Original source CAMTICG

Given the competitiveness of the current market and the strategic requirements of our companies, it is not strange that we must invest in technological change processes. It may be to either solve a business problem, optimize a specific procedure, achieve a competitive advantage,enable new lines and ways to satisfy the customer, or all of the above.

It is not unknown to us that the investment made in processes of this type is not small. However, some experts in the field have identified that up to 75% of the organizational transformation processes that involve some technological element face difficulties in their implementation or fail.

The reason: people resist incorporating the proposed technological change (Markus, 2004).

Why do they resist? Because, usually, any technological transformation will imply an impact on the way work is traditionally done. It involves changes in our mastery and knowledge of the task (power, image, and positioning). It transforms the relationships between people and various systems of the organization, which causes fear, frustration, and expectations of several types.

This resistance generates multiple risks for the organization and projects, including the following:

  • Investment loss
  • Delays or reprocesses in the activities.
  • Impact on the quality of the information entered into the systems.
  • Impact on customer service and company image.

Therefore, it is of vital importance to manage technological change and the proper administration of the resistance associated with the transformation, as well as its incorporation as another element in the development of technology implementation projects.

For this purpose, the end-users of the new tool and all those who are affected directly or indirectly by this transformation, should be considered depending on the dimension of the change.

A technology change associated with the company’s strategy will usually imply changes in the organization’s processes and in how things are done. Its structure, characteristics, and requirements of the positions and people, modifying along the way organizational conceptions, behaviors, individual and collective habits, and even cultural changes.

Therefore, any technological change project must consider the sum of these elements: strategy, organization, and processes, as well as people, throughout all its phases:

  • Conceptualization and definition of project impact
  • Project opening
  • Information gathering
  • Formation of work teams
  • Requirements gathering
  • Testing
  • Putting into production
  • Support
  • Stabilization

StabilizationAt each stage, emphasis should be placed on the following elements:

  • Communication: It is vital that from the project’s conceptualization and in each planned phase, the population that is directly or indirectly involved is kept informed about the project, its scope, and its progress.

Good communication supports the management of uncertainty, the understanding of what is changing, its importance for the company, and the work of each collaborator. It promotes the understanding of the personal role in the process, increases the probability of participation, and visualizes the implications of not changing.

  • Organization: It allows reviewing organizational elements at a structural and operational level, which will be required for the technology change to bear the expected fruits. Processes, positions, competencies, and people must be considered.
  • Education and training: In addition to being a natural part of the implementation process of any new technology, training will empower the impacted population and support the construction of a sense of greater control.Monitoring of openness to change: It allows to identify the level at which the organizational population is willing to change and identify possible obstacles in the process to act proactively to avoid them or establish contingency measures for their adequate management.
  • Accompaniment in the adoption process: Facilitates the gradual incorporation of the proposed change as a new way of doing things, which increases the probability of success and implementation in the long term, as well as the establishment of improvement processes.

In the change management process, it is vital to involve multiple levels of the organization through an interdisciplinary and multilevel change management committee.

The committee must have the explicit support of the company’s top management, as well as incorporate elements of broad participation with the impacted population. In this way, it will lead agood course and facilitate technological change in your organization.