Dahna Goldstein, PhilanTech

You’re a leader of an organization, about to begin a new technology project. Getting buy-in for a technology change can be essential to the success of the initiative. Here are some things to think about when approaching a technology change for your organization:

Set a clear direction from the top.

All too often, technology changes are seen as the purview of just the technology staff (or accidental techie). People in the rest of the organization can feel disconnected from tech changes. The first important step in creating buy-in for technology changes is to set a clear direction from the top of the organization, as well as from the outset of the initiative. Seeing that top management is committed helps convey the importance of the change.

Tie tech changes to mission.

You probably work with some very dedicated people. They believe in the organization and are committed to its mission. If the technology change you’re proposing is clearly tied to furthering the organization’s mission, most staff will get on board .(And if the tech change isn’t helping your organization’s mission, you may want to question whether it’s an initiative you should be undertaking to begin with).

It isn’t enough for you to know that the new technology will support the organization’s mission – you need to communicate it clearly to your staff, as well.

Communicate early and often.

It’s easier for people to feel bought-in when they know what’s going on. Good communication is always important in an organization, but it’s even more important when undertaking a change initiative.

Communication must be frequent and flow in all directions. While it’s important for you to communicate your vision and plan for the technology change, it’s equally important to encourage communication at other levels in the organization. Staff should feel encouraged to communicate with you and with other change leaders, and should be encouraged to talk amongst themselves as well as with their managers.

This accomplishes several things:

• frequent communication from you helps people feel involved;
• a route to communicate back to you helps people feel like their opinions are heard;
• a safe environment in which to communicate with each other helps staff mitigate some of the anxiety they might be feeling about the impending change;
• and, finally, sometimes some great ideas can come from people on the organization’s front lines that can significantly benefit from the change initiative or highlight potential pitfalls before they occur.

Involve and empower staff.

Generally speaking, it’s easier to get people bought-in to an initiative when they feel they have a say, rather than feeling like the initiative is being thrust upon them. Involving people who will be directly affected by the change early in the process helps them feel they have some influence and encourages them to provide feedback and make suggestions.

It is frequently impractical to involve every staff person at every stage of a change initiative, so consider:

• who will be most directly affected by the proposed change;
• who will be indirectly affected by the proposed change;
• at what point broad input would be most valuable to the decision-making process;
• at what key points input can be solicited;
• how input will be solicited (from forming cross-functional teams to focus groups to one-on-one meetings and anything in between);
• how to solicit input on an ongoing basis, even once decisions have been made.

Tech changes need champions and influencers.

In addition to a change leader, a change champion is someone who can help bring others along with the change. You need to be a champion for the change, and other change champions in the organization can help.

It is important to know who the key influencers are in your organization. Getting them involved early in the process can help generate buy-in across the organization. When people see that a key influencer is bought-in and involved, they are more likely to get on board themselves.

Recognize that change causes anxiety, and work to mitigate it.

In our personal lives, we tend not to like change, particularly changes over which we feel we have no control. The same is true in organizational changes.

People may be concerned about how a new technology will affect their jobs or day-to-day work life, or may be worried about their ability to learn the new technology. The most important element in mitigating anxiety related to organizational changes is to understand that it exists.

Anxiety can also be mitigated through good communication, involvement and empowerment, creating opportunities for feedback, and allowing people to voice their anxiety in a safe way so that they know that the anxiety they feel about an impending change is understandable, normal, and manageable.