Internal Auditors: Don't let Technology Turns you into Robots!

Those of you who follow my posts know that I always encourage internal auditors to become tech-savvy. This is because I strongly believe that IT knowledge is a "must-have" skill for internal auditors to survive, add value, and be relevant.

In this post, however,  I want to warn you of a possible side effect of this: becoming robots! And by this, I mean losing your human touch!

Technology should make our lives and jobs much easier, but it should not control us and dictate our behavior.  More than ever before, we are dependent on (if not addicted) electronic communications with others for social and business purposes. Emails, text messages, WhatsApp, Facebook, and other social media applications are becoming an integral part of our lives and they are gradually replacing face-to-face interactions and phone calls.

Internal auditors need to have "soft skills" which include people management and communication skills. These can not be acquired and practiced through electronic communications alone.

The basic advice here is :

• Don't forget that you are a "human" first and a "user" of technology second.
• Don't let technology make decisions for you. Use it to make better decisions for yourself. 
• Don't let technology control you. Be in control.
• Don't "hide" behind the technology. Talk to your audit customers in person and by phone whenever possible.
• Don't put in writing what you can't tell your audit customers in person.
• Your audit customers are humans and they expect you to treat them as such.

When was the last time you paid an audit customer a courtesy visit or picked up the phone to discuss an issue with him/her?

And finally, If you have to become a robot, be one with a heart!

These are my thoughts, please share yours!

Picture source: http://www.qwertechpost.com through Google search