Quiz: How to tell your real work age

August 18, 2024

Ever feel like your colleagues at work behave like they’re from another planet?

Our behavior and communication styles in the workplace are shaped by our generation, habits outside of work, as well as some of our earliest professional experiences. Even if you’re a millennial or a Gen Z, you could behave more like a boomer based on your communication style. These differences can lead to miscommunication and misunderstandings at work, which could result in undesirable outcomes, say linguists and experts who study multigenerational workforces.

“It’s really important to understand each generation because we don’t live and work in a vacuum,” said Giselle Kovary, generational expert and management consultant at Optimus SBR. “The more we can understand how we show up, we can also identify how other people behave differently than us.”

Take our quiz to find out which generation your work style most closely resembles.

Question 1 of 8

It’s time to update a co-worker on a team project and touch base on a few outlying things. How do you reach out?

Pick up the phone and call the person

Quickly send a short email that gets directly to the point

Send an instant message, or text, summarizing everything in one block of text

Send one, or a series of quick instant messages, or texts, as long as you have a friendly, social relationship

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Question 2 of 8

The past several weeks have been a doozy. You’ve worked long days and nights, met crazy deadlines and dealt with problems at work and home. To top it off, this morning you slept through your alarm and spilled coffee on your shirt, and your power went out. You’re at your mental edge. What do you do?

Tell your boss you’re anxious, or burned out, and need a mental health day.

Suck it up and get your work done. You don’t highlight your personal struggles at work, you deliver.

Take the day off to decompress but refrain from explaining. All your employer needs to know is you’re taking a sick day.

Try to address your work and mental health at the same time by going for a run midday and working late.

Question 3 of 8

During your annual review, your manager lists off areas for improvement to advance. This is the first time you’re hearing this feedback, and you disagree. What do you do?

Ensure you get to respond and request more regular feedback and context.

Agree to do better because you respect the chain of command and want to progress.

Get discouraged and consider looking for a new job.

Listen and realize you may not need to progress to be happy and focus on balance in your life.

Question 4 of 8

It’s the middle of the workday, and you need to send your colleague a text to ask about the meeting that will begin in an hour. Which best describes your approach to the message?

Always start with a salutation and name (Dear Amy, Good afternoon Amy), and use punctuation and capitalization to separate sentences

Often use punctuation and capitalization but you’re less formal and consistent

Often don’t use punctuation and capitalization, rather separate your thoughts with different messages

Never use periods or capitals unless you’re trying to emphasize something and keep messages short

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Question 5 of 8

You are on a work chat about the latest strategies for an upcoming project. Your colleague makes a lighthearted joke that you find funny. How do you respond?

Say that was funny

LOL

😂

💀

Question 6 of 8

A colleague sends an email asking you for an update on a project. What are you most likely to do in your response:

Double space between sentences

Use a lot of exclamation points or count them if you’re worried about being too enthusiastic

Use a less formal salutation like “hey” or “hi” followed by the recipients’ name

Avoid emailing for other quicker messaging options, if possible

Question 7 of 8

Your colleagues discuss work all day long on Slack. During video meetings, they also use the chat function to chime in while you or other people are speaking. How do these chats make you feel?

Overwhelmed. The chatting feels disruptive and too hard to keep track of

Included. Chat tools make it easier to communicate with colleagues and participate without speaking

Question 8 of 8

You send a colleague you have a friendly relationship with a text or chat message during the workday about a project. Which of the following are you most likely to include in that message?

GIFs

Words and phrases like “unalive” or “it’s giving”

Emojis that mean what they are

A signature at the end of my comment

You need to answer every question to see your result. You’re missing questions 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8.

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