It’s an achievement to bring in a new technology solution that will help your employees do their jobs better or that will keep your business more secure.
It’s an achievement also because many companies look the other way when the time comes to review and update processes, legacy applications and machines. Are they trying to delay the inevitable?
But if you have decided to review and upgrade your tech processes, there are some things you should bear in mind to make the change as easy as possible.
When introducing technology into your IT infrastructure, remember that a lot of people are resistant to any sort of change. Introducing a new solution without giving your employees advance knowledge and then needed training can cause a lot of stress. And it can be hard to predict whether end-users will readily accept or resist a change you plan to make. So before implementing new technology, a change-management strategy can help you get successful adoption by your employees, so you get the most out of your tech investment.
Change management is an approach that deals with changes in organizational processes, objectives and technology. The goal of change management is to devise strategies to implement and govern transformation while helping people adjust to it.
Following are some questions meant to highlight the factors to handle before your tech change:
Time to change your IT Service Provider? Listen for these clues:
- Our internet is slow.
- We need help with our computers.
- We’re moving our office and need help moving our computers.
- How can we tell if our computers are safe?
- Our computers are old and might not work well.
- Our current IT company can’t help us anymore.
- We’re not satisfied with our current IT provider.
- We need to check if our computers can run new software.
- Should we use the Cloud or keep our computers in the office?
For more information about Bryley IT Services, please complete the form, below, or call 978.562.6077 or email ITExperts@Bryley.com.
1 What is being changed and why?
Review your business environment to identify critical areas that require a technological refresh. Gauge the state of your technology environment. Examine areas that will make your employees’ lives simpler, safer and more productive — to increase the profitability of your organization.
2 What will this change mean for people, processes and technology?
Good communication is needed for bringing about tech changes, so develop strategies to help your employees adapt to any changes.
Pay close attention to technology mapping and dependencies to ensure your IT department understands the implications of changing processes, systems and components. Also, identify the processes that need to be modified by the change and the individuals who oversee them.
3 Who will manage the change?
Assign change leaders and include their contact information in all change communications. Assign a project management executive sponsor who is responsible to move your project forward and hold your organization accountable for deviations from your objectives. Have emergency contacts of people with various skillsets to call upon in the event of a mishap.
4 When is the best time to implement this change?
It’s critical to determine the best time to implement a change. A lot of care must go into deciding when to introduce a change. If you’re about to embark on a new transition, but your employees are still dealing with the effects of previous changes, it may be a good idea to postpone the planned change, if possible. On the flip side, if your employees have adjusted well to a recent change, then introducing a new change could also go smoothly.
5 How long will the change take?
A change must not be too quick, causing confusion and employee frustration, or too slow, diluting the entire purpose of the change. Set a realistic deadline and strive to meet it.
6 How will you define success once you have gone through this change?
What will a successful implementation look like? What should it achieve (e.g., improve application efficiency by 20%)? How will you measure and communicate progress or success along the way?
Change Is a Challenge
Change brings the risk of damaging processes and losing team members to burnout if you don’t use a sound change-management approach. Bryley can provide guidance, as it has about technology changes since 1987.
If you want to learn more about change management, please complete the form, below, call 978.562.6077 or email ITExperts@Bryley.com.
Fill in our quick form.
We’ll schedule an introductory phone call.
We’ll take the time to listen and plan the next steps.
