3 tips for successful technology rollouts
There are so many wonderful technology tools available to make our work lives more productive, balanced, and collaborative. Right now, with new challenges being faced as the work landscape changes to a more hybrid, more flexible model, organizations of all scales are working to roll out new solutions for their employees and customers.
Adopting new tools can bring amazing benefits to an organization, but if these projects are not carefully managed, they can fall into traps of unexpected costs, reduced functionality versus what was promised, disengaged and stressed colleagues, and frustrated customers.
When embarking on a change to a software tool or system, it is vital to consider these three important points to get the most out of that process, whether you are managing it internally or relying on a third party.
Fully understand the challenge
Too many promising new systems turn into half-baked solutions to problems that didn't really exist. They come full of good intentions, but are based upon too little information or too specific a viewpoint to be a truly more useful tool in whatever process they are supposed to be involved.
One of the first software projects I was involved in was implementing electronic timetabling in an institution whose administrators had been convinced their needs were too complex for any available technology. In fact, prior software vendors had suggested solutions without fully understanding the challenge and when those unique elements were fully understood and addressed, an electronic timetabling solution worked great!
If you are working with a third-party, expect to be fully involved in helping them to understand the landscape you want them to work on. An outside organization's understanding may only be as good as the information you choose to share and the people you give them access to. A skilled and experienced partner will be great at asking the right questions and connecting the right dots, but there is no substitute for your understanding of the priorities, processes, and culture of your particular organization to ensure they steer the right course.
Keep communication coming, and keep it varied
Everyone responds to change differently and needs different levels and types of enrollment to feel informed and valued through the process of implementing new systems. Additionally, the information and goodwill you will get back by keeping everyone looped in might be invaluable to the long-term success of your project.
Take time to understand what your audiences need to be successful through the process and be considerate of the communication culture that already exists around your current processes. You need to create advocates and champions around any change, and this starts with communication.
Understand that while technical information is important, other types of communication are also vital. If the proposed new solution is going to reduce the workload for a particular team, what is going to be done with that capacity? If your goal is to be able to get everyone involved in exciting new projects, but half your team is concerned that you're shifting their work elsewhere to downsize, it's going to be really hard to get everyone pushing for the same goals.
Use available resources, don't reinvent the wheel
Software vendors want you to succeed when using their technology and so even for situations where you are implementing their tools yourself they have resources in place to help and guide you toward best practices. Microsoft has a website dedicated to this for all the tools in Microsoft 365, but, whatever the software, most vendors have some sort of toolkit to get you started.
Beyond this, some adoption processes may be too big or too complicated for the resources you have available internally or the expertise you have access to. Leaning on external parties, either services provided by the first-party vendor on the software you have chosen, or consulting services provided by a third-party, can reap great benefits. Ultimately, the foundations you build initially with any change will be what the long-term structure is built on, so you want to make sure they are as solid as possible.
The changing demands we are seeing in workplaces offer a great opportunity to embrace new technologies that help us to do more differently. This is an exciting time but can also be stressful for those who are less open to or more impacted by change. Guiding projects to get the right solutions in a way that embraces the value of your teams and customers is essential, but can be a challenge in situations where the pace or scale of change continues to grow. This is where partners like Bright Ideas Agency can help you to set a successful course. If you would like advice on your upcoming or ongoing projects, get in touch.
Title image credit: Photo by WebFactory Ltd on Unsplash
