This isn’t so much a technique for managing Generation Y as it is a helpful hint for effectively using technology (a quality that can come in handy when managing Generation Y):

Once, the CCTV system at my security job broke down, and we had to fix it. After two hours of disassembling and reassembling every component of the system, powering it off and on, and unplugging and re-plugging every single connection along the way, the thing still wouldn’t work.

The rest of the group stepped outside for a minute, so I took the opportunity to Google the error message and the brand of the camera system. Sure enough, the first result contained instructions for solving the problem. Within two minutes, I had the system up and running.

The cool thing about this fix is that anyone can do it. You don’t need training or tech-know-how, you just need internet access and a good feel for the search terms that will return useful results.

Now, I often hear that Gen Y is tech savvy.  And frequently enough, this translates into the youngest in the store or the office getting called each time a computer crashes, a phone doesn’t work, or the Tivo won’t program correctly. But that doesn’t mean that we know how to fix everything right off the bat. Sometimes, we just know which terms to plug into a search engine.

Next time you’ve got a broken piece of technology on your hands, give this a shot before you call up a Gen Y employee or one of your kids. Best case scenario, you fix the problem and can teach the young guns how it’s done next time the problem comes up. Worst case scenario, you’ve taken two minutes and learned how not to solve the problem.