What do you do if your change management initiatives require selecting new technology?

Forget your IT policies if you want honest feedback from your stakeholders - because the reality is, they’re probably not using your workplace technology the way they’re “meant” to. Sit down and get them to walk you through a process or how they do a task. You’ll quickly learn where the gaps are - whether the gaps are in the technology mix or in the assumptions about how people use the tools they’ve been provided.

Before you even consider selecting new technology, have you done the proper analysis to reach this conclusion? Have you consulted technical experts who are knowledgeable both in the current technology, as well as the latest advancements in this technology? Too often I have witnessed "shiny toy syndrome" - employees get sucked into the latest sales pitch to improve their business processes without effectively evaluating their current systems and conducting the due diligence to determien whether new technology is needed. Don't fall into this trap!

Reconocer que el proceso de comprensión de las necesidades no es estático, sino continuo, resulta fundamental para transmitir un mensaje claro dentro de la empresa. Es crucial que la organización comprenda que este proceso no concluye después de una primera identificación, sino que se ajusta en consonancia con las operaciones y las nuevas demandas que surgen. Este enfoque de descubrimiento continuo permite a la organización comprender que cada iniciativa tecnológica, ya sea una GEN IA o una automatización, conlleva sus propias exigencias y plazos. Se asemeja más a un viaje que a un proyecto puntual. Además, sirve como recordatorio de que tanto el panorama tecnológico como las necesidades empresariales están en constante cambio.

Assessing needs is paramount in determining whether new technologies are necessary for our change management initiatives. It begins with engaging the involved team members and conducting a comprehensive study. By outlining our desired outcomes, we can evaluate if adopting new technologies will help us achieve those goals effectively. Additionally, we need to consider the cost implications for the organization in terms of resource allocation required for implementing and utilizing these new technologies.

Seeing the tools in action is always recommended, as it can be difficult to evaluate the true experience of technology from a data sheet or - yes - even a salesperson. If you don’t have the background to effectively analyze a proposed solution, use your network to ask for advice or see if someone in your organization has considerations to offer. It’s also critical to ask what assumptions there are / pre-requisites required for the solution to work as flawlessly as it sounds or appears in a demo. In some cases your ecosystem may need some additional refining to work well with the new technology.

It’s often helpful to include stakeholders in demos of the potential technologies you are considering, both to get further feedback and help get more buy-in as they will feel included in the process. However, be prepared that there may not be one solution to meet everyone’s full needs / wants, and anticipate how you will address prioritization and decision making with your stakeholders.

Si decidimos involucrar a las partes interesadas desde el inicio, este paso puede convertirse en un catalizador de la curiosidad. Al fomentar constantemente la curiosidad, creamos un ambiente propicio para el aprendizaje continuo, asegurando que las personas estén preparadas para adaptarse y aprender en un entorno en constante evolución. Además, al aprovechar diversas perspectivas para seleccionar la tecnología más adecuada y refinar los puntos de vista, podemos poner en perspectiva a las partes involucradas para visualizar en qué áreas necesitan ser reentrenadas y qué otras habilidades blandas serán necesarias.

One value driver that technology often has is productivity. Evaluate if the new technology automates processes that are currently inefficient or done manually, if it simplifies something that was difficult to understand before (helping people get up to speed and contributing faster), or if no solution for the problem currently exists at all, what new results will be achieved that feeds into other processes to be productive?

Testing as part of implementation is critical to ensuring launch is successful. Again, including some of your stakeholders in the testing process can help manage the change and improve adoption as they will start getting familiar with the solution in practice and be able to share issues in advance.

Be clear on expectations when it comes to KPIs and be prepared to tell the full story of what success looks like. There will be short term goals, but also long-term goals that may require data over a longer period of time to measure and understand (e.g. usage / growth over time, and what factors seem to impact that the most). This is where a robust communications and change marketing plan can do wonders. Don’t just send one message alerting your audiences when it is launched - create campaigns from start to finish (and on an ongoing basis thereafter) across multiple channels that bring awareness, tie the initiative to a broader goal, and engage users on concerns, questions, and of course praise they may have.

Una evaluación constante se alinea perfectamente con el concepto de MVP. Este enfoque permite identificar rápidamente posibles problemas, detectar áreas de mejora y ajustar la tecnología para que se adapte mejor a las necesidades y expectativas de la organización. Además, asegura que se escuchen las voces de todos los implicados y que la tecnología seleccionada cumpla con los requisitos. Ayudar a la organización a navegar en esta etapa de monitoreo, viendo el progreso a través de la lente del MVP, aporta una claridad que no es tan tangible en los marcos tradicionales de cambio. Por supuesto, también se deben celebrar los logros y avances alcanzados.