A common misconception that we come across at Segura is that disruptive technology is hard to implement. The nature of most technology introductions results in teams or departments making some changes, but there are steps that any organisation can take to ensuring the path to digitisation is much smoother. Not only that, but most disruptive technology is critical and can bring many added benefits to the business too.
Interdepartmental communication
Segura’s platform is often praised for bringing together different teams to analyse and solve problems. This is possible whether strong communication between teams does - or doesn’t – already exist. Collaborating in this way can often bring new and fresh ideas forward, with everyone aligned working towards the same goal.
Employee satisfaction specialists, Officevibe, suggest that whilst communication needs to be constant, it’s also important not to over-communicate.
Organising frequent communication between staff at all levels makes the implementation process much easier, providing they know why the technology is being used, and the benefits it can bring. The Segura platform provides real-time data, and you couldn’t get much more constant than that! In order to maximise on the data provided, it needs to be shared with the relevant people, so that they may analyse and act as required. When it comes to implementation, the bigger the supply chain, the more supplier data required. If we’re working with one team, and the data is held by another team, it really helps if they talk to each other, and review the same information in a centralised location.
Avoiding overcommunication may seem contradictive to our last point, but as Officevibe point out, too much of anything isn’t good! Ensure that everyone is in the loop with information that affects their roles and day-to-day activities, but leave unnecessary information out, you don’t need to tell everyone, everything!
Training and support
Even the best systems will come under fire if no one understands how to use it. Ensuring that key members of staff take part in training helps all users feel more engaged, prepared and comfortable with a new system. At Segura, we offer face-to-face training at various stages of implementation, so that those who will be using the system can learn and ask any questions.
The first step in the training process is finding out how the customer plans to use the system and who needs to be involved, so that we can tailor the training to meet their needs. We then have a couple of opportunities to walk a customer through all the modules that they are going to use, provide them with regular touch points and follow-on sessions so they can revisit and ask any questions that they might have. This means that they’re prepared for when the system goes live!
Setting out goals & objectives
Every business is different, and subsequently the goals and objectives being worked towards are different too. It’s key to identify what these goals are before implementing new technology so that everyone understands their role and the expectations that have been set.
When setting goals, it’s important to consider:
- You’re new to the system – be modest and work upwards
- Potential cultural or political challenges to implementation
- Solutions to the potential challenges – they might not be as problematic as they initially seem!
- Is this the right system?
Of course, every technology business wants to make their products or services successful but they also want to ensure they do a good job. Onboarding the wrong customer, for the sake of a sale, can be counteractive. If a business is seeking to use our system to solve problems that are unrealistic then we will be honest about it. Failing to do so could result in a potentially poor reputation for us and a negative experience for the prospect, which neither of us would want.
Implementing disruptive technology is a lot simpler and easier than sometimes expected. If everyone is on the same page, working towards the same goals and the expectation agreed then the experience will be positive and great things can be achieved!
75% of businesses are already investing in technologies to harness the power of disruption
CEO pulse
Originally Published 26/02/2019
