We often think that choosing the right technology is the way we make our transformation programmes successful, but that’s only one very small part of the puzzle.
In the world of tech, we talk about people, process and technology, but all too often we only focus on the latter. Technology transformation doesn’t just mean a change of the tech itself but also the people who use it and the way they work.
Quite literally, you’re taking your team’s world and turning it upside down, so forgetting people is quite simply an error.
Thankfully, there are a few simple ways you can avoid that nasty pitfall.
1. Put your people and their feelings at the heart of your change
Will your new technology make life easier for your people? Will it require lots of upskilling? Will it mean there are fewer jobs? Whatever the answers to these questions and the benefits of your transformation programme, you need to put your people at the heart of your change.
Make sure you’re clear about what you’re trying to achieve and think about this from the perspective of your teams. Remember, just because you think a task is menial or insignificant, doesn’t always mean your people think the same. They may have built up years of experience being the very best at that task, or they may have a lot of social value riding on the fact they are the only person to be able to do that part of the job.
Whatever the issue, always consider it from your people’s perspective. While a new piece of tech can appear very exciting to some, it can be extremely daunting to others. Understanding this and showing empathy by putting your people at the heart of the change will go along way.
2. Talk to your people
In an information vacuum, people make up their own news. They create a version of events that’s often exaggerated from the truth, but who can blame them when they’ve got little else to go on.
Truth is, people don’t like living in the grey. They don’t enjoy the mystique of not knowing, but rather feel uncomfortable and uncertain about what the future might hold.
Talking to your people is the single most important thing you can do on any change programme. Creating open and honest two-way lines of communication means you can share updates, even when there aren’t any, and they can share their concerns (and there are always plenty of those).
Hiding in your office with the door locked is not the way to engender support for your programme and will not build the trust you need your people to have in your over the coming months and years as you go through this major change together.
3. Bring in the professionals
Rarely do you find a technologist who has the combined skills, bandwidth and willingness to be an internal communications and change lead on a programme as well as being responsible for the technical solutions. So don’t hold back in bringing in the experts.
If you’re lucky enough to have this resource available internally, then you’re onto a winner. If not, you may decide to work with a consultancy or independent contractor to give you the expertise you need and point you in the right direction.
Whichever way you decide to bolster your teams with the relevant professional communications skills, it’s vital you bring this person or team in from the start. Not only can they support you with the development of the business case and create a pitch that the non-technical people you need to convince of funding can support you with, you will also be helping yourself get ahead.
Communicators will start working with you to understand who needs to know what from an early stage, and can get some serious brownie points by helping you really understand those who will be impacted by your change.
At Inside Out, we help programme sponsors to talk to your people about your technology transformation programmes so that your people understand the technology and importantly, use it. This ensures your technology investment is realised by an engaged, skilled team who’ve understood and accepted the change.
We do this through a combination of consultancy, strategy development, coaching and training courses for teams leading major changes and your programme teams. If we can support you or your team with your plans, please get in touch at hello@insideoutconsulting.co.uk
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