Technology Tools for the Team

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.

Laptops for all

Your team is now mobile. They can easily have impromptu meetings and get stuff done anywhere — in conference rooms, project rooms, at airports and at home. This type of thinking needs to be factored into the decision between eating the extra cost for laptops and keeping employees anchored to their desks with desktop computers. It may initially be more expensive, but the productivity level of your team (and their ability to respond to problems and requests on the fly) will increase.

Ear buds

This may seem like a more minor tool, but I'll argue that it's not. Ear buds are particularly useful for anyone on your team using their phones on the drive to or from work. It will be a huge benefit in terms of staying connected to your employees, and will encourage them to stay safe when working on the go.

Use Wiki sites or blogs for thought chains

This is partially a plea for less e-mail, but Wikis and blogs are also great knowledge management tools. Do you see the same types of e-mails over and over again within your organization? Start a blog or a Wiki about the subject; both are sites that allow anyone with access the ability to search or edit them, so they're easily updated. The information stays in one place so that new visitors can be brought up to speed in a hurry.

Internal, visual databases

No one likes sifting through servers filled with file folders with names that don't make sense. Create databases with small thumbnail images or pictures of what's in them. Make them feel like Web pages, and make them easily searchable so that neither you nor your employees are wasting valuable time trying to find what you need. This way, you'll also have a tangible record of past work to show clients and higher-ups on the fly.

Projector power

Projectors have decreased in cost to amazingly low prices, so why is it that some companies still have conference rooms where you have to order a temporary projector? They are fabulous tools for collaboration. I advocate putting them in project rooms, lobbies and anywhere else your teams meet. Putting content on a wall will get people talking and generating ideas in a more rapid and easily applicable manner.

Videos for storytelling

If you can believe it, elementary school students are currently creating and editing videos. This is a skill that will soon be as comfortable for people as typing a Word document. Take advantage of this tool; if you haven't yet looked at YouTube, try spending an hour poking around. I challenge you to create a video for a presentation instead of a PowerPoint. They're often more compelling and engaging for a deck of slides, even when simple and short.

Experiment with installing wireless in your employees' homes

I used to get to work early to get a jump-start on the day; now, with WiFi in my house and a VPN connection, I can still get that early start while having time to say good morning to my son and see him off to school. I can also easily work anywhere in my home, which is a good way to find new inspirational places and get out of the rut of working at a desk. As WiFi gets cheaper and more companies are entertaining the idea of covering some of the cost, you might consider experimenting with subsidizing this service for some or all of your team.

Digital cameras

The best are either built into your phone or small, hand-held versions. I carry the Canon Powershot on me at all times. I think I'm on my fourth iteration; Canon continues to improve the technology while keeping the interaction roughly the same, which means better pictures without the learning curve. As I've stressed in the past few items, visual cues are a powerful way to get information across immediately. Pictures are a terrific tool for sharing competitive products, retail environments or other visual information quickly.

Paper and pencil

It's still faster to do a quick sketch of something than to write a description or create a rendering of it. I know drawing is not a high-tech process, but I'm a big proponent of sketching as a way to create great ideas or concepts quickly. You can sketch anything from a product design to a new filing method; no matter what the topic, you can get your ideas down and point across with immediacy. In fact, I'll bet most of today's highest tech tools had their beginnings on paper. Don't scrimp; have lots of sketchpads within reach of your team, and turn vertical surfaces into giant white board walls. When you walk into a space with ideas displayed on the walls, you'll immediately feel the creative energy and start to generate some of your own.

If you're thinking that employing these tools sounds easy to write about but hard to do, I'm not convinced. Adopting technology tools in your workplace, starting with the newest team members, doesn't necessarily mean eating huge R&D expenses. There are plenty of easy-to-use, affordable tools on the market that can significantly impact environment, creativity, and production at your company.

Brendan Boyle is a partner at IDEO, a worldwide design and innovation firm. He is a consulting professor in the mechanical engineering department at Stanford University.