In the IT industry, leadership trends tend to evolve as frequently as the technologies that the industry builds. In an environment of such fluidity and change, it can be difficult for managers in IT to stay updated on the best practices for leading their teams. To be successful, however, it’s just as crucial for them to understand the latest leadership trends as it is for them to be aware of the latest trends in their industry’s products.
To clear through some of the confusion around this issue, we’ve compiled a list of the top 6 IT leadership trends that are hot in 2019:
- Multigenerational leadership.
- The IT industry is now adding Gen Z professionals to its employee base, which has, until now, been comprised mostly of millennials and baby boomers. That’s three generations interacting with each other, all with their own personalities, expectations, and values. It’s up to us as leaders to be familiar with the idiosyncrasies of each generation and to organize our workplaces accordingly.
- Encourage the advancement of female team members.
- In the past, IT companies have effectively failed to capitalize on half of its leadership potential by placing institutional roadblocks in the way of female employees making advancements within the company. Thankfully, this is beginning to change, and more and more companies are encouraging female employees to pursue leadership roles. Has your company addressed gender bias to the greatest extent possible?
- Personal accountability.
- With more and more employees beginning to work remotely, holding our teams accountable to our company’s standards and values is becoming an increasingly difficult task. The best way to ensure accountability on the part of our employees is to lead by example in our conduct, words, and behavior.
- Encouragement of policies aimed at ongoing education.
- IT is a uniquely dynamic industry, with changes in workplace models and communications technologies happening all the time. To keep up with the rapid pace of evolution, leaders need to create policies and programs aimed at updating and educating their employees.
- Maximization of employee engagement by fostering relationships.
- The increasing popularity in remote work options can make it difficult for managers to sustain personal relationships with their employees. It remains, however, vitally important to make time for facetime if leaders are to maintain the integrity and a sense of camaraderie within their teams.
- Making use of the latest technology.
- It’s the responsibility of team leaders to keep a watchful eye on the most recent tech innovations so that they can be usefully implemented at every stage of their company’s recruitment, training, sales, and development process. Notably, the rapid advancement of AI is heralding the age of data-centered analytics for IT companies. As team leaders, we need to ask ourselves: are we doing everything in our power to transition our companies to this new model?
To learn more about how to maximize your team’s potential, contact us here.