4 strategies to keep tech overload from stressing out your staff

Too many add-ons in an increasingly digital work environment can become overwhelming for some employees, leading to tech overload.

A survey by contextual mobility management solution company TRUCE Software found:

• Almost a quarter (23.9%) of workers are concerned that they always need to be connected
• 7% are concerned about needing to learn new systems or processes, and
• 15.4% of workers say their employers hold too many video conferences.

As more commitment, innovation and productivity is demanded from employees – especially in hybrid work models – tech overload can lead to burnout, then quitting, then loss of productivity and more turnover-related expenses for your company.

Your firm needs to continue to adopt new technology to stay competitive and profitable, yet you don’t want to get stuck with a lot of high-priced apps that aren’t producing the results you need.

Solutions to limit tech overload

Here are some areas that you, the leadership team and your managers can focus on to limit tech overload:

1. Keep tabs on internal trends. Insight into what tools and platforms employees use, and what they ignore, should help shape your digital adoption strategy. It can also highlight where more education may be needed to optimize the use of new tech.
2. Improve communication about new tech. If no one’s using a new tool, is it because it’s not user-friendly or is because they don’t even know it exists?
3. Making access easier. Having disparate tools and systems can cause frustration from disrupted workflow and accelerate tech overload. Is there a way to make moving between apps frictionless? Can the login process be streamlined with single sign-on?
4. Promote work-life balance. Recognize that your employees need to be able to disconnect from work and not respond to emails or get forced to join a last-minute video meeting outside of business hours. If your benefits package includes mental health, it’s a good idea to promote any well-being content that your provider offers that supports self-care.

And although there’s tremendous pressure on Finance departments in particular to digitally transform, remember the process takes time and reasonable benchmarks need to be set. Taking the time to carefully plan and assess your true technology needs will give you a clearer idea of the solutions that will be the best fit.