People Before Tech
The Importance of Psychological Safety and Teamwork in the Digital Age
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- $24.99
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- $24.99
Publisher Description
A fascinating guide for business leaders looking to ensure that their teams remain productive and engaged in the digital era.
Businesses across all sectors now realise that, if they intend on staying competitive in the 21st century, then they must embrace new innovative technologies and methodologies such as AI, automation, digital platforms and Agile. But when too much focus is placed on digital transformation, teams within the organization become overlooked – the uniquely human benefits that arise from a well-functioning, collaborative team become neglected, and the employees themselves become unmotivated and overly dependent upon the quantifiable benefits of technology.
In People Before Tech, Duena Blomstrom uncovers the true potential of teams in modern organizations by highlighting the importance of psychological safety. This ground-breaking approach leads to a powerful group dynamic that allows teams to take risks, create and innovate without fear of repercussion.
With fascinating research, controversial approaches and an international array of case studies, this book provides practical guidance on how business and technology leaders as well as HR professionals can draw upon psychological safety to create and cultivate satisfied, efficient and high-performing teams within their organization.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Tech companies are leaving their employees behind and valuing IQ over EQ, or emotional intelligence, warns business blogger Blomstrom (Emotional Banking) in this incisive treatise on prioritizing human interaction. She spotlights "psychological safety" (when teams can be "open, courageous, flexible, vulnerable, learning, unafraid") as the foundation for effective workplace operations. Human resource departments, she writes, play a large role in implementing changes and, in the way of advice, provides an HR checklist to ensure "humanity" in the workplace: encourage everyone to focus on empathy and EQ, help people "reignite passion," and foster the ability to fail. She also encourages an "agile approach" to work, in which teams are flexible and open-minded, which can be implemented by "aggressively praising" flexibility and prioritizing the customer. A postpandemic guide is a timely addition that addresses technology issues leaders face (she distinguishes between remote and flexible work, for example), but at times, her advice can get lost in jargon ("Obtain true permission, aka ‘buy-in,' for ‘reducing the human debt,' " for example). Still, her case is solid, and leaders ready to implement a people-first philosophy will find much to consider.
