14 Smart ways for leaders to balance tech adoption with employee well-being

Today, creating a work environment that keeps pace with tech developments is essential to staying afloat in business. But as a leader, you’ll want to ensure you’re also being cognizant of your employees’ ability to adapt to such changes—especially at the pace you might expect.

To help you strike the right balance, we asked a panel of Forbes Coaches Council members for their best advice on this topic. Here’s what they recommend business leaders do to stay nimble and tech-forward while helping employees better adjust to any new changes.

1. Identify Change Champions On Your Team

How we perceive change is essential to how we cope with it. If we view change as "overwhelming," it inevitably leads to stress. However, if we can shift our perspective and look for the positives, change becomes easier to deal with. This is where identifying change champions within a team can make all the difference. The early adopters are the ones that spread the positive energy needed for change. - Kate Snowise, Thrive. How - Coaching & Consulting

2. Put Adaptability Up Front In Your Company's Culture

Instead of fighting adaptability necessary for the accelerating pace of change, make it one of your company's core values. Demonstrate curiosity and adaptability others will emulate. Hire people with a demonstrated shared mindset. Create project timelines with sufficient capacity for research and new technology. When you model, hire for and allow for adaptability, change becomes business as usual. - Dodie Jacobi, Dodiodo Inc.

3. Harness The Power Of Constructive Conflict

Companies that foster constructive conflict are shown to be more creative, innovative and nimble in a fast-paced global environment. Constructive conflict encourages open communication, vibrant exchange of ideas, high-quality problem solving, inclusion and adaptability that bring the workplace together to adapt—and lead—change more smoothly and happily. - Mark Batson Baril, Resologics

4. Bring Up The Digital Agenda In Meetings

Make sure to bring the digital agenda into team meetings. There are three parts to this conversation: 1. What are the key developments? 2. What's their impact on the work environment? 3. What are suggestions for integration without impacting well-being? When the topic is on the team agenda and then discussed as a team, everyone becomes part of the solution, helping each other to maintain the balance. - Daphna Horowitz, Daphna Horowitz Leadership

5. Humanize Your Workplace

Employees’ well-being trumps any technological advancements. Once leaders understand this human fundamental, employees are likely to adapt to new information or technology. There's role conflict when leaders spend more energy on advancing technology than caring about their employees’ well-being. Essentially, leaders will benefit more from technological changes if they carry their employees along. - J. Ibeh Agbanyim, Focused Vision Consulting, LLC

6. Keep An Eye On Your KPIs

When balancing the desire for implementing state-of-the-art technology and groundbreaking research results, leaders should utilize metrics from key performance indicators to determine where the optimal point is with their employees' ability to adapt to change. Too little change and a company can lose their competitive edge, while too much change can result in ineffective overwhelm. - Shelley Hastings, Synergy Empowerment Coaching, LLC

7. Practice Emotional Agility

Change is about adaptation and resilience! It's about how we cope with the inner resistances. When we feel safe, it's easy for us to deal with it. If the leaders are good at boosting positive emotions, then employees will feel safe and be more equipped for change. The focus of the leader should be how the followers can feel safe and positive, which will bring an emotionally agile climate. - Elif Suner, MBA, M.Ed, PCC, Elif Suner MBA, M.Ed, PCC - Consulting, Training, Coaching

8. Let People Disconnect After Work Hours

Businesses all over the world are reinforcing their focus on wellness as a source of productivity and employer branding. But employee welfare doesn’t just involve occasional initiatives or perks. Well-being requires well-defined policies since it collides with the ever-changing technology in the workplaces. Smart bosses let people disconnect so there is a distinctive line between work and life for employees. - Inga Bielińska, Inga Arianna Bielinska Coaching Consulting Mentoring

9. Maintain Open Channels Of Communication

People fear change and the consequences of stepping outside their comfort zones. What if they can’t master the new technology? Will the tech changes render their position useless? Be transparent with the reasons and benefits of any tech changes and sit down with each employee individually to assess their skill level and their specific training needs. - Aaron Levy, Raise The Bar

10. Make It Real, Relevant And Timely

Adult learners need to see how learning is relevant and practice it in real-life. Rather than learning all about AI or any other technology, learn specific applications for how it may alter your role or domain. Explore how other companies with analogous roles are using emergent technologies. Also, it doesn't hurt to lock yourself in a room with digital natives (e.g., your kids, millennials at work). - Shoma Chatterjee Hayden, ghSMART

11. Create A Technology Wiki

Leaders can create a technology-focused wiki to which their entire teams can contribute. When individuals find interesting research or articles in their industry, they can post and share with the entire team. If the leaders see a ton of passion on a particular topic, they can use their next staff meeting or town hall to have conversations about the pros and cons of implementing the new tech. - Karan Rhodes, Shockingly Different Leadership

12. Give Them A Safe Environment To Experiment

With new technology comes the need to learn new skills and/or do what we used to do with new technology. In either case, we are working in an environment where we need to continue to put new skills into practice. We as leaders need to model learning and growing by talking about what we are doing differently. This means creating space to make mistakes and learn from them. - Maureen Metcalf, Innovative Leadership Institute

13. Show Them The Personal Benefit

Help your teams see the benefit to their own professional and career development in learning new technologies and reviewing current research. When people see the opportunities available to them personally, the intrinsic motivation to embrace new ideas increases. You no longer have to convince them; they are engaged and excited to learn even if there is still a bit of fear of the change. - Tonya Echols, Vigere

14. Spend Five Minutes A Day Learning About New Technology

The best thing a leader can do to evolve with the ever-changing technological landscape of the business world is to create a “five-minute-a-day” rule. Take five minutes every day where you can learn something new about technology and how it can help you grow your business. Little steps every day will compound over time and you’ll be ahead faster than you think. - Jon Dwoskin, The Jon Dwoskin Experience.

What ways can you adapt this to your organisation? Share your thoughts - I’d love to know.

This article was first published on Forbes.com on 11th February 2020