Barcel “Diálogos multigeneracionales”: an openbook for intergenerational communication

The diagnosis was clear: inefficient communication within the organisation, work in silos and, above all, a lack of empathy between the company’s different generations.

Having several generations in the same workforce is a source of richness, but also of misunderstandings. Each group has its own channels, codes and expectations about how and when to communicate. When there are no bridges, everyone retreats into their own area and the work suffers. The usual challenge with these campaigns is to avoid two mistakes: caricaturing each generation with stereotypes, and settling for a motivational talk that is forgotten the next day. What was needed was a tool leaders and employees could use day to day, that was simple and that made them put themselves in the other person’s shoes.

The idea was to create a simple, interactive and attractive guide that would simplify intergenerational communication, with useful tools for leaders and employees. The chosen format was a printed openbook: an “open” book, as the name suggests.

An openbook is a book its reader has to finish, carrying out the challenges, actions and exercises it proposes over a set period, and it culminates in a learning focused on improving communication between generations. The format fits the problem: empathy is not learnt by reading, it is learnt by practising. Paper also has something email or the intranet lack: physical presence and permanence. The book stays on the desk and reminds you there are exercises still to do.