How should Boards and Executive teams adapt to technology change?

Board members and senior executives, and those working directly with them, sometimes tell us “We have stable, reliable processes and can't see a big business case for change”. Whilst they typically recognize the organizations they lead are being impacted and responding to rapidly changing tools, technologies, and enablers they aren't convinced those forces impact them on the same day-to-day level.

As a technology company obsessed with automating, optimizing, and securing key processes we obviously see things a little differently. So, I was particularly intrigued when discussing this with a colleague recently they told me about Martec's Law for the first time.

It is a principle in organizational technology that suggests that "technology will change at an exponential rate whilst organizations change at a logarithmic rate." Expressed in another way it reveals how there will be an ever-widening gap between technological possibilities and what businesses can realistically adopt and adapt to.

Left unchecked, this gap will lead to missed opportunities, increased risks, and costs.

So how might an organization, especially at the Board and Executive level, best respond?

Focus on Upskilling

At an individual, team, and organization level, there must be a clear commitment to ongoing upskilling, training, and familiarity with the latest technology tools and knowledge.

Organizations must ensure team members at all levels understand the tools and enablers available to them, and specific technology trends and challenges present in their industry. At an individual level, this should be complemented by self-directed learning that focuses on mega-trends like IoT, AI, and Blockchain.

As my team often reminds me "You're never too old, and it's never too late to start learning'! There are so many free or readily available learning resources online - LinkedIn learning, blogs, YouTube, podcasts - are all excellent resources that will guide even a novice through skill acquisition on even the most complex topic.

Forge Great Partnerships

The best tech firms, large and small, can bring great insights to their clients.

What trends are they seeing in your industry, what specific programs are your competitors implementing, what is coming next, and what is coming after next?

Your incumbent providers are heavily motivated to share best practices with you, and so too are providers who want your business. And the very best firms will be happy to spend the time with you to discuss these topics.

They can also offer an outside perspective on topics being discussed and debated internally, and true partners can even offer you counsel and impartial advice.

Manage Change Efficiently

Boards and Executive teams already know how important it is to embed and implement strong change management principles and capability to guide their organization through transitions. This is especially true when it comes to adopting new technology.

We often tell our clients when they start working with us that with a modern, stable, intuitive tool now selected the hard work starts! Individuals need to feel empowered, and accountable, to adopt new ways of working and we know, especially at senior levels, how critical role models and change champions are in the process.

Every team benefits from an internal change champion and every organization takes its cue on desired behaviors from its leadership team. This is especially true when it comes to adopting new technology.

The example set by Boards and leadership teams using modern, scalable tools that drive efficiency and effectiveness is incredibly powerful.

We know BoardPAC's unified platform, combined with our world-class support and delivery capability, can help senior leadership teams respond to Martec's Law and send a clear signal to their teams.

Users have come to trust that we will provide seamless collaboration, elegant user experience for the most senior audiences, all delivered with military grade security.

And with our latest features managing your entire board meeting lifecycle, seamlessly integrated with AI-powered functionalities, through a single login is now a reality. BoardPAC empowers you to effortlessly plan, execute, and monitor meetings saving time, reducing complexity, and maximizing productivity.

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