Geschreven door Vera Donkers
“Can you squeeze this in?” You’re working towards a deadline when your manager sends you this message. Your schedule is already full. And now there’s something else on your plate. Does this take priority over the other deadline? Am I expected to stay late? Or can I say I’ll do it tomorrow? Meanwhile, your manager might simply want to know whether you have time, and when.
How clear is ‘clear’?
At work, we often use words as if everyone agrees on what they mean. “We’re really flexible.” “There’s room to be creative.” “We like to get things done.”
Sounds good. But colleagues can have very different ideas about what that looks like in practice. For one person, flexibility means rearranging their day when something important comes up. For another, it means deciding when and where they work. That difference becomes very real when a new task lands at 4:30 in the afternoon.
Researchers brought together the results of 515 studies on stress at work in a 2026 meta-analysis. Their finding? A lack of clarity is a major source of workplace stress. It is even more damaging to engagement and performance than an excessive workload.
“That’s typical your generation”
A short reply to a request like that can be enough to bring out the familiar stereotypes. “See? Young people don’t want to work anymore!” Or: “Older people expect you to be available 24/7.”
Those assumptions can shut the conversation down before you know what’s actually going on. A colleague can be happy to help and still need to know which other task can wait. A manager can have different priorities and still be willing to adjust the plan.
Turning a quick request into a clear agreement
We use generations as a conversation starter. It gives people something to relate to, laugh and sometimes get frustrated with.
With the Generation Game, we bring assumptions into the open. From there, we focus on the people in your team and their different backgrounds and experiences: what they mean, how they interpret a situation and what you need from each other to work well together.
Take “we’re flexible”. We ask colleagues what that means in their day-to-day work, then explore those different interpretations through a situation your team has experienced together. From there, you can agree on something practical. For example: whoever adds an urgent task also helps decide what can wait. That gives “being flexible” a meaning you can both work with.
Want to understand where your team gets its wires crossed? Let’s talk about a programme for your team.
