10 years ago, I co-presented at a national library conference on Who's driving the technology bandwagon - the users or the librarians? My co-presenters and I wanted to discuss the pull of new technology and question the practicality of implementing every shiny system that came along. As my career in libraries and higher education involved leading technology projects and implementations, I had a lot of experience watching organizations and departments chase the next big thing, hurtling after “the system that would improve everything” with only superficial planning and minor (or minimized) trepidation. I had also observed that these systems usually didn’t produce the dramatic shift that folks were hoping for, instead offering slight improvements with some headaches that were quickly eclipsed by the next new thing.
Image by Lucio Alfonsi from Pixabay
10 years later, I still see the same dynamic playing out across various organizations, and I continue to argue for a more strategic approach. While many organizations are set up to quickly adapt to and absorb new technologies (and I’m usually willing to test drive the new technology bandwagon for myself and my business), a greater many simply don’t have that bandwidth. Implementing a new system pulls time and resources from other priorities and can become another project in a long list of “things we should be doing, but don’t have the time to do well.”
It is in these low-bandwidth environments that the technology tends to overwhelm the processes. Rather than carefully planning for how the new system will fully integrate with or change existing processes, implementation is turned over to IT or the vendor, often separating the technology from the people and processes it will touch. Time is spent installing and configuring the system, rather than constructing the environment that will make the system successful. Training sessions and answers to questions refer to generic user manuals rather than offering concrete examples about how the technology will actually be used. The focus becomes the features of the technology and not how it will transform the work you are already doing.
So how can we adopt new technology systems and effectively integrate them into our existing environments?
1) Get clear about why you are implementing a new technology.
Carefully consider the purpose and goals of the new technology. Is there a strategic or practical reason for moving forward? How will this support or impact your strategic priorities?
2) Identify the people and processes that will be touched by this new system.
Who will interact with this system and when? What are the inputs to and outputs from the system? Consider not only people and processes interacting directly with the system, but also those one layer removed (ex. Jo will be using the system to generate reports, but those reports will be used by Susan, who may have some specific needs).
3) Include stakeholders in implementation planning and execution.
Don’t leave users or key stakeholders out of planning, testing and training. Those who will be directly using the new system are often in the best position to determine how the new system will realistically interact with existing processes. Inclusion also tends to boost support for change.
4) Map out effected processes and identify intersection points.
If your processes aren’t already documented, create workflow diagrams of the current processes that will be impacted by the new technology. Identify points where the new system will intersect with these processes. Share these maps with stakeholders and IT or vendors to help determine how the new system will be configured and whether changes need to be made to existing processes.
5) Assign a liaison to the vendor or IT.
Have a designated liaison to those installing or configuring the system. Beyond serving as the main point of contact, this liaison should be able to act as a spokesperson for stakeholders and to advocate for your needs, processes and environment.
Need support to implement a new system? Want guidance on planning or improving your processes?
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