5 Technology adoption mistakes that most enterprises make

Now that everyone is suddenly working from home, technology adoption is more important than ever before. 

But just what is ‘technology adoption’? Technology adoption is defined as the acceptance, integration, and use of new technology within an organization (or society). 

Why are technology adoption services suddenly some of the most demanded services of 2020? 

Due to the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic, public and private sector companies worldwide found themselves asking employees to work from home. This shift in the operating model was especially stressful for IT units who have had to cope with a series of new responsibilities and challenges. These include:

• Ensuring employees, partners, and sometimes customers, have adequate remote access to organizational systems and software. 
• Ensuring systems being accessed remotely are secure and available (no downtime). 
• Ensuring employees have the right software, and hardware, to access systems from their homes. 
• Ensuring they actually know how to access these systems and use them.

In addition to the above, and perhaps most importantly, the burden of trying to make sure people are ‘productive’ on the job suddenly shifted from HR teams to IT teams, with senior management and employees looking to their IT people to make everyone ‘remote-work ready’.

What makes an organization ‘remote-work ready’? There are several answers to that question, but the most obvious are: 

• The right machines (hardware)
• The right systems (software)
• An internet connection
• The ability to use the aforementioned hardware and software. 

This is where technology adoption comes into play. Having the right machines and systems means little if employees are unable to use them remotely or do not even know they exist. Which then brings us to the question, how do you enable employees to use new systems remotely? Traditional technology adoption is no longer an option - you cannot put them all in a room and train them. 

Remote technology enablement needs five elements to be truly effective: 

• Awareness: Users need to know the technology is there and available. There needs to be a channel available where employees know they can find information about the technologies, when they were launched, where to locate them, and why they need to be used. 
• Training: This needs to be online training, but it also needs to be flexible. Remote working means that you no longer have control over employee schedules as remote workers may be a continent or several time zones away. 
• Learning materials: Remote employees need to be able to access learning materials on demand
   in the form of documents, videos, tutorials, etc. in a convenient library.
• Support: Support is vital for anyone working remotely. Support should be in the form of should be in the form of immediate support if possible, through chat bot or live agent, as well as less immediate support in the form of tickets for non-urgent matters. 

The elements above cover the technology users needs throughout the technology adoption lifecycle. 

If you don’t have those elements in place, what is likely to happen? 

The best case scenario is that employees working remotely will struggle daily with trying to understand the new operating model and adjust to the new technologies required for business continuity. This may result in several hours of productivity wasted daily, and a lot of frustration.  The worst case scenario is a complete halt to business continuity with key people unable to access the systems they need, and IT overwhelmed with support incidents and complaints. 

In Part 2, I will discuss how organizations can put together a quick technology adoption solution. 

COVID-19 has become the most circulated word in 2020. This pandemic has already impacted the way organisations operate and will continue to fundamentally change them in the foreseeable future.

As this continues to impact our lives, remote working is our new reality. So, how do leaders, managers, & employees make this abrupt shift with minimal dips in efficiency? 

Since we have been implementing remote working since 2014, we have come up with some guidelines on how you & your employees can effectively transition into remote working. 

Any sudden change in the work environment is enough to disrupt operations if the business is not prepared or if it has not anticipated such a change. And this is exactly what is happening with most businesses today. In order to adjust to this new - hopefully temporary - “normal”, leaders should first prepare their employees mentally & should get the appropriate infrastructure to support remote working. 

• Do they have laptops for employees?
• Do they have the right software to perform their tasks? The right software to hold conference calls?
• Do they have the right software programs that MONITOR whether jobs are being fulfilled and operations effectively completed?

These are some of many things to consider during a transition like this.

We have listed below some pointers that have proven effective over our 6 years of implementing remote working: 

Communication

Aside from the operational side of things, leaders must ensure that their employees are ready to handle their new lifestyle. COMMUNICATE. Have a group conversation with employees assuring them that there is certainty in the midst of all their uncertainty. Team members should constantly feel like they know what’s going on.

“This is a different time for us. We don’t know how long this will last but we are here to support each other and lift each other up. We will make sure you have what you need to continue your work as “normally” as possible.”

This type of assurance will help ease employees into this lifestyle and give them confidence that it will work. It is also imperative to set recurring meetings just so there is clarity on things and so the “teamwork” vibes are sustained. Frequency of contact should be maintained to keep the connections people had at the office. 

Discipline

It can be quite a shock to the human being to go from one way of life to another in a short period of time. Psychologically, employees need to be ready. That’s why it is advised to encourage employees to develop disciplined rituals so that they can stay on top of their tasks and remain productive:

• Set your alarm early in the morning as if you’re heading to the office
• Freshen up, get dressed, & get ready for your day 
• Create a plan: “what are my tasks for today?” 
• Schedule your lunch/coffee breaks (minimise them to match your office breaks)

As for infrastructure requirements, we compiled a list of the most crucial systems you need to thrive today.