Businesses look to technology to solve their problems and make operations more efficient, and rightfully so, after all, technology is synonymous with “solution.” Although, just purchasing new technology isn’t enough to automatically see the desired results. New technology must be accompanied by intentional implementation efforts, which includes adapting it to your company’s culture. In other words, working with people.

You Can’t Have One Without the Other
After studying new research about digital transformation among companies investing in the digital customer experience, Brian Solis, principal analyst for the Altimeter Group, made this observation to CIO.com:

That's the irony about digital transformation, it doesn’t work when in and of itself technology is the solution. Technology has to be an enabler and that enabler needs to be aligned with a bigger mission. We already found that companies that lead digital transformation from a more human center actually bring people together in the organization faster and with greater results.

The Need for CIOs to Work on Their People Skills
Solis goes on to say that whoever’s job it is to implement the new technology within a company (typically it’s the CIO), has their work cut out for them. "The CIO is more important than ever before. Instead of working against a technology roadmap, CIOs are now focusing on organizational processes and objectives that matter more to different types of customers and employees.” In other words, “CIO” should now include a “P” for “Chief Information and Personnel Officer.”

This shift may be a challenge for many long-term CIOs. Chances are, they got into IT because of their love for technology, not because they enjoyed working with people. Technology has reached a level where it needs to find a supportive cultural environment for proper implementation. This means talking with and organizing people. Many of us are well aware that working with technology is much easier than working with people. Technology is predictable and its solutions are straightforward, whereas humans are highly unpredictable and often have attitudes that are difficult to manage.

How a Technology Person can Motivate the Team
Getting people on board with the new solution being implemented is absolutely the key to its success. For example, if users prefer the older technology, and they don’t want to invest the time into learning a new system, then they may give the new tech a half-hearted go at it, intending that their negative feedback will get the CIO to revert back to the old ways; or an employee may simply dislike the CIO for a petty reason and choose to make the implementation of the new tech difficult out of spite. A poor attitude like this would make the entire endeavor a huge waste of company time and money.

As the cultural curator for your company, it’s your responsibility to get employees motivated to appreciate new technology, or at least understand the value of it so they will use it without too much whining. This isn’t an impossible task. Think about the reasons why you value new solutions, reasons like how new tech makes your business more secure and more competitive. All you have to do is communicate these benefits to your team. Feel free to let your passion for technology show when you’re explaining things, and if you happen to not be charismatic enough to “rally the troops,” then you probably know someone with this ability.

In fact, Network Synergy can be the technology ambassador your team needs. We can talk to your employees about the benefits of fully adopting new solutions, and we can provide your organization with the educational resources needed to influence your company culture about the value of new technology. Implementing new technology can be difficult (especially when people are involved), but we’re here to make the process easy. Call us at (203) 261-2201 to learn about the best ways to make technology work for you, and not the other way around.