When AI Divides Your Team: How Leaders Can Bridge the Gap
The problem, my client told me, is that every week in their team meeting a divide arises. No matter what the subject is, there is a point when someone will say,
“Can we use AI to manage this?”
And like that the tone of the meeting instantly changes. Half the team are busy looking up AI solutions, the other half have launched into a lecture on why the end result will never be as good. They’ve gone from a team who got on well and were united in their goals to one that is slowly being torn apart by fear and distrust.
And this is happening in teams around the world. I have yet to meet two people with exactly the same opinion on AI, so in your team you are going to have a wide variation and it’s your job as the leader to help everyone through the change - no matter what you think of their views.
The first thing you need to do is own how you’re feeling about it. Are you someone who loves change and sees huge opportunities in the move towards AI? If so, know that you’re enthusiasm will help some people take the leap but it might scare others. You might think you’re excited for the possibilities but they might think you’re excited to cut their job and lower your costs. As ever, the best thing you can do here is understand where your response is coming from and own it as yours, don’t expect everyone to be on the same page. (And if you’re dreading it and think the whole thing is a disaster waiting to happen, the same applies. Maybe you’re right but trying to manage your own fears so you can be open to other people’s ideas is key).
From here, you need to understand that we all have different attitudes to change. Some people are “leapers” - they’re very happy to take a leap of faith and try something new. Some people are “traditionalists” - they value the understood and structured ways of doing things. And some people are “bridge builders” - they are able to see the promise that the leapers see but know how to communicate it in a way that the traditionalists understand, they’re happy to take small steps towards change rather than trying to do it all in one leap.
Ideally as your team’s leader you want to be able to be a bridge builder. This means holding the vision of where you want to get to and communicating that to the traditionalists, while also acknowledging their fears and helping them set up structures and checks to move forward safely. Meanwhile, you need to help the leapers understand that their enthusiasm is wanted and appreciated but they also need to cultivate some healthy scepticism, as well as making sure they haven’t got so lost in the dream that they’re missing parts of the reality which don’t live up to it.
In order to do this you need to prioritise having courageous conversations within your team and actively listening to each other. Make time in meetings to hear dissenting voices (the six hats technique can be very helpful for this), encourage everyone to be think about what could benefit them and what they fear might happen, where you can be transparent about what you think the future holds. And take the time to acknowledge and praise your team. When people are working in environments of great change they need to know that their work is still appreciated. The more you can recognise what your team brings to the table as it stands right now, the more confident they will be in looking to the future.
