Switchboard Connect #005

Every other week, I curate a few relevant pieces of AI & Automation content to help SMB teams and operators navigate these new waters.

Let’s dive in.

Slack’s Workforce Lab released their latest AI at Work study this past month after surveying over 10k workers this past quarter.

Main takeaway: Executives are keen to integrate AI, but trust and clear guidelines are major hurdles for broader employee use.

Some highlights:

• 81% of AI users report improved productivity and higher job satisfaction.

• Office workers spend a third of their day on low-value tasks, and AI saves them time more in routine admin work than it does in strategic activities.

• 73% of office workers believe AI will have a substantial impact on their work.

Recommendations for leaders:

• Slack suggests the PET AI adoption framework that we are aligned with here at Switchboard as it covers the 3 key areas to unlock strong adoption for teams.

  • PET Framework:

    • Permission: Establish clear AI usage guidelines.

    • Education: Provide comprehensive AI education and training.

    • Training: Ensure employees feel trusted and capable of using AI effectively.

Check out the full findings here.

Speaking of AI adoption, Apple announced a ton of new features this week.

My favorite new feature after having the updates installed for 36 hours is scheduling iMessage to send later, a feature I’ve wanted for years.

But let’s focus on why Apple’s AI announcements are crucial for SMBs.

As noted in the Slack AI @ Work report, many people are still adjusting to using AI and are eager to learn more about its specific applications.

In my experience, seeing a few practical AI use cases helps people recognize opportunities in both work and personal lives.

AI is coming to workplaces everywhere, so getting people to embrace it in small doses on their phones will help them become comfortable using AI at work.

Benefits of Promoting Apple’s AI Usage:

• Security and Trust: With so much of people’s work life on their phone, it’ll be unavoidable to have people using Apple’s AI for work. But Apple’s AI ecosystem emphasizes security and privacy, making it a trustworthy option for integrating AI into everyday life.

• Ease of Use: Apple’s AI features are seamlessly integrated into familiar devices, making it easy for users to start incorporating AI into their daily routines. This familiarity can ease the transition to using AI tools at work.

• Incremental Adoption: Encouraging employees to use AI for small, everyday tasks on their iPhones can build comfort and confidence with the technology, leading to greater acceptance and utilization of AI in more complex work tasks.

• Future-Proofing: Promoting the use of Apple’s AI tools now can prepare teams for broader AI integration in business processes, ensuring they don’t get behind in the inevitable technological adoption.

Everyone’s approach will be different but promoting Apple’s secure and user-friendly AI tools can be a strategic step for SMB leaders to better integrate AI into their businesses over time.

I’m excited to share something here first with you that we’ve been working on.

In an era with an overwhelming number of software options for every department, we spend a lot of time helping our clients choose the right tools.

To streamline this process, we’ve created a guide and workbook for anyone to use.

What you’ll find inside:

• Guide

  • Full and short versions that walks through all the areas you’ll want to consider when picking new software for your teams.

• Vetting Workbook

  • This workbook is for you to copy, keep, and use as you see fit. It helps document your tool options and the criteria you’ll want to vet them against as summarized in the guide.

• Vetting email template

  • These email templates are ones we’ve used dozens of times and are now yours to use in case you want to reach out to software companies with questions or to see if you can get a bit of deal on your purchase.

• Glossary

  • There’s many terms thrown around in software, many of which you’ve heard of or already know. This helps define them and points out the terms you’ll want to know when picking software.

Check it out here and share it with colleagues who may find it helpful.

Okay, that’s all for this week.

Let me know what you think of the “How to Pick Software” guide as we’re here to help and hope it brings you value.