Your team has AI. But does it have direction?

Productivity needs clarity

This hypothetical situation highlights an issue that deserves attention: productivity and clarity need to go together. Artificial intelligence can simplify stages of work, but realizing that potential depends on management choices.

For HR and leaders, the challenge begins before purchasing a tool. They need to define the problem to be solved, prepare people and establish criteria for monitoring results.

Clarity needs to reach daily work

During periods of change, broad statements about innovation can leave very concrete questions unanswered. One person wants to know which activities will be reviewed. Another needs to understand how they will be assessed. A third worries about keeping up with new requirements.

A leader does not need to have every answer immediately. They need to communicate what has been decided, what is still under review and when the next discussion will take place.

Agree on three points with the team: the current priority, decision criteria and the limits of autonomy. These agreements help each professional act when the manager is not nearby. Also explain why changes are happening so people understand the reasoning behind a new priority.

Choose a problem worth solving

“We need to use AI” is insufficient guidance for organizing work. A more concrete objective would be to reduce rework when preparing internal materials, make procedures easier to consult or improve how information is organized.

Each application needs its own criteria. If the goal is to reduce rework, track the corrections required. If it is to make consultation easier, assess whether answers are useful and accurate. The number of tool visits alone does not demonstrate improvement.

Imagine a department using AI to draft an announcement about a process change. Leaders still need to check the content, clarify responsibilities and assess how the message will be received. A well-written text can leave important questions unanswered.

Listen to difficulties before they turn into silence

When people fear appearing resistant or unprepared, they may stop sharing difficulties. Leaders then lose important information about implementation. Specific questions help: which stage became easier? Where did an error occur? What guidance is missing?

Listening to these answers helps adjust processes and training. Follow up with actions, owners and deadlines. HR can identify patterns across departments and guide managers: recurring difficulties may indicate process, communication or preparation problems that require a broader response.

Preserve opportunities to learn

Time saved through technology creates a management choice. It can be used to deepen analysis, improve service, share knowledge or develop professionals. If every gain only leads to more tasks, the team may still have no room to learn.

For professionals in training, explaining their reasoning is especially important. Ask them to present the criteria behind a recommendation and discuss where AI helped or needed correction. This keeps development connected to real work and strengthens judgment.

Agree on simple, verifiable rules

AI adoption needs understandable guidance: which tools are authorized, which information may be used, which content requires review and how to report a problem. In people management, personal data and confidential information require particular attention.

Before entering this material into a tool, check its terms of use and internal data protection rules. Applications that influence decisions about people also need careful evaluation: automated results should be examined in context and not treated as sufficient evidence of skills or performance.

Start with a test that enables learning

An initiative can start with a defined process, a group of users and a review date. Record the starting situation and monitor metrics aligned with the objective. Alongside time and rework, observe delivery quality and reported difficulties. Use the results to decide whether to expand, adjust or end the application.

At the next meeting, ask: which activity can we improve with technology so we can give more attention to what requires our judgment and presence? Choose an answer with the team and turn it into a small plan. Define the objective, the owner, the support needed and the review date. Direction begins to emerge when an intention becomes a working agreement.

Editorial reference

The report inspired the topic of this article. The analysis, hypothetical examples and practical suggestions were developed for this text, without reproducing statements or images from the publication.

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