Introduction
The new age of business demands technology adoption (also known as digital adoption) and stats prove it.
According to Statista, technology adoption has been the leading priority for global companies' information technology (IT) initiatives since 2020.
Business technology is constantly changing — and if you don't keep up with them, you'll lose opportunities and be left behind by your competitors.
In this article, we’ll help you understand what technology adoption is, its benefits, challenges and how you can create your own technology adoption plan.
Let’s dive in.
What is technology adoption?
The acceptance and integration of new technologies into already-existing systems or the development of brand-new ones are referred to as technology adoption in business.
It involves utilizing technology to the fullest extent possible while making adjustments to meet changing consumer needs.
What is the technology adoption lifecycle?
The progression of customer behavior as it adopts new technology is known as the technology adoption life cycle (or technology adoption curve). It describes the process a product goes through as it spans its life cycle and how consumers adapt to new technologies.
This concept is crucial because it enables businesses to monitor and forecast how society will adopt new technologies. It can be used as a tool to predict future sales and inventory requirements.
Innovations, early adopters, early majority, late majority and laggards are the five stages of technological adoption.
What are the benefits of technology adoption?
Adopting technology in business, no matter its size, nature and clientele, can be crucial for its development.
The key is to pay close attention to how your current technology satisfies your company's needs.
You should also be aware of whether investing now is a good idea given the state of technology and whether it can benefit your company.
Here are 5 benefits of adopting new technology in your organization.
1. Better efficiency
Technology adoption helps you speed up the processes by bringing more flexible ways to carry out your tasks efficiently.
For example, In April 2020, 46.6 percent of UK workers were doing at least some remote work and 86 percent said they began telecommuting due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
They could continue their work even during the Covid-19 pandemic because they were "leveraging" technology adoption.
This means that, if done correctly, technology adoption does increase your organization's performance and overall efficiency.
2. Robust workflows
Building automated digital transformation workflows for a variety of operations, including marketing, onboarding, advertising campaigns, buying and selling, reimbursements and more, can be greatly aided by technology.
A workflow management system will assist organizations in streamlining workflows and carrying on with operations even during unpredictable times.
Process simplification, reduced turnaround time and minimal human effort are the main goals of such systems.
3. Competitive edge
Digital transformation is essential for organizations to remain competitive. Many startups now use cutting-edge technologies like AI, Big Data and Blockchain.
By leveraging these technologies, businesses can provide clients with valuable services, increase revenue streams and offer products, services no one else offers.
Additionally, it positions businesses in the eyes of their clients and investors as risk-takers and innovators, creating new pathways to a larger market and more funding.
4. Ability to address remote and hybrid work challenges
As a result of the COVID-19 outbreak, many organizations still find it challenging to manage their remote and hybrid workforces.
Modern communications and collaboration tools such as Slack can be used to solve these problems. Such solutions make it possible for entire organizations to remain linked and coordinated. Coworkers can call or message one another about joint projects.
Additionally, they can create and monitor task progress using collaborative tools, keeping everyone updated.
5. Reduced costs
In the long term, new technology pays off. The cost of adopting new technology and solutions will be significantly outweighed by the savings you will get from not having your technology maintained continuously or dealing with downtime that saps production.
For example, you can save even more if you invest in the cloud because doing so reduces expenses associated with operating your hardware, such as maintenance and utilities.
Your cloud service provider will cover all these costs, so you no longer need to worry about setting aside money for them.
What are the challenges of technology adoption & how to solve them?
Businesses are integrating new technologies into their workflows to stay competitive. However, this does not mean that everything goes smoothly. Businesses frequently face obstacles. Here are the top 5 challenges and how to resolve them.
1. Sufficient skill sets
Many businesses lack the expertise needed to use the technology they're implementing. Especially when you don't have access to in-house IT specialists with the necessary skills, the condition gets even worse.
To overcome this, you can hire an in-house team or outsource it to other vendors that satisfy your requirements.
In today's remote world, organizations aren't restricted by locations — enabling them to access talent worldwide and discover the specialized skills they need to develop or execute their new technologies.
2. Clear objectives and goals
If you're unsure of what goals you're looking to achieve with technology adoption, you won't be able to make the most out of it.
