Technology Tools for the Team
From laptops to pen and paper, inspire your team with the newest innovations.
Sept. 24, 2007 — -- I've noticed a correlation between technology tools and their users: Often, it's the senior leaders in a company that receive the most sophisticated technology tools.
I recommend an inverse relationship. Innovation leaders need to equip their young, energetic employees that will most benefit from these tools first (and, in turn, benefit the company). For a manager, it's cool and inspiring to have the new iPhone, but consider what it would say about your organization if your newest team member were equipped with one before you!
Every general knows it's a good indication of leadership to be the last in line at the supper queue. In the working world, it's the "troops" right out of school that need the technology tools that will help them be more productive and innovative. They are of the generation that was raised with cell phones from adolescence and are accustomed to Internet access almost anywhere.
Most universities today require or strongly recommend that their students have laptops in order to be as mobile a worker and learner as possible; however, I've seen many companies give their new employees a boat anchor of a computer and a landline phone that ties them to their desk.
WiFi is common at most coffee houses, yet I'm amazed to see that some companies still have not caught on that the most productive employees aren't necessarily at their desks. Often, the employees out meeting and collaborating are getting more done than those sitting in a chair all day, static and sluggish. Why not take advantage of all the commonplace tech gear that's out there and the young, energetic employees that know how best to employ it?
Below are 10 ways to do just that and create a more innovative and productive environment for your staff.
Landlines are old school
Make sure your newest/youngest folks are receiving a smart cell phone when they begin. An unexpected upside to giving out these tools is that the newbies will brag to their friends about how hip their new company is for providing such a perk, and this simple tool will turn into a recruiting method for you. Given these social interactions between your young employees and their peers, by no means should you try to separate personal calls from company calls. Today's work environment overlaps with life, and your employees' phone records should reflect this. This hit home a few years back, when I noticed that a new member of my group went a month without a phone at his desk, using his personal phone from the beginning. He was far more comfortable being available anytime, and this insight led me to change new employee requests from landlines to cell phones.
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