Workers need to proactively learn how to adapt to technological advances that businesses are increasingly employing amid the rise of telecommuting during the coronavirus pandemic, business and tech experts say.
That was the word from two Long Island college deans and a tech industry advocate who shared their expertise in a webinar titled Tech-Agility: The Must Have Skill to Succeed in School and Business, which was hosted by Schneps Media, the parent company of the Long Island Press.
“This has always been important as technology has really permeated all aspects of business and all businesses have had to adopt technology in one form or another,” said Paul Trapani, president of Long Island Software & Technology Network (LISTnet).
But the COVID-19 crisis that forced many businesses to have employees work from home accelerated the pace at which new technology has been used in the workplace, the experts say. To keep up with the changes, workers need to be constantly learning.
“Working from home has brought a whole bunch of new paradigms with it,” said Babak D. Beheshti, Ph.D., dean of the College of Engineering and Computing Sciences at New York Institute of Technology. “Employees need to be more agile and self reliant to teach themselves new techniques and concepts to keep functioning in a business environment that’s now operating remotely.”
He noted that with the lack of face-to-face meetings, workers need to be more convincing in pitching new ideas since they lose the personal touch.
“Technology has become the center of it all,” he added. “We need to be digitally savvy and to adapt to technology very quickly.”
Raj Devasagayam, Ph.D., dean of the School of Business at SUNY College at Old Westbury, said that while being a life-long learner is key to keeping up with the advances in technology, he cautioned that workers should pace themselves.
He quoted a saying commonly used in the military: “Slow is smooth and smooth is fast.”
“When you’re planning, when you’re strategizing, slow is good,” he said. “Once you’re operational, quick is needed.”
To view more webinars, visit SchnepsMedia.com/webinars
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