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Who’s who? Wouter Remaut, CEO, Co.Station Eusebio Nickmans, Director New Business Development, Proximus Erik Hendrix, Marketing Manager, Proximus Robert De Maere, Telecom Manager, Port of Antwerp Robert Decant, CEO, ESAS
Statement 1 Millennials are the most digitally connected generation.
Millennials are inextricably connected to their smartphone, so the cliché goes. They communicate mainly asynchronously via social media and other apps. Millennials don’t seem to immediately think of calling someone to ask a question. On the other hand, older colleagues don’t understand why a millennial does not respond to voicemail. “It’s simply not an efficient medium,” says Wannes Vandael. “Often you don’t really get what has to happen and you have to listen a second time. It’s
easier to phone the person back.” Millennials focus on convenience. Rather than leaving a voicemail, they prefer to send the basics in a written message. Today we have a whole range of communication channels, from telephone, text and email to all sorts of messaging services and cooperation platforms. You don’t have to call to make an appointment. You can do it equally well with a message. But preferably not by email. Millennials aren’t keen on that. “We note that startups use email far less,” says Nils Roelandt. “It’s far easier to work on a task list in an app like Trello and communicate about it with messages.” The variety of tools around doesn’t seem to bother millennials. They are used to working in a noisy environment. It has trained them only to watch the relevant things. But even though they are always online and can work perfectly well from a distance, they still like to go to the office. “I find the social contact with colleagues important,” says Eloïse Cromphaut. “I also prefer face-to-face meetings, although a videoconference can be handy, of course.”