How can you ensure your team is aligned with new technology in Insurance?

While some praise technology's role in insurance, its true impact is often exaggerated. Insurers frequently blur the lines between process automation and digitization, resulting in costly and ineffective operations. Confusion reigns as businesses struggle to streamline processes and leverage technology effectively. The allure of automation masks the need for genuine digital transformation, hindering innovation and efficiency. Clarifying the distinction and embracing true digitization can unlock the full potential of technology in the insurance sector.

Thanks for the question, it is actually not at all important that my team is aligned with any particular technology (new or old). It is important that we are aligned with our customers wants and expectations and the organizations larger goals. Technology is a tool, a useful tool nevertheless.

Invest time in learning - Early learners are early adapters. Without learning if one would jump directly on the technology buzz would lead to unknown territories. Identifying the gaps, what newly to learn before applied, and navigate the correct learning path to come up to speed and apply to the insurance sector

The best way to do this is to structure the training in an engaging manner. Explain the foundation of the new technology for a couple of minutes, and then allow participants to try it out directly. From my perspective, this approach has a higher impact on effectiveness compared to demonstrating it for an hour, especially considering that many people struggle with the initial steps.

To ensure your team aligns with new technology, relevant and engaging training is critical. Start by organizing interactive workshops where team members can explore new tools hands-on. Offer online courses tailored to their roles, making learning accessible anytime. Provide ongoing support with dedicated mentors to address challenges. And always celebrate milestones and successes. For a more efficient approach... Search for technology solution providers that offer easy-to-learn tools and systems with pre-built training resources.

Could you create a learning path according to the needs? Set up different levels of training. Different trainings at different maturity levels. Setup an assessment Certification and recognition path. Use the different communications and established platforms for training in a more engaging way.

Offer comprehensive training programs to familiarize team members with new technologies and tools. Ensure training is tailored to the specific needs and skill levels of each individual and includes hands-on practice and real-world scenarios.

Set and navigate the path of learning new technology. The next step is a little tedious to navigate and set the path. Provide a platform to apply the knowledge. It will lead to learning more new things, or unlearning what is not necessary and help one in growing in the space.

Those based in London have a huge advantage both in the number of insurtech events but also the ease of discussion with peers in other companies - both competitors and those elsewhere in the value chain. So much of what insurtech offers fits the world of co-opetition rather than distinct sources of competitive advantage. Thus get your staff to think who is in a similar role to them in another company and get them chatting to each other. Organisations like Lloyd's Lab and InsTech make this even easier. No excuses!

They say the key to innovation is not being afraid to fail. The insurance industry is not known for being supportive of failure. We are risk professionals, and for some that means risk averse. Remember - there is no such thing as bad risk, only badly priced risk. Remember also that risk has 2 main factors - probability and impact. You want to increase the frequency of innovation which means you will likely increase the frequency of failure. Therefore, manage your risk through impact - support small, rapid attempts to make improvements and celebrate the brave souls in your organization for taking a shot.

One of the real challenges around engaging with the innovation from insurtech - and, frankly, most other types of tech-enabled innovation - is that a lot of the ideas people will have will not gain traction - even the good ideas. You need to create a culture and a framework where people are encouraged to offer ideas but where they understand that most of those ideas won't fit what the business needs to do. Kill ideas too quickly and you put people of engaging; let them progress to far and you waste resources (as well as upsetting people even more when you close down the idea as they have become really engaged in it). Think hard about how to get the balance right based on your corp structure and leadership style.

Monitor the progress of technology adoption initiatives and solicit feedback from team members on their experiences and challenges. Use feedback to identify areas for improvement and refine strategies for maximizing the impact of new technology.

It's back to "KISS" - Keep It Simple Stupid ;) Too often the discussions on monitoring impact get too theoretical and complex. Ultimately, for almost all big investments you need some very measurable KPIs, but most companies and not using new tech for major gambles much of the time. Therefore be happy starting with qualitative measures - if the pilot user group say "this makes our life better" that's a great start and then maybe you work out how to measure the actual improvement. Why spend time defining complex metrics if quantitative human feedback then rapidly tells you the users don't like it?

To ensure team alignment with new technology in insurance: 1. Communication: Foster open communication channels to share insights, updates, and expectations regarding new technologies. 2. Training and Upskilling: 3. Leadership Support: Gain leadership buy-in and support to create a culture that values technological innovation, ensuring resources and time are allocated appropriately. 4. Feedback Mechanisms: 5. Clear Objectives: Set clear goals and expectations for technology adoption, aligning them with broader business objectives to provide a sense of purpose for the team. 6. Benchmarking: Continuously benchmark against industry peers to stay competitive and identify opportunities for improvement in technology adoption strategies.