Technology is a crucial part of business success in today’s digitally transforming landscape. Access to the right tools can improve employee efficiency, reduce the risk of costly mistakes and make your team more engaged.
However, before you can unlock all of the benefits of the right software solutions, you need to overcome the challenges of implementation. Though your new software will eventually improve team management and outcomes, it can only deliver the results if implemented securely and effectively.
It’s also important to introduce new tools to teams in a way that supports adoption. Fortunately, there are a few steps you can take to reduce the risk of productivity issues when introducing new tools.
Keep Employees Informed and Involved
New software has the potential to transform the way your staff members work. But it can be hard to encourage adoption if you haven’t already taken the time to demonstrate the values of your new investment to your team or included them in the decision-making process.
Every software investment should be chosen based on what it can do to solve problems for your team. So, what is a better way to ensure you’re getting the tools your staff needs most than to ask for their input?
Get teams involved during the early stages of researching potential products and take their opinions into account. When you’re ready to start testing potential tools, you can also rely on your tech-savvy staff to explore the software and make you aware of any issues. Besides, surveys show that involving employees in decision-making processes makes them more motivated, engaged, and satisfied in their jobs. In other words, there are many good reasons to discuss new software adoption with your colleagues and listen to their recommendations.
Recommended
Solve Employee Issues
Companies invest in new software for a range of reasons. Business leaders rely on the right tools to help them reduce costs or keep track of team productivity. Technology can also help you to understand your company processes through data visualization. However, if you want to ensure you’re getting the most commitment and buy-in from your team members, your main focus should be demonstrating how the software will benefit them.
Which pain points are your employees suffering with right now?
If they’re always wasting time trying to find important information, show them how your new aligned database will save crucial minutes. If your hybrid team members feel disconnected, demonstrate how your new tools will bring remote and in-office teams together.
Show your staff members that you’re keeping their challenges and expectations in mind. This way, you’re more likely to end up with excited, invested employees. And team members who share your enthusiasm about a new tool will be more willing to work harder to make sure it works.
Implement Solutions Slowly
Different members of your team will respond in unique ways to new software and tools. While some staff members will be thrilled by the concept of having a new instrument to work with, others will resist change and feel uncomfortable making adjustments in their workflow.
To help drive adoption and reduce productivity issues, introduce your new tools to the most confident teams first. Using the diffusion of innovations curve, you can distinguish which staff members are most likely to respond well to technology. After your early adopters get confident using the technology and they give you feedback on things you might need to change, they can play a part in introducing your new solutions to other staff.
Your innovators can act as mentors and extra sources of support to people in your team who feel less comfortable accepting new solutions. This peer-to-peer support network strategy for software transformations ensures your entire team can adapt to the tech at their own pace, with minimal downtime and confusion.
Choose the Right Software Provider
Your software provider makes a huge difference in the experience you get when rolling out new tools to team members. Depending on the company you choose to work with, you can either get plenty of support in the form of training, account management, and success guidance, or you could work with a company that leaves you to handle things on your own.
If you’re concerned about the impact new software might have on productivity levels, finding a provider with a well-defined onboarding process is crucial. These teams will support your staff in accessing new technology at the right pace, providing extra resources and guidance when your employees need them.
Many of the best software teams can also make it easier for you to track important metrics which demonstrate how successful your onboarding strategy is. With those metrics, you can, among other things, keep a close eye on engagement levels between different team members, and discover which groups need additional support.
Keep the Feedback Loop Open
Finally, one of the best ways to ensure that your software implementation strategy is a success is to listen to the feedback from your employees. Your staff members will be able to tell you which parts of your new software they like the most, which aspects they’d prefer to change, and what they need help figuring out.
Creating a strategy for constant exchange of opinions and information means that you can optimize and enhance your software solutions consistently over time. Listening to feedback is also a great way to increase the sense of ownership your employees have in your new software.
If team members feel like they have a say about the kind of tools they’re using, they’ll feel more engaged and respected. The more feedback you get, the less likely it is that you’ll end up investing in technology that doesn’t have a positive impact on your staff.
Maintain Team Productivity
Almost every company will need to invest in new technology and solutions at some point. When this happens, team leaders need to have strategies in place for preserving productivity and ensuring adoption among employees.
The tips above allow you to focus on leveraging all the best results of introducing new software to your team with minimal disruptions to your workflow. Not only does this process keep your employees happy, but it means you will also begin to see the return on your investment faster.
This article is contributed to actiTIME by Ashley Wilson, a content creator, writing about business and tech. She has been known to reference movies in casual conversation and enjoys baking homemade treats for her husband and their two felines, Lady and Gaga. You can get in touch with Ashley via Twitter.
