Marrying Technology And People In Business

Survive & Thrive

The pandemic caused technology to advance a massive amount in a short period of time as organizations and people continued marching forward. While those advancements have created new work-from-home opportunities, it has made connecting with one another a lot tougher. So, how do we manage to put some more humanity back into a workplace that is becoming more independent and divided than ever before?

Grant Riewe joins Jennifer Ayres and Samantha Collins on this episode of the Survive & Thrive podcast to discuss how humanity and technology have to evolve in this new era of hybrid workforces.

Introductions:

Introducing Grant Riewe (1:56)

Samantha and Jennifer introduce Grant to the podcast, providing some of his qualifications while he takes a deeper dive into his experience.

Connections (4:56)

Samantha and Grant crossed paths at Accenture. They share a little more about their personal connection.

Technology + Humanity:

Marrying technology and humanity (5:58)

Certain technologies can actually help accelerate a human-centered experience as opposed to disrupting it. How can we marry this world of tech and people in business?

Busy work (8:07)

We all have those mundane tasks that we begrudge. Yet, they also help to make us feel more productive, confident, and can get the ball rolling. Samantha and Grant discuss how clearing that type of busy work can be more complicated than it first seems.

Adapting (10:26)

We’ve all had to adapt to new technologies relatively quickly within the last few years. Technology is forever changing and evolving to fit new needs and bring us in whole new directions. But how can leaders help their people adapt to those -- at times, quickly -- changing work environments?

Belonging:

Rate of change (16:46)

Samantha recalls an important point about the rate of change.

Technology divide (20:15)

As organizations have been rolling out hybrid workforces, some are faring better than others. While the technology is there to pull this off, the culture and literacy might not always be founded yet. As the generational divide between those that want to return to work and those that don’t continues to grow, a tension grows with it.

Developing a culture of belonging (24:29)

Steve Van Valin has often spoken about intentionally creating a culture of belonging, which is especially poignant right now. That could be asking specific questions or setting aside time in a meeting to be human with one another to have those “water cooler” moments.

The Great Resignation (26:57)

We’ve previously covered the Great Resignation and how people are quitting their jobs at record rates in order to pursue something more meaningful to them. Even if they aren’t changing jobs, the pandemic has sparked many to question their purpose. Grant shares his thoughts on purpose and the Great Resignation.

Thrive (30:50)

Grant tells us the three things leaders and organizations can do to not just survive, but thrive in change.