While there is a lot to be said about your employees and other foundational components of your business, there is something that has occupied every single corner of our organisations: technology. Technology is something that we don't just rely on but use as the foundation to prop up every aspect of our business. Technology can easily be a catch-all term, and all you need to do is look around you and see the impact of what technology brings to your business. But what happens if the plug is pulled, metaphorically and literally? It immediately throws operations into chaos, resulting in backlogs of work, downtime, loss of productivity, and the list goes on. So, are we relying too much on this hallowed tool, and what should we be doing to provide a more holistic approach to running a business?
The “Open Goals” Technology Provides
If there is one part of business that can leave us nervous, it is the numerous facets of data breaching. From hacking to phishing scams, it is an undisputed fact of modern life with constant news reports referring to some major organisations having files stolen by thieves, losing information but also their reputation in the process. While many organisations utilise IT support services, it's just as important to be aware of how technology leaves us vulnerable. Technology dependence is a deadly cycle because while our business benefits from technology, we become increasingly dependent on it. And as there are bugs, breaches, and power failures, it becomes impossible to complete the vast majority of business tasks. The biggest issue here is that as we rely more on technological innovations, we've become less reliant on the manual aspect of business.
The Modern Mistakes
Technology becomes pivotal because it speeds up processes. We've seen just how ChatGPT has made everybody work faster, more effectively, and created whole new ways of working. And in one respect, this is fantastic as long as we're able to show the results of reduced system usage and working smarter rather than harder. However, when an organisation depends on tech to fine-tune a number of processes or to make things easier, there is the potential to make problems for themselves in some of the following areas:
An Ever-increasing Need to Be Environmentally Friendly
A very good example here is if we are not using paper but operating through devices. It's important to cut our carbon footprint where possible, and this is where many people opt for systems rather than applying pen to paper. But there is the potential to overuse technology, and the more technology you require, this could have greater carbon footprint than using more manual approaches.
A Lack of Employee Engagement
An employee can use a number of tools to do their job better, but does this mean they are engaging with the job? It is so important to prioritise training and retraining, even if it's for the sake of using systems. The problem occurs when the system effectively does the job for us, and this means that as employees become more disengaged with the work, relying on systems to do it for them, they are not necessarily doing their job effectively, which raises concerns about the ongoing impact of AI on job security.
The Potential for Shutdown
It can be easy to correlate system downtime with emerging machinery in the 1920s, for example, in the car manufacturing industry. If a system didn't work, it required a lot of downtime and effort to get the machines back up and running. While modern methods work to minimise system downtime, there is still the potential for shutdown, and this then means that employees are not being utilised. With all three of these components, the lesson is clear: we need to find approaches for our employees to be productive and contribute to the business in other ways. While downtime is a very rare occurrence these days, and data can be backed up to the cloud, it's small businesses that run the risk of falling through the cracks. Companies of a smaller stature believe that they're not going to be attacked or will not have downtime because of sufficient bandwidth and very minimal computational resources. However, we still need to address if we are being too dependent on tech to do our job for us.
The Worry About the Next New Tool
Project management has spawned a number of tools that have made businesses work far more effectively, improved collaboration, and boosted company culture as a result. Organisations that work remotely need technology, so what happens when the cord is cut? There are things that we cannot achieve, and this can be part of the reason why businesses are so determined to bring employees back to the office. Employees are certainly more productive at home, as the research has shown, but technology can be completely disruptive if we constantly search for the next new tool. System upgrades can take a long time and a lot of money. So many businesses then lose sight of what they actually do in the first place. For example, they may become so inwardly focused on the daily dealings of the business that they invariably neglect how to service their customers better.
Are We Relying Too Much on Technology?
Technology is invaluable; it makes life easier for us, but we also need to remember that a major dependence on tools is dangerous. We have to think of alternative ways to benefit our business away from technology. For example, soft skills, the importance of learning, and actually improving company culture through human interaction. Yes, tech is here to stay, and it will never go away, but it should not be the missing link in our organisation. It's very clear that as soon as something doesn't work, chaos descends because we’ve come to rely on it to do all, if not most, of our dealings for us, so we have to think of other ways to change, not just our reliance, but our attitudes towards tech.
