My friend, a manager of a large company told me that he brought a
new software product to improve productivity and efficiency but he is
having a tough time to make it work in his company.
I told him: “Many people purchase software and assume that “install it and it will work” then find out that they have to do more because buying software is easy, but changing the way people work requires more efforts. I have seen many companies invested a lot of money in software but did not receive the benefits because they do not understand the “change process”.
With any new technology there is a set of steps that need to be in place before it can be of any use. The most important is the people. There must be communications and trainings about the new technology because people must understand the value of the new technology and receive training on how to use it. They need to know how it affects their works and how it benefits them such as getting their works done faster, better, before they will accept it and use it. In my opinion, People are the center of everything therefore communication is essential for the change to take place.
The second step is the process or the way people work. In order to use the new technology a certain process is involved. For example, manager used to rely on accounting people, give them the number and let them calculate the results which may take several hours. With software, manager can click on the icon, enter the number and let the computer displays results immediately. The old process of relying on accounting people to do the calculation is the way people understand well. The process using computer instead of people is new and people may not feel comfortable. It is important to explain to them the benefits (Faster and more accurate) and train them to use the new software. When people understand how things are done today and how things will be done after installing the new software and the benefits they receive then they will change.
The change process requires that we must start with the people, help them to understand the new process by provide training, and finish with the software being used. Without this change process, people will experience confusion and sometime resist the change.
The same thing can be applied to the new education program. Do not expect “Just bring it in and students will enroll”. University must clearly communicate to students about the differences between the new training programs and the old. Professors need to explain the value, benefits and how it will help students to learn new knowledge, skills so they can have better jobs, better careers. More than ever, communication is essential in this change process. Unless students and their family understand it well and accept it as the better programs, new education program may not be successful.
I told him: “Many people purchase software and assume that “install it and it will work” then find out that they have to do more because buying software is easy, but changing the way people work requires more efforts. I have seen many companies invested a lot of money in software but did not receive the benefits because they do not understand the “change process”.
With any new technology there is a set of steps that need to be in place before it can be of any use. The most important is the people. There must be communications and trainings about the new technology because people must understand the value of the new technology and receive training on how to use it. They need to know how it affects their works and how it benefits them such as getting their works done faster, better, before they will accept it and use it. In my opinion, People are the center of everything therefore communication is essential for the change to take place.
The second step is the process or the way people work. In order to use the new technology a certain process is involved. For example, manager used to rely on accounting people, give them the number and let them calculate the results which may take several hours. With software, manager can click on the icon, enter the number and let the computer displays results immediately. The old process of relying on accounting people to do the calculation is the way people understand well. The process using computer instead of people is new and people may not feel comfortable. It is important to explain to them the benefits (Faster and more accurate) and train them to use the new software. When people understand how things are done today and how things will be done after installing the new software and the benefits they receive then they will change.
The change process requires that we must start with the people, help them to understand the new process by provide training, and finish with the software being used. Without this change process, people will experience confusion and sometime resist the change.
The same thing can be applied to the new education program. Do not expect “Just bring it in and students will enroll”. University must clearly communicate to students about the differences between the new training programs and the old. Professors need to explain the value, benefits and how it will help students to learn new knowledge, skills so they can have better jobs, better careers. More than ever, communication is essential in this change process. Unless students and their family understand it well and accept it as the better programs, new education program may not be successful.
By Prof John Vu
Orignal source :http://johnvublog.com/?p=374
Orignal source :http://johnvublog.com/?p=374
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