Using Technology To Create High-Performing Teams

Optimizing Your Tech For High-Performing Teams
Vizilla/Shutterstock.com
Summary: Working with clients in critical industries, it’s critical to note that high-performing teams aren’t just “nice-to-have;” it’s mandatory, and, in some cases, can be a matter of life or death. Here's how technology can create and support these high-performing teams.

Optimizing Your Tech For High-Performing Teams

An organization’s health and future success are by and large determined by the health and well-being of their internal teams. Teams can make safer and smarter decisions when they’re supported by an organization that prioritizes effective communication and the physical and mental health and safety of their people and offers world-class learning and training opportunities. Here are our top tips for leveraging a comprehensive tech stack to create and nurture high-performing teams.

Technology is an essential component of an organization’s infrastructure, but it’s only a piece of the puzzle. What makes the difference in creating high-performing teams is leveraging those tech solutions to optimize an organization’s response to risk and challenges, and nurture a culture of excellence and safety. Here’s how the right tech stack can help deliver a psychologically safe environment that emphasizes trust, communication, collaboration, and commitment.

Communication

Communication is one of the most critical components to creating and nurturing high-performing teams. In general, communication from an organization’s leadership helps to keep employees aligned toward their mission and ensures a seamless response to challenges and obstacles. However, that’s one-way communication, and it’s just as critical that employees can report and respond through two-way communication so that the tech solutions you’ve invested in can function effectively and keep them safe. You can imagine, in truly critical situations like fighting wildfires or emergency disaster response, effective communication saves lives, but, even in less high-stakes situations, seamless and efficient two-way communication is a powerful tool to optimize your response. Here are some examples of tech features that support communication:

  • Geofencing, or location-based delivery, allows you to customize your messages to the exact audience who needs the information, such as people entering a specific area.
  • Anonymous tip reporting allows you to receive important information that can allow you to proactively work to avoid high-risk situations before they impact your teams.
  • Incident tracking with easy-to-access mobile-optimized dashboards makes it easy for leadership to track incident progress and resolution.
  • Interactive, town-hall-style video calls allow remote, on-site, and hybrid teams to interact meaningfully with leadership, addressing questions at the moment and keeping those lines of communication open.

Transparency And Trust

Trust determines whether your teams are open to the communication tools outlined above—and that means it’s a very high priority when it comes to high-performing teams! Safety needs to be a pillar of your culture as employees can sense if an organization isn’t “walking the walk” and will disengage from important safety practices, participating in recurrent training or new compliance training, and erode their overall trust in your leadership. Some key components of building trust are accountability and follow-through, two factors that can be optimized by tech solutions when wielded correctly. Here’s how a tech stack can help increase accountability and compliance to prevent incidents and build trust:

  • Automated checklist features allow employees to accurately control and track items with transparency.
  • Vehicle and equipment machinery checklists help ensure equipment is functional and fully stocked so employees are properly equipped if facing an emergency response.
  • Refreshed, pertinent course topics and content keep learners engaged and emphasize that the organization cares about their safety, wellbeing, and career.

Commitment 

High-quality online learning and training provide organizations with accessible, flexible resources that have a direct impact on improving safety, remaining compliant with industry regulations, attracting and retaining future leaders, and allowing employees to grow through mastering skills and techniques. Here’s how the right learning and training solutions can prove to your employees that you care about their growth and success:

  • Industry-specific libraries ensure the information being offered is relevant to the target audience, optimizing completion and knowledge retention.
  • Online learning and training solutions can gather data and feedback from users in real time, allowing for content optimization.
  • Mobile learning and training solutions allow learners to engage when and where it works for them, improving interaction and learning outcomes.
  • Simulation technology allows learners to hone skills in a low-risk environment, better preparing them for real-life scenarios.
  • Easily accessed dashboards provide at-a-glance information for assigning and tracking course completion.

Is Your Tech Stack Optimized To Create High-Performing Teams?

Investing in technology solutions isn’t enough on its own; it’s applying those tech solutions together in a way that supports an organization’s authentic culture that creates high-performing teams. When it comes to high-performing teams, the right tech stack is the secret weapon to optimizing performance and creating communication, trust, and opportunity for your team members. How could your tech stack be working harder for you and your teams?