05/12/2019
The next-gen Workforce
As we near the end of this decade, we see en masse implementation of artificial intelligence in all fields. From c-suites to the front lines, AI will take up the bulk of the administrative and time-consuming tasks. This will leave managers free to actively cogitate on further business growth and test out new markets for exponential expansion.
Unprecedented opportunities and daunting challenges mark our progression into the age of AI. Nevertheless, with it comes great responsibility for managers. For a person to thrive as a manager in the AI revolution, they must cultivate five important characteristics.
1. View intelligent machines as colleagues – Though the judgement is distinctly a human trait, machines accelerate and support decision-making through data-driven simulations. Hence, by viewing machines on par with humans, we will see remarkably fast information discovery and dissection of data.
2. Delegate mundane tasks – The role of a manager will move from an administrator to an active participant in decision-making. Therefore, they must aggressively delegate routine and ordinary tasks to machines to get their work done faster and more accurately. Furthermore, we will see a great reduction (or even complete removal) of responsibility for coordinating and controlling another person’s.
3. Bring out the latent creativity – In the current work scenario, a manager must harness the creativity of other people to design a cohesive, practical and likeable solution. With intelligent machines taking on design-like work processes – such as solution visualization or even digital or physical prototyping – managers must master the craft of design thinking.
4. Expert judgement – Your “colleagues” will only provide the data and they will not have any judgment skills - which leaves you to take decisions in demanding situations with the assistance of machines. You will not have the leeway for any margin of error allowed with human co-workers. Your judgment will increase profits, break-even or incur losses for your company. No pressure.
5. Boundaries? What boundaries? – machines work 24*7 across the globe. Managers from diverse locations need to tease out information from their human counterparts with their innate social intelligence to bring together perspectives, insights and experiences for a collective and profitable judgment. With the help of AI, managers can examine the decisions of clients, customers, partners and stakeholders to analyse the market trends and point the company in the right direction. Effective collaboration will carry more weight than it does in the current work scenario.
Though we see that managers will have to improve on new skills, the implementation of AI is a welcome move. Most managers approve of this move as it lets them work beyond the mundane and helps them deliver excellent work on-time.
Organizations looking to succeed rapidly must explore their options early before their competitors, experiment with different combinations of human and digital workforce in various scenarios and engage with new pilot projects.
They must assign performance indicators to track the growth of each vertical or department. In order to improve creativity, collaboration and judgment skills of managers, rigorous training and a change in recruitment strategies are the need of the hour. Track optimal outcomes and invest in research to understand how, in future, the work of your staff can become interesting and effective with machines taking up the boring tasks.
Embrace AI – for it augurs growth for the organization. However, prepare your workforce to effectively utilize the intelligence of machines.
