Best Practices for Successful Technology Adoption

A look at some of the barriers to successful technology adoption.

There must be a method to the madness. New technology solutions appear to be a dime a dozen, and it makes sense to take a modular approach to implementation. At least, that’s what our clients are doing. And guess what? It’s working!

For our industry, rapid adoption of technology isn’t always a good thing. Testing the waters by finding success first in one department, then scaling it to other areas of the organization, is a brilliant approach. Pareo® is rapidly expanding in this manner alongside clients who, impressed with our total system visibility, are evolving their use of our technology solutions to fit their growing needs.

Ready to adopt new technology or grow your current systems? First, read our discussion guide “3 Considerations when Discussing Technology Change.” In it, we’ve covered some great early-stage conversational topics that may be useful to you as you advocate for new technology at your company.

In this article, we expand on that discussion guide and look at high-level processes that you can utilize to scale and/or adopt new technology at your organization.

1. Start with the foundation of functionality.

Where can a new technology make the biggest impact at your organization? Understanding the greatest area of need at your company provides a perfect foundation for new technology adoption. Foundational due diligence may also improve your return on investment, providing insight into areas of business that can make quick turnarounds. It’s important to embrace technology from the perspective of change management, where multiple outcomes are anticipated and prepared for.

“Land and expand” is a popular and effective approach for successful technology adoption – if implemented correctly. “While introducing new technologies is essential in running a successful company, how we choose to introduce those technologies can make or break their success,” writes Inc. contributor Dan Ruch. Strategically choosing where to introduce new technologies can make all the difference, creating a blueprint from which to scale.

2. Get people on board.

Consider a pilot program, of sorts, with a tech team of highly invested, motivated stakeholders. Realize that there will be kinks to work out as well as project setbacks. Your tech team needs to be big picture enough to weather these realities and see the way forward to the exciting possibilities. Clear and frequent communication will go a long way in getting others on board with new technology. For example, it may surprise some that use of advanced technology, like artificial intelligence, is happening now (not just in the future).

All along the way, be sure to solicit feedback and evaluate user success. At this stage, those two actions are essential if you want to successfully scale your technology solution. Many companies plan on how to implement technology, but overlook ways to encourage user adoption. Roll out structure and accountability measures surrounding new technology that encourage learning and course-correcting.

“We estimate the dollar value of efficiencies AI could provide the U.S. economy in 2018 to approach $900 billion – the equivalent of 15 percent of total U.S. payroll.” – Enterprise Tech

Make sure you structure your project to be people-first. That means including lots of user-focused training and a realistic implementation schedule. Fear can dominate discussions as people will worry that technology might replace them. The opposite, however, is true. Estimates suggest technology will create far more jobs than it displaces, according to Forbes. It’s best to nip fear of being replaced early on, and prepare your team for successful technology adoption by celebrating early triumphs that build confidence.

3. Expand functionality.

Once initial users are on-board and expanding their use of technology, extend the tech to other users. “Despite significant investments in new technologies over the past decade, many organizations are actually watching their operations slow down due to underutilization of technology,” says Forbes.

Often, this inefficiency is because new technology hasn’t been adequately introduced, so users continue to use old manual solutions concurrently with new systems. Once core functionality has been established, it’s beneficial to continue to evaluate utilization rates. Growing the acceptance of new technology, as well as arming users with education surrounding it, is key to changing perspectives in a lasting way.

Finally, after the fundamentals of new technology have been rolled out, ask yourself, “Are there other areas of the solution that should be adopted?” Technology solutions like Pareo® have multi-tier benefits, but not all organizations will need to roll them out at once. Your path to adoption can and likely will change, but your commitment to embracing that technology doesn’t have to. Finding the right path to successful technology can go a long way.