It's because having a clear view of your goals in mind helps you strategize your steps in the right direction. Otherwise, chances are you'll end up spending your time, money and resources with zero ROI.
So, decide on the goals of every department within your organization and share these goals with your team and employees to make sure everyone is on the same page.
3. Onboarding users
Onboarding new users and training them is one of the biggest challenges an organization faces.
Since employees must know how to use any particular tool, you need to train them. To do so, consider creating training guides that clearly describe each step.
Remember, different employees need to excel in different tools/features according to their job, so one training guide isn't going to work for all; you need to customize it accordingly.
Creating training guides is a time taking process. But luckily we can help you solve this problem.
You can now cut down on this by using Scribe, which helps you generate training guides for every process you need.
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Scribe can automate your entire documentation process and produce interactive step-by-step guides in a matter of seconds. These guides are completely customizable, so you can pick an on-brand color palette, add videos or gifs and share it with the team.
Here’s one in action!
And with Scribe Pages, you can combine Scribes with videos, images and more to create dynamite, visual process docs.
4. Cost
Even though many businesses desire to tap into technology transformation, they hesitate because of the required investment.
However, it's important to understand that adapting to new technology will help you save more in the long run. Because relying on the older ones will demand higher maintenance and you also lose out in terms of efficiency.
So, consider measuring the ROI and think for the long term.
5. Risk
Every new technology you bring in your organization comes with inherent risks.
Will I get the expected ROI? Will these tools actually facilitate the transformation I expect? There will be lots of questions coming into your mind.
But here's the thing — risks cannot be completely avoided, yet without them, there would be no payoff.
Read all the evaluations and customer feedback to find the existing solutions that seem to be the perfect fit for your requirements.
How to create your own technology adoption plan?
Here's how you can create a technology adoption plan in 5 simple steps:
1. Analyze your needs
Before implementing a solution, you need to analyze your needs. This helps you get in the right direction.
The possibilities of the present and future states should be the main focus of the requirements analysis. Consider process, people and technology needs when conducting this review.
2. Focus on creating an end-user solution
End users' opinions should always be considered when transforming the workforce.
Since they will be using the programs continuously and it may be challenging to fully comprehend the issue from their perspective, you should have a meeting with them and understand what they have to say.
Even though this step is time-consuming, it helps lay a strong foundation for future buy-in and trust in the program.
3. Run a pilot program
In order to allow for careful monitoring and assessment, pilot programs are normally carried out in a controlled environment.
Early adopters who can later champion changes and aid in training in their particular fields should be included in the pilot program participants.
Analyze how the technology, workflow and processes affect the test group as the pilot is being conducted. Be sure to leave time for changes while organizing the pilot program so that it may be implemented for a bigger group later.
4. Build a comprehensive communication strategy
When a business transforms, effective communication is critical. Changes should be communicated to employees in advance so that they can accept them and fully understand the advantages of the transformation. Lack of transparency fosters a "them" and "us" mentality, which results in many dissatisfied workers.
Meetings, conferences and video chats are important tools for effectively communicating the change happening in your organization. The planning team should make a great effort to be very detailed about what will change and what will stay the same.
Each meeting should also encourage team members to raise particular concerns and participate in the adjustments as they take place. Showing how the employee will profit from the software or new technology will help you overcome any negativity or opposition.
5. Train your employees
Before introducing the new technology, a comprehensive training program should be created given that 70 percent of employees believe they lack the skills needed to do their job which can lead to an annual loss of approximately US $550 billion.
The interface navigation, work saving and basic work functions should be the main priorities of this program. Everyone should engage in hands-on practice throughout the training since it exposes the team to the new technology and helps them get more comfortable with it.
Scribe top tip: Using Scribe, you can turn your "not so interesting" training guides into visual instructions - fast. Scribe creates a step-by-step guide with texts and annotated screenshots in seconds.
Let the Scribe do its magic to make your training guides effective and efficient.
Leverage technology adoption
Technology adoption is here to stay — and it should be a priority for every organization in the upcoming years.
One main hurdle in this path would be employee training. However, since companies that invest in employee training gain 21 percent more profit, it "needs" to be your priority.
Don't stress, we are here to make this process easier. Choosing Scribe can help you fill gaps in any formal training programs and empower teammates to learn any processes.
