New Year, New Tech
It’s a new year and a new decade. Businesses are looking toward the future. How do you ensure that your team is on board with new technology? Most leaders have experienced staff members who are resistant to change. How do you realize the full value of your investment in new technology if it is not used?
EDUCATE
-
-
- Educate your staff on how to use new software/technology solutions in order to maximize the benefits and gain the greatest return on the investment. If you don’t embrace change, you invite failure. People fear what they do not understand, but cognitive sciences and developmental psychology shows us that humans are innate learners. When introducing new technology, you can ensure successful adoption by offering a variety of tools from webinars and one-on-one instruction to written manuals. By offering a variety of ways to learn, you’re setting your staff up for success, regardless of how they learn new information.
-
RECORD
-
-
- Create a system to track progress and success. Initiate a program to track the positive outcomes of the new technology – build enthusiasm for it within the office. People get energized when they see the benefits. Show them that it is making tasks or the workflow better.
-
MEASURE
-
-
- Quantify improvements to keep everyone involved thinking positively. If your staff has “always done it this way” there is probably at least one slow adopter on your team. A weekly progress email and/or a poster hanging up in the office showing the positive benefits of the new technology with facts and figures should encourage any hold outs to try it out. Success breeds success.
-
COMMUNICATE
-
- Success, staff buy-in, and a positive attitude will encourage the acceptance of future changes. Bring your team on board and gain genuine “buy-in” by offering your staff instruction and training on new software and technology. Clearing up misconceptions and worry will go a long way towards developing a positive attitude toward the changes.
Don’t wait for everyone to get “onboard for digital transformation” on their own… help them. By intentionally introducing staff to the new technology, and offering opportunities for them to learn to use, you will help them accept it sooner and reap the benefits that it can offer faster.