Millennial Generation Analysis

2.1. Meet the Millennials
Classification by historical period might be the way how people could identify themselves. “Traditionally, a generation has been defined as the average interval of time between the birth of parents and the birth of their offspring” (McCrindle & Wolfinger, 2009, p.16). Economic, cultural, social, technical and political aspects are fundamental during the childhood or youth, when personality is in the process of establishment. Human beings might be leaving in the same society but people do not think and behave in the same way. Today, generations are considered to be more sociological grouping than biological. Sheahan (2006) calls this difference as “pockets” and assumes that they could serve as a basis for generation
They were preceded by three different generations. First, there was generation of workers and technicians, who were born between 1925 and 1945. People of that time were involved in post-war reconstruction, especially in Western Europe. Later there were the “Baby Boomers”, children of the so-called economic miracle, born between 1945 and 1964. This is the generation of managers. On the third place there is “Generation X”, which produced entrepreneurs of the new economy. Characteristics of this group are: well-educated people, highly motivated, ready to broaden the scope of the work undertaken, willing to change jobs frequently in order to enlarge their skills and experience (Formica, 2013). Millennials grew up using computers, cell phone and laptops. They can hardly imagine their life without internet and they are early adaptors of all innovations. “The combination of cultural diversity, technology and an active environment had resulted in the ability to multitask, the need for constant entertainment as well as the lack of a long attention span” (Suiter, 2014, p.37). Generation Y is also described as a group with technology mindset and a highly developed skill in multitasking. According to Frand (2000) people, who were born at the beginning of millennium are accustomed to fast food, fast everything and don’t have any patients for delays. (as cited in McMahon & Pospisil,
Millennials are focused on social interaction and strong connection with friends, family and colleagues. “Steeped in digital technology and social media, they treat multi-tasking hand-held gadgets almost like a body part”, with eighty three percent of millennials starting that they even sleep with their cell phone by them (Pew Research Center as cited in Eastman, Iyer, Liao-Troth, Williams & Griffin, 2014, p.455). It was observed that this generation prefers group-work approach. Moreover, millennials are described as social learners, who are able to work more efficiently in a group using all advantages of cooperative learning (Matulich, McGlynn, Raines & Tucker as cited in Hartman & McCambridge, 2011). This generation could stay connected using all technological devises such as: mobile phones, computers, tablets or even game consoles. Interesting study was conducted by Hartman & McCambridge (2011) where they implied theory about communication styles into teaching process for millennials. It is interesting to notice that although Generation Y prefers to be in a group they could not manage effective communication within shared area. Authors underlining the importance of active listening, conflict management and negotiation for success in the relation between millennials with themselves and also with the