Six digital tips that tomorrow’s leaders should heed

When I started in construction, there was nowhere near the emphasis on new technology that there is today.

As a plumber’s apprentice aged 17 – a trade I did for four years – we didn’t have smartphones and the internet didn’t even exist!

The world is a very different place today for young apprentices and they will be using new technology without even thinking about it.

Nearly every apprentice has a smartphone and probably never gives a second thought to using the apps.

Well, that’s new technology at work and it’s not a huge step to make your mobile an important tool in your daily working routine.

Apprentices can download apps that can be used for all sorts of things. For example, bricklayers use them to measure space and determine how many bricks they need.

Head office will send an apprentice their jobs for the day and they can be loaded on an app to mark that they’ve been done.

An app exists that can help with pricing, another that accounts for your hours on site. Drones, 3D modelling, AI… apprentices are surrounded by new technology and most are comfortable with this stuff.

Employers need to be hot on health and safety and here biometrics play a part, using your photo to prove who you are.

There is also evidence (usually carried on your mobile) that you’ve been suitably trained. Certification is all IT-based now and an apprentice needs to be comfortable with it.

Those are basic, practical IT skills, but let’s delve deeper because technology has opened a kaleidoscope of opportunities.

This is one of the best tips I can give an apprentice. By being curious, you open a world beyond your training. New ideas come to life and that curiosity will lead to new learning.

You begin to see yourself not just as an individual but as part of a bigger picture.

Technology allows you access to that bigger picture and you will progress your career more efficiently if you know what’s out there.

There will be apprentices – electricians and plumbers, for example – who are happy doing the job, doing it well and going home at night. That’s fine.

However, there will also be apprentices who want more – who think: “How does the world around me work and how do I fit into it?”

Here’s a practical tip for them: use your phone to do a bit of research into your company. You’ll be thinking outside the box, and with a different perspective come new and innovative ideas.

You might surprise yourself. And remember, demonstrating initiative gets you noticed.

Digital expertise can involve numerical skills – algorithms, Excel spreadsheets and a whole lot more – but never forget one basic skill: language.

Even in a digital world, people need to communicate. You can have the best message in the world but if the team or person you are relating it to doesn’t understand, then it is worthless.

Remember to work on your language and communication skills as your career progresses.

Consider digitally documenting your work, learning and role in the larger built environment. Trust me, people will be interested about what it’s like being an apprentice. There is a real curiosity about what you do.

If I was an apprentice today, I would be considering how I might use technology to innovate in the built environment by harnessing nature – the position of the sun, how we heat and cool the building naturally, asking what plants or trees could be incorporated into the design.

Before you know it, you have a full eco system and it is so inspiring. A lot of structures built now try to mimic what happens in nature and I think the movement to create nature-led structures that harness new technology and contribute towards reducing the carbon output will only gain momentum.

Don’t underestimate your own abilities or potential. The youth of today are unbelievably talented, creative and purpose-driven. They’re savvy with new technology in a way that previous generations were not.

I predict that over the next five years, someone is going to come along who will change the way we think about the world.

Wouldn’t it be wonderful if that person was an apprentice just starting out in the built environment and, even better, that the apprentice was you?

Paul Devlin is chief operating officer of Causeway Technologies.