“Each generation imagines itself to be more intelligent than the one that went before it, and wiser than the one that comes after it.” – George Orwell

So we got some of the awkwardness out of the way last time, but I have even more knowledge to lay on you about millennials! I really think Orwell nailed it when it comes to different generations’ perceptions of each other—we all think we’re special in one way or another. But being a professional means laying egos aside and finding ways to learn from and respect each other. So here are a couple more pointers on millennials…

We’re Hard Workers

We’re not all really lazy, despite what you may think. We are willing to put in the work, just in a different way than you might go about accomplishing a task.

The thing is we get bored very easily—blame it on technology. We grew up with computer games, abbreviated tweets and texts, and instantaneous selfies, so we’re used to immediate feedback, speedy communication, and improvisation.

But give us a variety of tasks and watch us rise to the challenge. We thrive on balancing more than one task at a time in both our personal and professional lives, and because of that we also require some flexibility in scheduling.

Let’s compare the two following scenarios:

One day, I arrived at work and my boss assigned me a report to write accompanied by a standard template, and instructed me to fill it out exactly as modeled in the template. He informed me that it was my only task for the day. I did the work and turned it in on time, but I spent half the day goofing off on Facebook and Instagram because it only took me 2 hours to write the report—and I was bored out of my mind!

Another day, my new supervisor gave me a list of 5 tasks that needed to be done by the end of the week. Writing a similar report was on the list, but so was brainstorming ideas for a marketing campaign, preparing a pitch to a client, and reviewing some proposals submitted by the PR team—among other things. I was excited to see the variety of work on my plate that week, and I finished all 5 of the tasks in 2 days. When I delivered everything before the deadline, my supervisor was impressed and she immediately assigned me new work—once again leaving me to complete it on my own terms.

What a difference a little autonomy makes!

How to work with this millennial personality? If the above example wasn’t enough, look at it this way: On top of assigning a variety of tasks, give us a little freedom in how and in what order we accomplish things. And be sure to offer constructive feedback, regularly—we tend to respond well to it.

We Actually Do Want Responsibility

If I hear the word “entitled” in the same sentence as “millennials” one more time, I just might explode! This is probably the main misconception that people hold about our generation. Let me break it down:

Many millennials grew up with parents that encouraged individual empowerment, meaning that we were often included in the family decision-making process. Our parents asked us where we wanted to go on family vacation (Disneyworld) instead of buying the tickets and telling us as an afterthought (Mt. Rushmore—snooze!). Because of this upbringing, we appear to come into the workplace with a sense of entitlement, wanting to be involved in activities and decisions that are beyond our pay grade—which grinds your gears and makes you want to put us in our place.

What older generations should try to understand is that millennials don’t want to feel like we’re just an insignificant worker bee in an impersonal corporation. We want to feel engaged and that our work matters. After all, for many of us, our work is our life—at least for the time being.

How to challenge this myth of millenial entitlement? Create opportunities in the workplace that will allow millennials to take responsibility, no matter which level we’re at in the organization. You’ll find that with our can-do attitude, we can take on more than you think.

Working with Millennials: Abandon the “Kids These Days” Mentality

Every generation has a “kids these days” moment—we millennials will too, we’re just not there yet. Although there are obvious differences between generations, you’ll find that the distinctions are clearer between individuals. Not every millennial is the same, and applying rigid stereotypes to an entire group of people is never effective, no matter what the group is.

Cut the tension by getting to know us.

Take away the label and approach us as you would any other co-worker, learning about our background as individuals and seeking points of similarity to bond over, keeping the fact that we’re millennials in the back of your mind. Opt for strategies that include rather than exclude. There’s really no reason why we all can’t get along!