Work With Technology to Empower Your Team

March 11, 2019

As the world changes at an unprecedented pace, many company leaders are turning to technology as the solution when they feel they are falling behind. I don’t disagree with this logic, but tech is not the only answer. In fact, technology works best when it works with people. Companies will not see results if they institute the latest technology with no context or intentionality. Rather, businesses flourish when leaders combine technology with empowerment and collaboration.

Technology is here to help us do our best work and to ensure our businesses succeed. Yes, Wi-Tronix is a company that builds and sells technology. But we also use technology internally. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t be able to make any progress or have as much flexibility. For example, in the rail industry, it can be dangerous to have people go out in the field to conduct repairs. Rather, we use technology to find and solve problems. This not only improves safety for our workers but also boosts efficiency across the rail transportation industry.

It’s not only about rail. Understanding how technology interacts within the structure of an organization is important for every industry.

How do we leverage technology AND people to have the best possible outcome?

This question should always be at the forefront of your mind. It’s imperative to think about how technology is working with you and with others. Is it distracting or empowering you? Is technology slowing you down or are you using it to make better use of your time?

One way Wi-Tronix uses technology to empower our employees is through telepresence robots. This is a fully functional robot, with an iPad as a head, that gives our remote workers full accessibility of our Chicago office. They can go wherever they need to go in the office, actually see us in real time, participate in meetings in a way you simply can’t do over Slack, and more. In order to recruit and retain top talent, companies have to think creatively about how to use technology. Without our telepresence robot, our remote employees might feel excluded from important decisions. Maybe we wouldn’t even be able to hire remote workers at all. As it stands, however, we have fully-active, participatory employees located all over the world, and they feel as though they’re right here with us.

Technology isn’t just about solving problems. It’s about facilitating collaboration and moving culture forward.

Make sure you check out last week’s video about the topic to learn more.