5 Musts for a Smooth Tech Evaluation Process
With any business process change, there’s bound to be pushback from your employees. Regardless of the benefits and efficiencies that a new process may bring, confusion, avoidance, and the need for a culture change should be among the first topics considered and addressed. Training, process outlines, implication considerations, and culture change drivers are crucial to the success of a newly introduced process.
When we talk about process changes that are essential to technology implementation, like that of a CRM software, the situation gets even more complicated. It’s one thing to change the flow of information in an organization without a new piece of technology. It’s another to introduce a technology that essentially removes the need for manual communication of information.
So how do you get your employees to adopt the new technology that you’ve selected? Let’s start from the beginning. Before you even began your product evaluation, did you consider the needs of those individuals on your team who would actually use the tool?
Before you evaluate or introduce any type of new technology, you may want to have a discussion with your team to both understand individual expectations and also to level-set the factors that will likely go into your decision. Consider completing the following checklist prior to your technology evaluation:
- Identify process leaders, from both a business department and IT management perspective.
- Involve your team and understand the current processes of all potential system users.
- Share your exact goals with your team, including the processes you’re looking to improve and the efficiencies you’re seeking.
- Recognize all technologies that may be impacted by a new tool or process.
- Determine a high-level training plan (subject to change) at the beginning of your evaluation.
So what’s next after you’ve determined each of these items? Plans for implementation and adoption are almost as important as your technology evaluation process and your purchase decision. By clearly defining each of these stages, especially when implementing a CRM system, you’re more likely to actually reap the benefits of the technology.
