mation or content – it is instead sur- faced (suggested) to us, in the context of work and in whichever channel we are currently working – be it the intranet, Teams or other collaboration tools.” The benefits of these AI-led changes are clear to her because of previous expe- riences with trying to understand and encourage employee search efficiency in the workplace. “What was so frustrating to me was that we could see things like the average search term going down from 1.6 words to the 1.4 words – and it baffled me. Now with the natural language capa- bility we can type real questions into our search engines and get the search results back so much faster.”
More intriguing is that Microsoft 365 can answer questions before we think to ask them. “You can do a search from any search box across the suite and you’ll get names and content suggested to you as soon as you start typing.” But it is not only in search that AI helps. Rebecka says there is AI technology now integrated across solutions and platforms that “surfaces” information to “help us answer questions we did not even know to ask. It includes people, news, content and relevant sites to name a few. In other words, it encompasses both the tacit and the explicit, so it adds value across both
those knowledge dimensions. It does not mean that search becomes obsolete, but it fills a gap we would otherwise overlook. Search is something we should use when we ‘know what we don’t know’. AI-powered knowledge tools help us find answers when we ‘don’t know what we don’t know’. And since it processes much bigger knowledge bodies, it will provide much better answers than we can ourselves by browsing search results and lists.”
Humane leadership
But how do improvements like this new AI-powered technology encourage, or compliment, a different leadership style? Rebecka says: “The connection to leader- ship was oftentimes one-directional and company values and visions were perhaps communicated at an annual meeting or during the onboarding process but then easily forgotten.
“An important benefit of this new technology is connecting employees with leader ship and their vision for the organisation, or the customers of the organisation. It ties into what we talked about earlier regarding the employee experience and how we can create engage- ment, a sense of belonging and sense of purpose.
“Having a bidirectional channel to
leader ship, the ability to ‘follow’ your lead- ers across various channels or enabling employees to interact directly in large town halls and participate in conversations in real time, whether physically in the room or participating remotely, makes a big dif- ference. But it also raises the expectations on our leaders to have an open dialogue, foster transparency and be responsive that is new to many. Leaders can no longer ‘hide’ behind a monthly letter (e-mail) to employees but are expected to participate in the dialogue and that can be challenging but, in the end, very rewarding, as it also helps them stay relevant and engaged with their teams – it helps them learn and grow as leaders too.”
CILIP Conference
Rebecka will cover some of these topics at CILIP Conference 2023 at the Hilton Metropole in Birmingham on 12-13 July. Her insights into how to maintain the freedoms we gained during the pandemic – and increase trust and engagement at the same time – should be of interest to leaders across all the sectors of the infor- mation profession, not just those from the Knowledge Management community. IP
Book your place at
https://cilipconference.org.uk
April-May 2023
INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL 21
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56
