It’s just a reality: If a technology solution doesn’t measurably help with some business or learning objective, it won’t be embraced and customers’ technology adoption and return on investment (ROI) will suffer.
Maybe it will be briefly utilized because it’s novel or fun. But broad technology adoption will wane over the long haul – because it’s never about the technology. It’s about the results. That’s why conversation is needed as a follow-up to questions such as this, “How much will it cost to put collaboration technology in this space?”
Specifically, it’s important to discover why the technology is being considered.
- Who will use it?
- How will it be incorporated into their existing habits and workflow?
- Does the new technology represent a comprehensive shift in the way work currently gets done?
- Are people aware of the new expectations?
- Will there need to be customized trainings to empower the use of it?
- What does strong use of the technology look like, and can that be measured and reported?
These aren’t easy questions to address.
Nurturing Technology Adoption
One person, within any given organization, is unlikely to be equipped with all the answers. Indeed, the individual or team charged with the purchase of the technology often doesn’t have insight into other business units’ work flow, KPIs, interdepartmental collaborative requirements, communication habits and preferences, etc.
Discovering answers to questions like these prior to the purchase of a space’s technology can go a long way toward creating more successful work and learning environments.
But the answers are discoverable. Perhaps it’s a survey or a review of existing documents or data. Perhaps it’s one-on-one conversations with department heads. Maybe it’s gathered from several facilitated focus groups. Regardless, acquiring some level of understanding is critical. Discovering answers to questions like these prior to the purchase of a space’s technology can go a long way toward creating more successful work and learning environments.
And these types of insights not only lead to a better design and installation of the technology. The insights also can be used for more impactful, personalized internal communications.
Think about it this way. The organization is making an investment in technology for a reason. There are new desirable behaviors that are presumed capable of driving measurable, desirable results. And, the assumption is that the new technology solution will support those behaviors. Yet, rarely does the introduction of new technology yield changed behaviors in isolation.
Stephanie R. Stilson, PhD, is an Embrace Strategist, for Indianapolis-based integration firm Sensory Technologies. This is an excerpt from her column on Sensory’s site. Read the original column for more insight into the relationship between customer decision making and technology adoption/ROI.
