Written by Natalia Kawana and Vratislav Holub
In today’s world, we have to deal with technology in every field and as an integral part of our lives. Technology has become one of the most critical aspects of our routine, and we constantly use it for our own benefit. On the macrolevel, it has a tremendous impact on humanity and the economy itself, and it has transformed our culture and the way we work. However, the adoption of new technology comes with a huge responsibility, which we should not neglect. How does technology impact employees? In this article, we’ll talk about the main benefits when adopting new technology at the workplace, and then discuss its shortcomings. To do so, let’s consider a typical scenario: the introduction of new software.
What are the benefits of digital transformation for business?
The number one advantage and the most apparent reason why society tries to engage technology in their businesses is easy to understand – technology can make many jobs easier, and it can additionally raise production and profit in many businesses. Implementing the right technology can even substantially lower the real production costs of a product or service. Apart from all the modernization which can be inserted with new machines, we have the introduction of diverse software to carry out virtually any task, from administrative ones to more job-specific activities.
The aim with adopting software is often the same: to make things easier for all involved, to make processes faster and to optimize time and resources involved. Nevertheless, to reap all these benefits, a business or company’s staff and customers have to know how to use all the new technology correctly. If not, technology becomes pointless.
What to do when your employees or customers meet a problem?
Imagine a situation where you have successfully implemented what you believe to be the most suitable technology for your company. A typical example is when a company adopts or even develops a whole new digital platform, in order to save time and resources and optimize their internal processes.
Enterprise software are usually quite an investment. Thus, when companies hire a new employee or get new users on this platform, they expect these users to onboard on the new platform quite easily, and to quickly become productive, granting a good ROI. And then companies also expect them and more senior employees to use this software on a regular basis, and correctly, as implementing software is not enough if your employees and customers cannot use it.
But what if your technology is not so intuitive and your employees and customers do not know how to use it properly?
There are some options for them:
- They can get some training. And after that, they can check videos and manuals when they need to refresh what they have learned. This is, however, time-consuming and takes users from a resource to the other – from written materials to software;
- They can ask their more experienced colleagues for help. This is, however, not very productive, as you involve at least two of your employees to do one single task. It can also be disruptive, as the “coach” employee will need to interrupt their own activities. Last, it could also be that more experienced employees are not very skilled in teaching others, and thus that the whole process is not very effective;
- They can turn to support and help centers, by for example opening tickets, or talking to an operator. Again not the most efficient method, as it is time-consuming and involves more people to finish a single task. Also, instructions sent with screenshots or over the phone risk being not very clear.
- They improvise. Employees and customers can end up doing things the way they believe is best – for example by doing a process randomly, in the order they believe is correct. The problem with this is that you will end up having no standardized tasks, and possibly many mistakes, which can be costly and even harmful for your company (think about your reputation, for example);
- They forget about the new resource and stick to the old methods. This scenario is possibly even worse than all the previous, as this means not adopting the new technology at all.
Well, sometimes even all the above will not be enough to achieve the results planned. Users are often blamed for not being able to use digital resources. But is it always their fault? Let’s face it, people who often use the computer and different software on their everyday lives should be able to adopt the software properly. It’s many times not a matter of ability. If this profile of users is having trouble, we need to ask ourselves if the platform has been designed to be user-friendly and intuitive. “The problem is not you, it’s the software!”, is a plausible scenario here.
Sometimes, companies need to change their own platform in order to achieve the expected results. But this is a real hassle and not always possible. When you go for third-party software, asking for changes is virtually implausible, and switching providers means investing heavily once again, often only to find the same old software usability problems. If we’re talking about your own software, improving it can be an option, provided that you have the time and resources to engage with this. However, in any case, it will take some time until you figure out what needs to be changed, and if this change is not managed properly, with due consideration to your users, it is likely to be ineffective.
All the above is just a concise list of all which can be troublesome and can go wrong when adopting new software. But let’s now look into alternatives. The best would be to find a single solution to all of these problems: Overlay Technology.
How can overlay technology help?
Overlay technology can help you substitute all the ineffective training and support and provide your users with the help they need right there, in-app, clearly and step-by-step, precisely to the point. On the other hand, overlay technology is a quick and accessible way for companies and software vendors to improve their own software.
As we mentioned before, some series of patches can fix the user’s complications with technology. But for all which was considered above, this is not always possible. Newired’s intelligent overlay technology adds an entirely new layer to your web application, and thanks to that, your original platform can be improved in many ways.
With our software solution, you can design individual journeys for your customers and employees, which will help them get familiar with the application itself. In addition, the process of creating journeys is straightforward and completely code free. The main benefit of adding a Newired overlay on the software used by your company is that your new employees will not need any specific training, because they will be able to follow pre-designed journeys and learn with them how to handle the platform.
Imagine a situation when you implement a whole new feature. How do your customers learn to use it properly? You can set up an entirely new journey for that, which will lead your customers through it step by step. And remember, qualified employees and satisfied users are always happy and motivated. 🙂