How to Convince Employees to Adopt New Technology

This is it. You’ve done it. You’ve found a piece of technology that can solve your team’s problems.

It eliminates duplicated efforts. It streamlines communication. It increases productivity, sparks innovation and minimizes your pores.

But here’s the thing… no one is using it.

So now, you’re the happy recipient of emails like…

Freshie,

I am disappointed to see low adoption rates for the MakeLifeEasier tool. Please let me know how you plan on increasing adoption over the coming weeks, as this has been a topic of discussion during our recent budget talks.

Thanks…

Your Reason for the Sunday Scaries

Cue the cold sweats.

Scary wants answers, yesterday. But asking for something new is easier than creating it. What strategies can you implement to inspire others to embrace change?

Do you travel from cube to cube, pleading with your teammates to at least log in? Do you offer a free lunch and make your pitch…again? Do you quit your job and start a TikTok channel about your cat?

No. You chug your coffee, take a deep breath, and make a plan for how to convince employees to adopt new technology.

Or, even better, use ours.

We’ve compiled a list of common reasons team members give as resistance to using new tech tools, along with some solutions to help you overcome those objections.

They say: “What’s in it for me RIGHT NOW?”

Your plan: Offer up incentives

On the surface, it may feel like bribery. Surely the professionals you work with don’t need a reward for adopting a tool that will make them better at their job? The answer is they absolutely do. Think about the last time you had to change your behavior. Did you offer yourself a reward for doing the right thing?

We’re talking about that pizza you ordered because you’d eaten healthy all week. You deserved it. And the wine. Why? Because you put in the work. You got the prize.

Same thing goes for your team.

Offering incentives for using the tool not only increases your adoption rates, it’s your way of helping employees deal with change in the workplace. Like saying, “Hey. I know changing your routine can be hard. Here’s a reward for going the distance.”

Your incentive should be comparable to the amount of work you’re asking from your team members. If they’re just being asked to use Microsoft Teams instead of Zoom for virtual calls, something like a gift card or a t-shirt could be the perfect reward.

If, however, you’re asking them to learn an entirely new project management system, you’ll need to up your game. We’ve seen clients offer everything from more PTO to straight cash.

They say: “I can’t tell this tool from the five others we have.”

Your plan: Create a brand

Some tools that you roll out may come with a ready-made identity. In that case, lucky you! You already have a name, tagline and logo to work with.

If, however, you have none of these things, don’t worry! You can create them from scratch. If you don’t have an internal creative team (or if this team is already up to their eyeballs in work), partner with an agency who specializes in internal communications and behavior change.

(Gee, who could that be… )

Anyway.

Your brand will convey the “why” behind your tools, provide a voice and tone that you can carry through all of your communications, and establish a visual identity that tells your team members they’re in the right place.

To quote The Dude, “It really ties the room together.”

They say: “I don’t really believe this tool is everything you say it is. Also, I don’t trust you.”

Your plan: Bring on the influencers

Okay, they may not say that to your face, but your team members are probably suspicious of all those promises you’ve been making about this tool. So don’t ask them to take your word for it.

Before you roll out the tool to the rest of your team, tag a few of your top performers to serve as influencers. Because if Christina Tossi can convince people to pay nearly 100 bucks to get a 6-inch birthday cake shipped to their door, your influencers can help convince your team that your tool is worth their time.

Invest time in training your influencers, seek their ideas and input and ask them to share their success stories with you. Of course, incentives apply to these folks, too!

Your influencers can spread the word about your new tool, speak to the benefits of adopting new technology and even help answer questions. Plus, their successes can be used as examples that your tool does what you’ve said it can do.

They say: “I don’t know where to go to…

* Learn more about the tool
* Get my questions answered”

Your plan: Build a central repository for info

You have to make it easy for team members to find what they’re looking for. If they have to spend more than a few seconds searching for how access your tool, they’re going to say, “I could just do this process the old way. It’d be faster.” And coming back from that is hard.

House all of your helpful information in one place, whether that’s on a Google Drive, in Microsoft SharePoint, your team’s Dropbox or your shared internal files. Wherever you choose, make sure that all of your information is easy to access and understand. Label files clearly. Include links to helpful resources. Give team members a place to submit questions and feedback.

Creating a one-stop-shop is not only helpful, it will keep those “Where do I go to find…” emails out of your inbox.

They say: “I don’t have time to learn this.”

Your plan: Create snackable training materials

You could spend all of your time training team members in one-on-one sessions, but do you really have the time? The answer, of course, is no. You do not. Instead, create a variety of easy-to-digest training materials and house them in that one-stop-shop we talked about earlier. These could include…

• A one-page overview
• FAQ documents
• How-to videos
• …and others, depending on the complexity of your tech

These documents can help answer current team members’ questions. Plus, they can help with onboarding new team members. It’s a win-win.

They say: “I didn’t see that…

Your plan: Create a communications plan

You know how we feel about one-off emails. (If you don’t, check out The WordsFresh Roadmap to Employee Engagement.) In a nutshell, their chances of success are slim. If you really want to get your message across, share it multiple times in multiple places.

The blog post linked above goes into the details of creating an effective communications plan, but here’s what you need to know right now: you need a communications plan. It’s the cornerstone of any communications strategy. Without it, you may as well be screaming (or typing) into the void.

They say: “I don’t really HAVE to use this.”
Your plan: Get leadership buy-in

When given the option, most people take the path of least resistance. That’s why it’s so important to get leaders on board with your new tech. When team members start to amble down that path marked “old processes”, these leaders can gently (but firmly) redirect them. Because they’re in charge.

You can set your fellow leaders up for success by creating helpful materials like a Manager’s Toolkit or FAQ document.

So there you have it. A collection of strategies you can use to convince employees to adopt new technology. If you’re wondering how to combine these strategies into one all-encompassing, targeted plan, you know who to call (or, you know, email).

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