The Rise of AI in the Workplace

Technology reportedly can do anything. It can schedule, take notes, write memos, and do so at lightning speed. Additionally, with the launching of AI many are talking about how it will replace many repetitive tasks and create efficiencies. Companies are spending large amounts of money to continue developing AI tools.

How AI Impacts Team Members

Team members are learning how to use AI and are often excited about how it speeds up their work. They see advantages but often are asked to train AI to do certain tasks which might replace their jobs. As a result, this creates a culture of distrust and fear, and team members can become resistant to supporting new initiatives.

The Leadership Opportunity

However, leaders have a great opportunity to balance both advanced technology while valuing their teams. Doing so requires a dual focus and strategic planning to establish a culture that has the best of both worlds.

For example, consider a recent example at Google. Their staff as reported by The Washington Post stated “We want to see AI benefit humanity; not to see it being used in inhumane or extremely harmful ways.” Furthermore, the article goes on to describe that their teams are asking leadership to strengthen their values and recommit to applying them to their decision making.

Factors Strong Leaders Consider

Strong leaders factor the following into their decision making:

• Organizational values to guide decisions, thus leading to trust and consistency.
• Consideration for the long term versus the short term. Reviewing how each decision will help or hurt objectives now, and how it will benefit constituents down the road.
• Determining how the decision or action might impact culture.
• Analyzing how the decision will set the organization and team up for new opportunities.

Building a Stronger Team Culture

Ultimately, failure to incorporate these into decision making leads to costly errors. On the other hand, adding this to the process leads to a strong team that will embrace AI and other efficiency driven solutions.