Let’s say you’re a CEO and are considering acquiring a new software system for your company. What should new software do to the company in terms of how employees feel towards the idea of a new system?
Let’s say you’re a CEO and are considering acquiring a new software system for your company. What should new software do to the company in terms of how employees feel towards the idea of a new system?
Are employees working for computers or computers working for employees?
Employees need to feel empowered. They should feel like time will be freed up to spend on growing the business in other areas. Employees should feel that they get it and engage with it easily, with nothing being too super complex and mind-blowing. It should be very straightforward. The whole problem we’ve got with software currently is that people are working for computers. This should be the other way around.
Your employees should feel like all the laborious processes in the company are being done by the company software. It should allow them to do what they are paid to do, working with others to problem solve, make decisions that require expertise and deep knowledge, consulting with people, the skills that the people were hired to use.
The employees are left to do these things because they are empowered thanks to the software doing everything else that they otherwise would fiddle about doing. The software should help them do their jobs more efficiently. If they are not feeling liberated they could feel quite scared about it.
The arrival of the iPhone
The launch of the iPhone is a great point in case. It revolutionised how people could work. It liberated people because they could finally get their emails on the phone in a comprehensible way.
The only real email on-the-go predecessor to the iPhone was the Blackberry, but the Blackberry was very text-driven, with a full button keyboard. It was very programmatic and logical. Sure you got your email on the move but that was the only box it ticked. It wasn't easy, accessible, fun.
Everyone on the planet was attracted to the iPhone. It was that empowering and liberating experience that the iPhone email client brought to the table as an offering. It showed what was possible.
It was thought before then that personal email on-the-go was not a possibility. It brought computing to where you wanted it to be. You didn't need a computer or laptop on the train. You could now do work on the train, with your phone.
Employees might see a new system as a threat
In terms of how rapid technology is developing employees at your company may get feelings of nervousness of how this new system might affect them. Employees may worry over job security, with thoughts like ‘Is my job going to reduce to a part-time role?’. Then when the system comes in, they could be asking ‘Can I work with this system? Is it intuitive?’.
Human intelligence
Employees can offer the human touch. There's so much that people can offer - the personal touch, noticing an anomaly. Short of well-developed AI (Artificial Intelligence), humans can spot trends quicker. They can spot stuff a mile off that's wrong. They’ve lived it breathed it so they’re probably the best person to spot when something is wrong.
A new system should make employees happier
The feelings of a new system should be that quality will go up. Employees should never think, ‘Oh I want the old system back’. People don't like change but when they get a new system, they shouldn’t think they want to go back.
The opportunity of implementing a new software system should provoke the feeling that they will be happier in their role as they can provide a better level of service to the companies stakeholders.
Employees should feel like they could do their job better. Showing employees that this is an opportunity to do things better is a key mission, to rid them of the days of when they had to brew a cup of tea while the computer system loads. Showing them that this is an opportunity to do things better is a sure way to adoption.
Make work play
A whole other paradigm on this is the notion of ‘Make work play’ that we have been ruminating on, here at Appdrawn. This is the idea of bringing gamification to motivate and excite people with an opportunity to enjoy what they do, more than they did before, to rise to a challenge and better themselves, better the role and better the business.
There should be opportunities for people to be empowered but also get more pleasure from what they do because it works more smoothly and gets better results.
If you would like to discuss your business system needs, please call 01442 211999 for a free consultation.