Technology
We all love new technology, like the most updated smartphone or a brand-new laptop right off the assembly line.
For businesses, new applications are often sought out to solve a problem, streamline workflow, organize data, build better marketing programs or better protect systems.
In this era, new applications are fairly WYSIWYG – what you see is what you get. That is, the technology is intuitive and easy to use. But even with all of the bells and whistles of modern technology, sometimes the application’s full potential is not maximized by the users.
Here are a few things to think about when you take on a new application for your company.
Tell them why
Before you start training your staff on the new technology, tell them your “why.” Share your vision for how the new application will help the company save money, improve customer service, free up staff time for more important pursuits, or expand your reach. Buy-in is a critical component of successful technology adoption and you can’t get buy-in if your employees don’t have a clue about the purpose and benefit of the new application.
Create a training regimen for technology
New applications almost always require some kind of introductory training. While that is a mandatory first step, an ongoing regimen of training will help you and your staff discover unused features of the application. Often at the outset, employees are using the most basic tools as they get to know the technology and may forget some of the more sophisticated aspects that they learned about in the initial training. That’s why it is good to introduce refresher courses after the employees have had a chance to “play” with the new application.
Encourage staff feedback and sharing
It’s difficult to learn technology when you are sitting in a remote office with no one to share experiences with or ask questions. As employees are learning the new technology check in with them to find out if there are any questions or hiccups. Encourage them to talk to one another and ask questions of other users to increase their knowledge and skill with the technology.
Measure performance against goals
After some pre-designated time period, it is important to measure the success of the application. From the beginning you hopefully established measurable goals to benchmark the impact of the technology. This can take all different forms. Each application you use is going to result in a different strategy for measuring its effectiveness, depending on your goals. For instance, with Alanna, we encourage our clients to pay attention to how much time it saves their staff and to gather feedback from clients to see how it is being received.
At Alanna, we take on the routine conversations title agencies have with real estate agents, buyers and sellers, improving your response time and freeing staff for more complex production or client service tasks. We are here to help you get the most out of the many beneficial features of our technology. We encourage you to reach out to us today to learn more!