8 Tips For Adapting New Technology For Your Team –

With so many tools and software on the market, it can be confusing to know which is the best fit for your organization. It’s not always easy or practical to trial each one to see how it might work for you. Introducing new technology into your internal systems and processes can sometimes take a bit of time to bed in and can be met with varying degrees of acceptance. Different teams are able to adapt to new software at different rates depending on their skill level. Often, however, it is the mindset of your workforce that determine how well they get on with new technology.  

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The road to adaptability –

Introducing new technology in any organizational setting is almost always tricky. You’re not certain if your team will be flexible enough to embrace it. What if there’s resistance? What if your staff find it difficult to adapt or struggle to keep up? This can be magnified in small business settings. If you’re not careful, the resistance or inability to adapt could be the only thing standing between you and successful integration. 

If you ever find yourself in such a bind, here are eight tips to help your team adapt to new software that promises plenty of benefits for the company in more ways than one: 

• Make sure your IT team is ready 

Before you go ahead and introduce new technology to the organization, you should first talk to your IT department to ensure they’re ready to provide support when needed. The IT team should also be fully aware of the project’s objectives and its benefits so they can influence or encourage the rest of the company to give it a try and take the lead with regards to training, if required. 

As much as possible, try to introduce the new software to the IT team first so they can get hands-on experience and support others in the workplace once they are familiar with using it. Being one step ahead of the game can help your tech people identify any possible issues or glitches that the team might encounter along the way. If so, they can quickly work to resolve issues and instill peace of mind with regards to convenience and ease of use to the rest of the team.  

• Choose wisely when shopping for new technology 

You have to weigh in all factors and considerations before deciding on new technology to use for your business. First off, consider your team and their ability to adapt to whatever it is you’re about to introduce to them. Whether it’s commercial landscaping software for your niche field service business, a customer relationship management (CRM) program, or an automation tool for logistics and warehousing, you must research what is going to benefit your business the most. 

I’ll help to evaluate not just functionality but also its user-friendliness. Employees will be interested to learn how the new tool works and if it’s easy to use, intuitive, and involves minimal training. To determine that, you can read reviews and testimonials from brands that have tried or are using the programs. 

• Provide necessary training 

Sometimes, your IT people won’t suffice when there’s a need to train employees regarding the new software, or you may not have an IT department at all. If you’re able to shop wisely, you should find that the service comes with post-deployment training for everyone who’ll be using the program. That’s one less burden for you, and the expertise provided by the software seller or developer is far more efficient since no one knows their product better than themselves. 

The training should also give way for the transition to be smooth. They’ll learn how to embrace the arrival of a new and more efficient system. Explain the benefits you can get from the latest technology and how it can make their job easier, faster, and more productive. (1) (2)

Your team may find it difficult at first to get used to the new system, but with proper training and support, they’ll eventually ease into it and start recognizing its benefits and new features. If the training is intended to be more complex and time-consuming, consider reducing the workload of those who’ll be in training. That way, they can focus better on understanding the platform. 

• Let the team learn by group or pairs 

Everybody can relate when they say learning is more effective when you’re not doing it on your own. As you introduce new technology to your team, consider dividing them into groups or pairs so they can interact while learning. Make sure the group has at least one or two members who can serve as mentors to new users. If it’s by pair, one member should be somehow familiar with the new software and how to use it. 

• Acknowledge small wins 

It’s not every day that your team is faced with a challenge like learning a new system. That’s why it makes sense to acknowledge their effort and desire to learn. If you do, your employees will be more inspired and motivated to work harder and understand how to use the new technology. 

One idea you can try is to incentivize the team through a rewards program that’ll celebrate wins, no matter how small or huge they may be. Doing this will encourage everyone in the group to work harder and adapt to the new technology with an open mind. If your managers and department heads agree, the incentivization can be included in assessing employees’ annual review and performance goals. 

• Nurture a culture of growth, flexibility, and change 

You can actually skip through the hassle of helping your employees adapt to new technology if there’s already a culture of flexibility, growth, and change present in the workplace. With such a culture, the team is already keen on embracing growth and change even when there’s no new tool to use. To do just that, you can start by involving your people in every decision that the company makes, especially if it concerns the welfare of the workers as a whole. 

Even when you don’t have this culture in the office, it’s not too late to start now. You can begin by providing the organization with the tools, support, and training needed. Help team members who are unconsciously and admittedly uncomfortable to try new things. You can look into giving continuing education to workers struggling to understand the new system. That way, they’ll feel entirely supported and will be more motivated to advance their learning. 

• Be open to feedback 

Introducing and implementing a totally new system will cause teething problems, especially among its users. It’s something that you should expect. To make the transition more effective, it’ll significantly help if you’re open to feedback and suggestions from your team. Be attentive to their experiences and hear out the challenges they’ve encountered while in the process of adapting. 

It’ll put your employees’ minds at ease knowing that you’re listening and are eager to help them work things out. Let them know you’ll be there every step of the way and that you’ll overcome the challenges together—schedule regular meetings to be aware of anything that may occur while on the road to transition.

• Monitor and measure 

Even when training is over, and your employees seem to have adapted to the new technology, it doesn’t mean nothing will go wrong moving forward. Keep track of all progress reports and pay attention to bugs, errors, and downtime that your team may experience while using the new system. 

As you monitor, it’s also the chance to measure results. You can create surveys within the organization to ask team members how they’re coping with the software. You may also start checking if there’s a positive impact on the employees’ productivity levels. Of course, if the measurements come back positive, your new tool is already contributing to the company’s overall operation.  

Final words –

The workplace is constantly changing, and if you want to keep up, your team should also be ready to evolve, grow, and be adaptable. Thanks to the advent of technology, there’s now a myriad of tools, software, equipment, and products that you can take advantage of to take you one step further to convenience and success.  

Don’t be afraid to explore new technologies for your company’s benefit. Just make sure you shop wisely and determine what it can bring to the table. You can help your team adapt to the new system by taking note of the tips mentioned above. 

Author Bio –

Benjamin Laubaugh is an IT and digital marketing professional who juggles freelancing gigs, blogging, and webinar hosting. In his free time, he likes spending time with his family, watching movies, and traveling.

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