On the day-to-day business treadmill, we feel like we’re progressing – we get through the workload, take on more work, expand the team, the normal signs of success and growth: do more, find more, expand. Repeat.
However, business leaders often fail to recognise the importance of technology infrastructures and how they have to ability to fast-track growth, or make it feel like every step is a battle.
The great news is technology can be scalable! With a little foresight and proactive measures, you are able to prepare your business for ‘the sky is the limit’ growth.
But how do you implement a technology change of this scale?
We’re glad you asked! Here’s our experts advice:
Step 1: Take stock
This might sound basic, but the first step is to look around and assess what you already have. Youmight have some great stuff in place that can be built upon!
More importantly, you need to evaluate where you are, and where you are heading. Coupled with this, you need to be able to establish where your strengths and weaknesses lie (as a business) and your ability to implement a technology change.
Many businesses either don’t have the in-house expertise to carry out such a vast change, or lack the scale needed to implement the changes efficiently. For these businesses, where implementing the changes are out-side of the scope of their in-house resources, they look to partner with an external IT team, who can fill this critical gap.
Step 2: Design your (IT) future
This is where you get to map out your future, and create a strategic, persoanlised road map for your technology change implementation.
The key to this stage is being able to establish clear goals which have a realistic time frame, and communicate these to both those who are involved with the project, and the rest of the organisation.
Communication is critical. Not only does it establish priorities, outcomes, direction and give clarity, but it also lays the foundations to prepare your business for the mental shift needed for success.
Step 3: Implement your design
This is the fun part! Bringing your design to life!
Having a technology experts with strong management skills at the helm of the project is imperativeto ensuring it is executed as per the design, and is a success. They need to be able to ensure the project adheres to the timeframes and meets the key performance indicators.
Furthermore, in order for your business to realise the new potential of it’s technology, your staff need to receive adequate training on how to leverage their new resources. The will allow you to take advantage of all the opportunities your new technology brings.
Step 4: Manage the change
This step is often neglected, but is none the less as important as the rest – managing your new changes.
Being able to commit to ongoing monitoring and accountability to your new KPI’s will cement the changes into your organisation, so they become the new norm.
However, it is important to remember technology doesn’t have an ‘end point’, it is an evolution. But once you are up to date, it becomes a lot easier to keep up with any changes.
The secret gold here lies in an organisations ability to take their technology, and what’s on offer and refine their solutions to fit their changing needs (over time).
With technology being the facilitator of all business processes – from communication to being the platform where work take place, to storing and accessing your important information and giving your business super powers (remember our discussion on the most powerful IT tools?), it is important to make sure your technology aligns with your goals and vision.
It needs to enable your staff, not hinder their ability to get the job done.
Now that you know the stages in implementing a strategic technology change, the next step is to get on and do it!
However, we know this can seem more daunting than it wounds. So if you would like some expert help to kick off your road to change, we offer a complementary IT review where we help you take stock of your current situation, and create a personalised road map to technology that aligns with your business goals. You can learn more or reserve your appointment here.
