There is no denying the positive impact IT has on business efficiency and productivity, yet it can still be met with resistance when employers try to introduce new technology into the workplace.
To ensure your business makes the most of its IT investments, we look at why people resist using IT in their work and what can be done about it.
Why people resist new IT
There are many reasons why IT can cause concern for someone reluctant to adopt a new technology in the workplace. Whenever you meet resistance it’s important not to make assumptions about the reason but to explore the problem with the people concerned.
However, there are some common reasons why businesses meet resistance that you can avoid:
- Too much change: The pace of change for many industries can be rapid and businesses want to keep up with change to remain competitive. But if change isn’t managed effectively, workers can feel alienated and lost. They can also be left with the perception that the business itself doesn’t know what it’s doing when there’s a lot of churn and no apparent reason for it.
- Change happens too quickly: The timing and implementation of change are critical. If introduced at a time that’s not optimal for a team or individual, perhaps because they have other deadlines looming, they are at critical point in a project or resources are restricted, the perceived disruption of implementing a new system is too much to take on board. It’s likely that any plans for new IT will meet a cold reception. Pushing new IT into the business as soon as possible may not always be the most optimal approach.
The pace of introduction is also an important consideration. A timeline that allows people to adjust to various stages of implementation and helps them to feel in control and on top of the changes are also likely to produce more positive results.
- A lack of understanding why the IT is being introduced: If current tools or processes seem to be working well enough, if a change is introduced without people understanding the rationale or the expected outcome of the change, people will want to stick with the status quo for fear of how it may affect their future employment.
This point also emphasises the importance of communication. Communicating the details and reasoning behind a change is critical to a successful adoption and integration. Ambiguity can lead to anxiety but good communications removes any ambiguity. Also consider that if it isn’t important enough to communicate about, people may feel it’s not important enough to bother about.
- Leaving users out of the process: If something impacts on their role and they don’t feel part of the process, people feel disgruntled and even threatened by the change. You will also be missing out on their insight into how IT can best be utilised and fail to get their buy-in.
- Users don’t think they can use the IT: Anxiety about not being able to use new IT is not uncommon and can automatically stop someone from engaging with it. People are often uncomfortable about getting things wrong in a work environment and will be reluctant to use something they don’t feel capable of because of any potential implication from their error.
Overcoming resistance to change
Ensuring involvement, good communication and building engagement are important to overcoming resistance to any change in IT. Helping those who will be affected most to understand why change is happening, the objectives and the benefits it will have on them will bring people on board to participate.
They will also understand the expectations on them and be better equipped to adjust and support the change.
Training can be an integral tool to ensuring that you take your people on the journey with you. It can ensure participants understand their purpose and the capabilities of new tools, that users know how it will be employed to improve effectiveness and efficiency, feel equipped to make full use of its capabilities to their full potential and see how it can make life easier for them.
The level of understanding and engagement that IT training can deliver will help users feel in control, which is an important part of change management. For businesses, it will ensure the money they’ve invested won’t go to waste or risk creating a disillusioned team that sees productivity fall rather than increase.
Effective IT training
Whatever the challenges you may be facing with new IT, 365 Training Consultants can help you create or tailor the right training package, delivered via the most convenient means, to get your IT implantation plan back on track and deliver the results you want.
For a no-obligation discussion about how IT can support your change programme contact us today.
