How technology enables large teams to be productive

During our past discussions with industry leaders regarding the perfect team size, it had become apparent that both small and large teams have their pros and cons. A lot depends on how they are handled, and that’s where technology comes into the picture. From being just a temporary solution, remote working has become a permanent alternative in the case of many organisations now. Thus, it has become even more important to rely on technology for better output. Irrespective of the team size, tech is expected to ensure productivity and make employees feel collaborative. Each process is undergoing automation now, which has obviously made the setup more beneficial for organisations as they have significant data to supervise their teams.

“Technology has massively enhanced reach, and created easy possibilities to quickly gather and interact in groups, without worrying about the logistical implications.”

Amit Das, director-HR & CHRO, Bennett Coleman & Co., points out that tech-supported means are helping organisations manage larger teams by streamlining processes and ensuring more efficiency. “Social-enterprise tools at the workplace, driven by state-of-the art technology, with consistent remote access and connectivity through the right technology, are enabling employees across geographies and diverse teams to connect with a purpose, and also align as a community of shared interest. This definitely helps build an engaged and high-performing workforce.”

Social-networking tools — Slack, Chatter, Yammer, Teams — have become quite efficient at connecting employees during the remote-working setup in the last couple of months. COVID-19 has disrupted and busted a lot of myths in the industry. Distance obviously is quite redundant now as everything has become location agnostic, thanks to technology. Paramjit Nayyar, head – HR, Bharti AXA General Insurance, shares, “We have completely automated the learning, on-boarding and appreciation journeys. Not only does it leave a digital footprint, but one’s ability to extract information becomes higher. It’s retrievable, and hence, it is an extra advantage. It also cuts the crap, such as chit-chat for half-an hour. Therefore, to a large extent, it also reduces non-value adding conversation. People are more focused on the agenda at hand.” Nayyar is pretty confident that they have taken a significant leap and there’s no going back to the old ways.

“We have completely automated the learning, on-boarding and appreciation journeys. Not only does it leave a digital footprint, but one’s ability to extract information becomes higher.”

Clearly, the dependency on tech in the HR industry is only going to increase in the coming days with many organisations benefitting from it. This also means that organisations will require highly efficient tech tools for a productive remote environment. Das mentions that the enterprise social-networking tools enable cross-functional and diverse groups of employees to collaborate as a community of shared interests, which automatically boosts engagement, stimulates discretionary effort by employees beyond their normal call of duty, and drives both performance and productivity.

Social-enterprise tools at the workplace, driven by state-of-the art technology, are enabling employees across geographies to connect with a purpose, and align as a community of shared interest.

Anant Garg, director – human resources, India and South Asia, Becton, Dickinson and Company, feels “Technology has massively enhanced reach, and created easy possibilities to quickly gather and interact in groups, without worrying about the logistical implications. Virtual interactions have helped create truly inclusive conversations, where more people are able to express their opinions more efficiently. Those who are shy of normally participating in physical meetings now have the chat box option, where multiple people can simultaneously react to or comment on a topic, and can often articulate their views better in writing.”

It is amply clear that the technology that organisations graduated to this year — due to the pandemic-induced remote working — is here to stay and will significantly change the manner in which HR processes are viewed.