Interview with FSB professor and “Gentelligence’ author Megan Gerhardt: ‘No periods in text messages? Generations work to understand how each communicates’
“ When you use a period in your texts, Gen Z finds this ‘harsh,’ ‘scary’ and ‘passive aggressive,” Gerhardt said. Read the interview with Gehardt about her now-viral post in the Dayton Daily News
Interview with FSB professor and “Gentelligence’ author Megan Gerhardt: ‘No periods in text messages? Generations work to understand how each communicates’
Megan Gerhardt, professor of Management and Leadership and author of “Gentelligence: The Revolutionary Approach to Leading an Intergenerational Workforce,” was “shocked” by a revelation students shared in a research paper about generational differences in workplace communication.
“If you are over 30, you must learn what I learned yesterday: when you use a period in your texts, Gen Z finds this ‘harsh,’ ‘scary’ and ‘passive aggressive,’” wrote Megan Gerhardt recently, in a now-viral LinkedIn post.
Gerhardt said making a big deal about using periods in texts may seem ridiculous to older adults. However, issues like this need to be studied in light of the changing work-climate dynamic.
“For the first time, we are in a five-generation workforce,” she said. “When you have workers ranging in age from their late teens to older than 60, communication challenges are bound to arise.”
For example, understanding the period’s power and other punctuation marks when communicating with Gen Z.
Read the interview with Gehardt, “No periods in text messages? Generations work to understand how each communicates,” in the Dayton Daily News, June 5.
