Companies want improvement from new technologies and business methods, but just buying new applications and giving employees instructions is not a recipe for success. To truly deliver value, any technology that is purchased, implemented and used by a company should be easy to use, configurable to users' needs, and support the attainment of business goals.
Perhaps the first element of new technology adoption is finding an internal sponsor who can plan for the change and anticipate how it will help in meeting goals. There is an initial disruption period, both in terms of the impact to internal systems and with how employees will engage. The technology integration aspect requires constant care and support, but for employees to become accepting, they sometimes are helped by having cheerleading and some internal evangelization. Having a person, or an internal team, to manage all of this will go a long way towards minimizing disruptions and getting people to embrace change.
The leadership who champions new technology should spend time communicating and explaining some very important elements in order to get buy-in and increase adoption:
Impact
Employees need to remember that solutions are not necessarily meant to deliver great value today, or tomorrow, or even by next quarter. This is a long-term process and value is only visible after considerable time of changing behavior and adaptation. It is really important for business leaders to stress this. When business moves fast, it's easy for a worker to become discouraged and even give up. A business simply can't have that, and it's up to the internal champions to remind colleagues that this is a long-haul effort and that by sticking with it and getting over the new-ness will ultimately deliver big rewards. These rewards will make their jobs easier over time.
Perspective
Remember, employees like getting their paycheck and benefits, and generally track their work to the health of the company. It's important that they think of their work as having an impact to the bottom line. So it's good to communicate that the effects of new technology will lend themselves to a more robust and sustainable company. It's overly simple to say, "We're doing this for the future." It's better to remind employees that business is ultra-competitive and every day that the company isn't finding ways to compete, they are at the risk of being overtaken by more nimble companies that are effectively using technology. With that in mind, you can make a concerted attempt to focus efforts.
Timeline
Many implementations are focused on a launch date, as if to suggest that just by launching, success will have been achieved. Smart businesspeople know that launching isn't what's important. Rather, the delivery of a better way of doing things is what is sought and must be done. Just turning on a new application doesn't, in and of itself, provide any noticeable improvements. But implementing, customizing, refining, and creating new optimized processes is what is particularly important and necessary. This is precisely what new technology should help happen within a company, and while you don't want to let that process drag on forever, it is not something that can be kept to a list of deadlines.
Why?
Many will wonder, but will probably not ask, "Why are we even doing this in the first place." It's a legitimate question and one that should be asked over and over again, simply because you want employees to stay engaged and focused on achieving something better than what you had prior. Since you will have done a great deal of work to identify a solution to known issues, sharing this with employees should be part of your implementation plan.
Need
It is difficult to instill a passion for improvement through technology, but if you can deliver to employees an improved way of working, then you will get their attention. Additionally, if you can provide them a solution that is simple to use, operates in a way they operate with consumer technology, and will help them operate with more efficiency at work, you'll most certainly get their attention.
