Training Employees on New Technology

Investing in new technology for your business is a great opportunity to make work easier for your employees - but only if they understand how it works. Without adequate training, new technology can turn from a solution to a problem. In this post, we’ll go over some tips on how to plan new tech training so you can capitalize on your investment as soon as possible:

Make Training a Priority

No matter how revolutionary, game-changing, or quality-of-life-improving the new technology, it’s not going to help your business if employees don’t know how to use it effectively. In fact, it could lead to lower morale and slower processes. It’s critical, therefore, to put training front and center when integrating a new technology into the workplace.

Right off the bat, it can help to ask the provider or installer of the tech if they are able to offer training sessions to key personnel. As a provider of Boston IT services, Harbor Networks knows that implementation means more than installation, and any technology professionals should ensure that employees understand the technology they install, from unified communications to new computers.

Identify People Who Learn Quickly...

Some employees are bound to be more tech-savvy than others, tearing through training material and ready to test the technology for themselves. You can leverage their eagerness and knowledge to help get their peers up-to-speed. You may consider incentivising their work as informal liaisons to the new tech, since having someone on the ground who can help others with hangups and issues can help integrate the technology into everyday processes faster.

...and Those Who Need More Help

For some employees, however, technology is not their strong suit. If technology isn’t intuitive to someone, it will seem like a heavier burden to have to learn a new way of doing things, especially if they were already used to the old system. These employees may require extra attention from trainers and managers, not only teaching them how to use the new technology, but also explaining why an upgrade was necessary.

People Learn Differently

While it’s tempting from a business standpoint to try to train as many people in as little time as possible, a lecture or pamphlet may not be the best approach. Different people learn by listening, reading, or experiencing, and trying to train people in a way that they’re uncomfortable with is like swimming against the current. Try offering different avenues of training, like hands-on demos, online materials, and instructions that they can always have nearby.

Depending on what works for your employees, you may have to adjust your approach. Track the results of training, and don’t be afraid to change it up if it doesn’t seem to be working.

Be Sure to Follow Up

It’s important to keep tabs on people’s progress throughout the process, both with metrics and through face-to-face conversation. Ask for employees’ honest feedback about the technology and the effectiveness of training, then follow through on their advice.

While it’s necessary to stay on top of industry demands with your company’s technology, without the right training, new tech is hard to leverage. Ensure that your employees are getting all the training they need when integrating a new technology, and you’ll have a workforce that can make your business excel.