This past long snowy weekend had me largely holed up in my house with my kids. A storm had hit our area fairly hard, so we took advantage of the quiet time to study for midterms (them) and catch up some way overdue work (me). Though they actually got out of the house and saw their friends, the amount of time they were technically connected to their people was remarkable. As I looked up from the sea of laptops, iPhones and tablets sprinkled all over our kitchen, it started me thinking: are all these devices bringing us closer together, or farther apart?
In our growing and very distributed company, finding ways to collaborate so we can maximize the skills and ideas of all of our holistic teams is one of the biggest challenges we face in our work environment. The ability to do this - to reach out and make connections that we all benefit from - is a huge factor in hiring and promotion decisions. The need to connect and collaborate is huge; and yet we increasingly are working with a population of people who default so heavily on technology, I started considering how we might be poisoning our ability to do this through an over-reliance on technology. The ying and the yang of technology and collaboration, if you will.
First, a reality check:
There may be no right or wrong answer here. My parents took a look at how reliant I was on my phone during a recent visit, and I was shocked. Compared to my kids, I feel like I’m not nearly as tech-obsessed. And yet, there is a reality that we all socialize differently. While my parents might not understand that I think it’s amazing to be able to catch up with high school friends on Facebook, I can’t get my head around why Gen Z takes thousands of selfies and shares them via Snapchat with each other. In other words, just like any other social change, we all experience and engage with it differently. How you view those might be largely influenced by your generation or a variety of other factors.
CONS & PROS:
CON: Tech distractions can affect productivity. With a huge upcoming biology midterm, I was helping my daughter study with Quizlet (why didn’t this exist when I was in high school?!). In the twenty minutes it took to get through the flashcards on her laptop, the number of times she received text alerts was astounding. It was compounded by the flashing pop up ads we couldn’t get rid of, and were completely distracting. With so much coming at us all at once, it’s no wonder we get distracted. At work, we need to set intentional boundaries for ourselves so we don’t get completely distracted from our work by the slew of personal texts, social media and the like when we are needing to be focused on the work at hand. Sure, we might start by sitting down at our computers to do legitimate work, but only to get completely distracted by something that appears on our machine and we proceed to spend time on something completely unrelated to work. Identifying - and sticking to - good technology work habits aids us in being more productive and focused.
PRO: Tech can increase productivity. As mentioned above, technology and the information it supports can result in some serious unfocused behavior, it can also do wonders to aid us in our ability to get our tasks accomplished in a more efficient and engaged manner. From automating simple tasks to the way we manage our workload and share information, it’s been a complete game changer in terms of our own ability to get stuff done. That is, of course, if we stay focused.
CON: Tech can take a toll on our interaction opportunities. When we rely so heavily on technology, we give up those simple activities that allow us to further a connection. It’s one thing to tweet to your network about your excitement about the upcoming series finale of Game of Thrones. It’s a missed opportunity, however, to chat about it in the office kitchen with your colleagues as you pour yourself a glass of Kombucha. It’s been an amazing advance in partnering to have tools that allow us to connect virtually, no matter where we are. However, relying on them to the extent that you are constantly Slacking your teammate rather than spinning your chair around to collaborate with them in person is just a missed opportunity to strengthen a relationship.
PRO: Tech can help foster a team environment. Of course, it’s critical to build relationships to foster strong and productive work environments. Creative work spaces that are tech-enabled (we have one that feels like you are in a cool living room) allows people to gather and connect in a more intimate, collegial setting. This can lead to a stronger team atmosphere. In other words, use technology to help strengthen the team dynamic, not just as a transactional tool.
CON: Tech can negatively impact the mojo of a team. No team can receive outstanding results unless it collaborates well together. Technology and tools have enabled people to work together around a virtual whiteboard, or share ideas from wherever they sit around the world. However, as reliant as we have become on these tech enablers, it’s just as important to build actual relationships. If collaboration and real teaming is vital to the success of a team, engagement, passion and feeling like you are adding impact are the elements that fuel that success. Taking the time to actually build human relationships in addition to the tech ones allow a far greater change for long term success.
PRO: Tech can aid us in building strong relationships. Technology provides us countless ways to build and maintain relationships, join communities, and express ourselves in a way that might be slightly less intimidating than the doing so in the “real world.” While we sometimes see people hide behind their screens to engage with others, consider all the IRL connections that have been made because people had the benefit of an online start. For those colleagues you don’t see often, balancing a tech connection (Slack, text, etc) with real human contact can bring you even closer.
In contemplating the pluses and minuses of how and why technology can be both a help and a hindrance to collaboration, my mind started spinning with numerous other examples. From helping/hurting us in taking responsibility for our actions to sharing information to community building, technology is changing our worlds in countless ways. And as we build businesses in today’s environment, the use of technology - especially collaboration technology - is a necessity. A goal of our company is to understand and consider a variety of different perspectives to arrive at the right solution. There is no doubt to me that technology is creating a whole lot of good when it comes to aiding us in fostering collaboration. However, like just about anything at work, nothing can replace good old fashioned human relationships when it comes to fostering collaboration. A little balance is a good strategy with just about everything.
Christina Luconi is Chief People Officer for Rapid7. Follow her on Twitter: @peopleinnovator