z’s already there. Brennan, can you validate what I’ve just said as our expert?
Brennan Nadeau:
Yeah, I can agree with that. Yeah. The way that you’re saying you’re learning it, it’s kind of like you’re unlearning what you already know. Like you know, proper communication and everything. But the way that we send texts and talk is very shortened, and we’ll use abbreviations and stuff like that. I feel like we’re kind of going back on the way that we communicate certain things.
Mike Hrycyk:
Well, part of this whole conversation is how do you find the balance so that when we’re talking about formal business communication, where you have to get the accurate message across, how much of that needs to overlay the natural way of communication that’s happened. Because if you make it too formal, it’s harder to communicate in the same way. Shawnee, anything to add to this particular part of the conversation?
Shawnee Polchis:
Well, just listening to what everybody was saying, and it also made me think of a couple of things. For one example, instead of maybe adding a period at the end of a sentence, in my group chat with my sisters, my mom, and my grandmother, which are all part of the Boomer generation, Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z, we had to change the reaction from a thumbs up to something completely different like a smiley face or just like something completely different. My mom was getting mad because my grandmother would just send the thumbs up, and she’d be like, well, why are you mad? She would just kind of get upset about it. And I’m like, that’s not what Grammy means. And so, we had to make that adjustment just so that when she would accidentally click the thumbs up, she didn’t think that she was upset.
But another thought that came in with a part of this conversation was with the communication; I think we’re always available now and always have access. So if we don’t get an answer right away, I find that sometimes a younger generation could have a different reaction. Where if I don’t hear from my mom or she doesn’t call me back right away, it’s not a big deal. She’s not always on her phone. But even just before we had this call, my sister FaceTimed me four times because I didn’t answer the first time. She had a question about a parking meter. She’s learning how to drive and wasn’t sure if it used quarters. Even though it was only a two-second conversation, it was very much like a dire event. I feel like she really needed my help for that. And I think that because I wasn’t available, I was working, it almost put her in a negative mood just because I wasn’t available instantly. And then, on top of that, it’s never a phone call, it’s always FaceTime. And if it’s not FaceTime, then she also thinks something is going horribly wrong. But being always available, I think, is kind of what makes a difference between the generations as well. We always just made phone calls on a phone, and then it transitioned to cell phones. Like I said, I never had a cell phone until I was 20, and it could not do FaceTime.
Mike Hrycyk:
When I was a teenager, you’d call up, you’d get a parent, they would take a message, which maybe we get transferred to your friend or forbid that it’s someone that you’re asking out or something like that, and then you have to wait and wait and wait, and you have no idea. Whereas nowadays, it’s like they haven’t answered in three minutes; they hate me.
Brianna McAuley:
Hi, I’m Brianna McAuley, and I am a Junior Software Tester for PLATO. I want to talk about what a mix of ages and generations brings to a testing team. Having people from different age groups on a team is a huge asset. Younger team members often bring fresh ideas and are up to date with the latest tech trends, while those with more experience offer valuable insights, problem-solving skills, and a deep understanding of how things have evolved over time, this combination helps us look at challenges from all angles, come up with creative solutions, and ultimately build better, more reliable software.
Mike Hrycyk:
Alright, so we’ve had a really good conversation, and there were a bunch of questions I meant to get to, but we’re running up against the time here. And so, really I’d like to sort of close out with each of us talking about how is your best way forward for generations to work with you in your company, and/or your personal life, but a lot in your company. What can you do to make it better for yourself, and to make it better for others? And so we’ll start with you, Nicole.
Nicole LeBlanc:
For me, and I feel like I’ve always been this way, I really try to take advantage of their strengths. There’s never a time that I’m embarrassed to ask them for help because I know that it’s something that they can do a lot more efficiently than I can. There’s so much technology now, and everything’s moving so quickly. There’s no way that any of us can know everything. So, I think that we just need to take advantage of each other’s strengths and be kind of forgiving about the weaknesses.
Shawnee Polchis:
I have to agree that everybody has their strengths and listening and learning what everyone can bring to the table and playing against that, you can learn something from everybody.
Mike Hrycyk:
Excellent. Thank you. Brennan?
Brennan Nadeau:
A good thing to have is patience. Having patience with people that don’t necessarily work as fast as you, I guess. And also, for my generation, I feel like we should be more open and teach the people that don’t know the same methods as us. And don’t just keep it to yourselves and be greedy with the ways that you work.
Krista Sali:
My name is Krista Sali, and my role is the VP of Operations at PLATO. So, I think a wide range of ages and generations brings huge value to my work and any organization. And this is because different ages bring different perspectives, which is critically important. Diversity always leads to a better solution, product result, or whatever the end goal is. Working with people of different ages means people have very different life and work experiences. And I’ve personally experienced and know that you can absolutely learn something from someone both younger and older than you. I can think of countless times this has been true for me. So, I encourage people to be open to collaborating with all ages and try to be intentional about including ages that are different and different than your own. And lastly, I’ll say that it also goes the other way too. I’m sure you have something to share and teach your colleagues of different ages as well as learn from them.
Mike Hrycyk:
Alright. Well, thank you, everyone. I’ll add my own capping thoughts here. I think that really tolerance – that we assume positive intent of anything anyone’s done until proven differently, even if the tone or intent wasn’t positive. Being willing to shift that conversation towards the positive will get you further than reacting to a negative tone. And then the other thing is, the thing that helps fuel that tolerance I think, is understanding that the differences are of value. Mirroring what you said, Nicole, if you think about it, and this is a generalization, again, Gen Xers, I think, learn how to do things in systems by instructions and paths and understanding why things work and understand how things work. And that can help understand the next problem. But then you flip that over and compare it to Gen Z where they understand how things work because they just work intuitively for them. And both of those approaches will help you differently in different paths. So working as a team, to use a buzzword –working as a team will get us all further faster. So, remember that some of it is youth versus maturity, and those aren’t meant to be negative statements. People are on a path, and they will move forward through that path.
Thank you to our panel for joining us for a really great discussion about generations and generations and testers. Thank you to our listeners for tuning in. I think that this has been very useful. I think this is a conversation that should continue because I think there’s a lot of negativity out there. There’s a lot of bad talk that happens between the generations, and it doesn’t have to. It comes right back to that tone thing. If you’d like to continue the conversation or add to the conversation, we’d love to hear your feedback and questions. You can find us at @PLATOTesting on X, LinkedIn and Facebook or our website. You can find links to all of our social media and website in the episode description. If anyone out there wants to join in on one of our podcasts or as a topic they’d like us to cover, please reach out through the same avenues. And finally, if you’re enjoying our conversations about everything software testing, we’d love if you could rate and review PLATO Panel Talks on whatever platform you’re listening on. Thank you again for listening, and we’ll talk to you again next time.