Morningstar Communications Luminary Blog

When I spoke at Central Exchange in July, I had a question from the audience about why Millennials "like to multitask so much and what we can do about it."

My gut response was that everyone has different work styles and if Millennials feel like they can do a good job while multitasking, then who is anyone to criticize? I'm not sure if that's what the audience wanted to hear, but that was and is my opinion.

Since then, I've been looking for research pertaining to this topic and found this study.

Apparently, we all reach a peak in our ability to effectively multitask in our 20s. The brain literally is able to do it better when we are at this age.

What I think is different between generations is that the 20-somethings of today are multitasking on things that are very much a part of everyday life -- whether it's personal or business. A lot of this revolves around what we do on computers, which have clearly become central to modern-day functioning. It's common to so many of us. Well, actually, just about everyone.

In past generations, there wasn't as much commonality or universality between the activities subject to multitasking. For instance, the article I referenced tells the story of a 65-year-old woman who, when in her 20s,  was an Army nurse at a field hospital in Saigon. In that environment, she had a number of difficult tasks to focus on all at once -- and in an extremely intense situation, no less.

This experience was not as widely shared as using a computer is today. I doubt anyone would have wondered "What's the deal with these Army nurses being able to multitask?"

For an opposing perspective on this topic, check out this article in which teens admit they're having a hard time concentrating.

One of the distinct pleasures of my job is working with great clients. This summer, we began working with Tension International Automation Solutions (TIAS), a subsidiary of Tension Envelope Corporation (they have a big sign on top of their building just south of downtown, kinda like the Western Auto sign). They design and build automation systems for central fill, mail order and specialty pharmacies.

One of the key things that makes them special as a company is the scalability and flexibility their systems offer. This is especially important for pharmacies that are waiting to see how changes in healthcare are going to affect their businesses. You can check out videos that show what they do -- it's actually pretty fascinating.

One of the key things that makes them special as a client is they are simply great people to work with, and they're super-enthusiastic about their business. Last week, they hosted us for a working lunch. We were greeted with our lunches packaged and labeled -- a specialty of the packaging side of their business. Though it was an extra effort they didn't have to do, it brightened our day and reminded us we are lucky to work with many fun people, including the folks at Tension.

I had the pleasure of presenting at The Central Exchange yesterday to a sell-out crowd of roughly 50 great audience members.

You can see my slides on my LinkedIn profile.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be discussing some of the questions that came up at the end of the presentation. We had a lively group, so it should make for some great posts!

Having a robust LinkedIn profile is beneficial to you and your company. I recently updated mine and we've done this for several clients. Here are my three top tips for doing so.

1) Fill out as much information as you can.
If people can't learn anything about you from your profile, then it's not really going to do anything for you. Fill out the summary and specialties. They give people a nice summary of what you can do.  I also like to see a couple details about the results you delivered at each of your past positions. Don't be afraid to include extracurricular positions in your experience as well. Sprinkle key search terms throughout. For instance, if you're a PR practitioner you should have terms like "public relations," "pr firm"  and "media relations" throughout your profile. Check google for the top-rated related searches on these terms and see if there's anything you can use from that. Post your picture, customize your URL and join the groups corresponding to organizations you're a member of in the offline world. In addition, do a status update every so often. It will make you show up in the "LinkedIn Updates" email summary received by people in your network. Great way to stay on radar.

2) Get and give recommendations.
Try to get a recommendation for each position you've had. This can take time, as I don't recommend doing it all at once. You want to build a history of people recommending you, versus having five recommendations in one month and then never getting one again. On the flip side, I'm super careful about who I recommend. My rule of thumb is that I won't recommend someone I haven't known for at least a year. A year gives you a chance to observe people in a variety of situations, allowing you to see if they're going to be someone you want to go out on a limb for. If you're unsure about someone, don't recommend them. And finally, don't simply trade recommendations with people. It looks less credible. If there is someone you would like to recommend who wants to recommend you as well, find a way to space it out.

3) Use the applications.
Applications are a great way for people to learn a little more about you outside of the standard resume info. I like the Amazon books ap and have gotten great ideas on what to read from looking at other people's lists. Slideshare is another good one. If you have a presentation you've given recently, you can put it on Slideshare and then activate that application on your LinkedIn profile. It's a great way to share your expertise.

I came across national data the other day indicating only 22% of Gen-Yers are using Twitter. This lines up with local data we collected earlier this year. We found only 19.4% of Midwestern millennials we surveyed use Twitter.

We also found a low percentage of bloggers in this group. Since Twitter is essentially micro-blogging, it makes sense the numbers would coincide.

I'm not sure why Gen-Y isn't as enamored with Twitter as other demographic groups, but if I had to guess, I'd say their social networking needs are currently being met elsewhere.

Two facts point my thinking in this direction. First, our survey indicates 89% are on Facebook. Second, of the 16% in our survey who are blogging, the most popular topic is "life in general." If Facebook is a platform for people to share things about life in general, why would one also have a blog about life in general? It would be overkill. And when life in general is largely about the other people in our lives, Facebook provides the most opportunity to facilitate this discussion.

I took some vacation time last week to chill at home and not do anything -- a "staycation" as some would call it.

One of the key things I wanted to get a break from was the feeling of trying to drink from a fire hydrant that is the online world. Twitter. Facebook. LinkedIn. Blogs/RSS Feeds. Email. I know many in my generation and others view these tools as essential to their personal lives. But since I'm in marketing I think to a certain degree I will always view them as essential to my professional growth. And when you're on vacation, all things professional should be on hold.

So I tried to get away from Twitter. Nice try -- the television world was all a twitter last week (and probably this week too). Everyone on TV is twittering: the hosts of ABC's The View, the sportscasters for the Royals games, the Royals themselves, Oprah, Ashton Kutcher, the news. Need I continue?

On one hand, I should be happy that a tool with tons of potential to benefit businesses and marketers is becoming more mainstream. On the other hand, it was making me feel inadequate and I wondered "How could all of these new twitterers possibly be 1) adding value with their posts 2) having time to keep up with it 3) actually enjoying it as much as they say?" Am I the only one that finds it overwhelming? What's hype and what's reality?

I think I got an answer today when I came across an article saying 6 in 10 new Twitter users drop out in their first month. However, the article also makes a good point that the study may be grossly inaccurate because it did not track people using applications, such as TweetDeck.

I'm sure this is all just a natural process that happens when any new technology is being adopted. Right? There's people who get it, people who are trying, people who want to look like they're trying and people who don't get it at all.

We just have to stay along for the ride, keep a positive attitude and an open mind.

 In preparation for our Illumination Session next week, we've provided these discussion starters to our Luminaries.

A recent Wall Street Journal article (also referred to in Tricia's post) touted the importance of continued R&D funding during a recession. We all know necessity is the mother of invention. What role, if any, do you see innovation playing to help keep businesses afloat?

Fast Company contributor Billee Howard identifies “reshaping” trends, including: “A rising premium inside organizations on people as opposed to technology—and a new crop of market leaders who value agile and sleek entrepreneurialism, as opposed to complacent and bloated former market dominance derived from sheer heft.” What changes will we need to see in management for this trend to take hold?

These days, everyone is talking about reinvention–newspapers, health care, your career. What’s your take on the need for reinvention? Does everything need to be reinvented? Is there a place for tried and true business strategies and lessons from our past? 

New research indicates that spending on social media and conversational marketing will outpace that of traditional marketing by 2012. Do you think our region will fall in line with this projection? Why or why not? What are you seeing in terms of effective business applications for tools like Twitter, Facebook, etc?