As AI continues to evolve, employee anxiety continues to grow. It may not feel present in your day-to-day tasks or team meetings, but it’s there. 71% of workers are concerned about how AI technology might reduce their salaries or take their jobs completely, according to an Ernst & Young survey. Others worry they don’t know how to use AI ethically, and with reports of technology errors, the legal risks can feel overwhelming. Many workers want to take advantage of these time-saving tools, but it’s just not clear how to get it right.
And as a manager, you’re in a particularly tough spot because AI is as new to leaders as it is to workers. So how do you inspire and empower your team to use the advanced technology when you’re just figuring it out yourself? It’s a classic case of building the plane while flying it.
So, here are a few tips for navigating the complexity of AI with your team:
Identify underlying concerns
You can’t have a constructive conversation about capitalizing on AI without addressing the elephant in the room: many of your workers don’t know how to use it and are afraid to say it. So first things first, open up the conversation. Try to foster an environment where your team can voice their questions and concerns, and then create a list of AI challenges to address as a team, as well as ideas for how you plan to tackle them.
Seek out guidance
Since legal risks and factual errors are a major concern for reluctant AI users, do your best to address the issue head-on by helping your team become informed. If there’s someone from your legal department who can speak about AI security, try to set up a meeting to field your team’s questions. Ask individuals to submit questions ahead of time so that the expert can come prepared to address their concerns directly, and be sure to frame it as an open dialogue. This way, everyone can get the clarity and guidance they need to start utilizing the available tools.
If you don’t have anyone internal who can take the time to answer questions, bring the team together to do some digging as a group. Schedule some time for everyone to research their legal concerns online from credible sources and share information with one another in a larger forum.
Keep your team involved
A great way to get your team members on board with new AI technology is through education and looping them into the process. Work together to identify new AI tools that would make their jobs easier and enable them to focus on the more creative aspects of their roles. Start by identifying your biggest pain points as a group. If your team is like two-thirds of workers, they might be having difficulty designating time to do their actual jobs, as explained in a 2023 survey by Microsoft. If this is the case, AI schedulers can help them block off time to be productive.
Once you’ve identified the particular issues faced by people on your team, task each of them with finding an AI tool that could help solve the problem and have them present it in a group meeting. Or perhaps, you can come prepared with several different tools that you believe could benefit the team, and ask everyone to share their input.
Create clear standards
Once you’ve settled on the right AI tools, do your best to establish protocols for when and how team members should use them. Your company may already have AI policies in place, but you want to get very detailed and specific as you create your own team code of usage. Sit down with your team to define where AI should be used and where it should not be used in your specific department and why. If you need some inspiration, check out the Public Relations Society of America’s (PRSA) Code of Ethics, which outlines how communications professionals should conduct themselves. It not only details the rules for ethics, but also gives real-life scenarios for each rule. You can apply a similar format to AI usage, using familiar language to ensure accessibility and alignment.
Practice what you preach
As a leader, you set the tone for your team in terms of what’s considered acceptable behavior when it comes to AI. With this in mind, try to incorporate AI tools into your 1:1s and team meetings. Whether you try utilizing ChatGPT to help you come up with insightful questions for your direct reports, an AI notetaker like Fathom, which breaks down your conversation into clear action items, or an AI-powered HR software tool like Lattice to ensure your performance reviews factor in feedback, goals, and growth areas while checking for bias, demonstrate for your team how these tools can bring real value.
Add AI to your agenda
Just as AI is evolving, so too will your conversations about it. So add AI talks to your monthly or quarterly team agenda to ensure that your employees build their confidence in their AI abilities and support one another along the journey. Think about bringing in an internal or external AI expert every once in a while to give the team new ideas for using technology. Also, be sure to spotlight team members who are effectively developing their AI skills. Ask them to share their insights and best practices with the rest of the team to convey that these efforts are appreciated and inspire others to start following their lead.
