Turn Fear to Passion Creating Staff Buy In for New Technology

Why Is this so hard? Shouldn’t we just accept,

learn and move on?

The Plan Phases to a technology roll out

– Alpha Testing

– Beta Testing

– Creating the Manual

– Training the Trainers

– Training Everyone

– Soft Rollout

– Ongoing Training and Support

Alpha Testing: Become an Expert •

– • • • •

Embrace your Inner Nerd “So, there’s going to be a thing in your life that you

love….The way you love that, and the way that you find other people who love it the way you do is what makes you a nerd. The defining characteristic of [being a nerd] is that we love things.”

– Wil Wheaton

In Other Words… • Find your passion for the technology.

• Didn’t choose it? Don’t like it?

• Find the positives and let yourself get excited about them.

The Dark Side of Nerdom • • • •

Flipside: Empower Yourself

• If you know something new is coming, do preliminary research.

• Identify what may be an issue for you. • Skill build: practice basic technical

skills regularly. Typing proficiency, Office Suite, using images in documents.

You are a PR Department •

– •

– •

Beta Testing •

– • •

Creating the Manual • • •

Visual, Clear Instructions

Overdrive Example

Find the Things that Aren’t Intuitive

Training the Trainers •

– • • •

Training Everyone: Create Realistic Competencies

• • • •

The Critical Importance of Hands On

• Lectures are the perfect format for the abstract. • Technology is concrete. • If your documentation is sufficient, trainees will need

minimal notes. • Limited access to the product can encourage trainers

to do lecture style classes. – You must then supplement with one on one hands on

training. • Yes, even if it seems like it should be easy and simple.

Find the Fun • Appeal to pre-existing interests and areas of increased ease.

• Use humor where appropriate.

• Be honest about limitations and work together to find workarounds.

i.e. The Space After Paragraph button in Word 2007 and later. Acknowledging the flaw and giving people the power to fix it.

Positive Reinforcement • Food is motivating!

• Buy a lot, give a lot.

• Appeal to competitive natures.

• Create completion certificates or prizes as well.

• Find small, but useful prizes.

Why Aren’t They Getting it? • Everyone learns at a different pace and from different

kinds of instruction. • If a group of people just aren’t getting it, examine first

the product, then the trainer and lastly, the trainees. • But I tested the product!

– “The design of everyday things is in great danger of becoming the design of superfluous, overloaded, unnecessary things.” — Donald A. Norman, The Design of Everyday Things

Not all technology has a user-centric design. What seems obvious to the designer is confusing to the end user.

This is when a good manual becomes critical. Let it be the equipment that helps your staff scale the mountain.

The Doomsday Prophets and other Naysayers • Some feel that anxiety and loss more strongly than others. They

like to spread it around.

• Counteract them with positive gossip and a heavy dose of polite smiling. They gain power from arguments.

That’s a Great Question! And other useful phrases.

• “I had the same question when I started out and I found out that….”

• “That’s an interesting hypothetical. I’ll look into it.” • “It’s not ideal, but it is better than ( previous

system) because…” • “I hear what you’re saying and you’re right, but this is

the best solution right now.” • “Thank you! That’s a great point. I’ll take it under

advisement.”

Flipside: Finding the Upside • Complaining feels good, but ultimately wears us

down. • No technology is perfect. Flaws are easy to

identify. • Ask yourself: how can this make my life easier?

How can I make this technology work in my favor? • Don’t come to a final conclusion until you’ve been

working daily with a system for three months. • Think about every time Facebook changes it’s

platform.

You Aren’t Stupid! • There will always be someone quick to critique

themselves. • Negative self-talk creates self-fulfilling prophecy by

creating a built in excuse. • Use statements like ‘This is difficult material’ or ‘It

will take time, but we’re all going to figure this out together’.

• It’s easy to contradict quickly with ‘You’re not stupid’, but that doesn’t fully answer their concern.

That One Person that Just Doesn’t Get It

• You know. THAT PERSON. • Give them a one-on-one training. • Discuss their stumbling blocks. • Acknowledge their fears. • Stand firm that this is the way it is

now, regardless of their comfort level.

• Check in with them. Discreetly.

Flipside: Oh no, am I that one person? • Everyone has been this person at least once in their lives.

• This instructor had to take algebra three times. • You aren’t stupid. Sometimes things just don’t click. • Find alternate sources of training. Maybe how it’s offered

isn’t your learning style. • Stay calm. Anxiety can blind the learning process. If

you’re overwhelmed, allow yourself breaks. The aqueducts weren’t invented in a day.

• Technology is a language. Learning new languages is tough!

What About the Patrons? • If the new technology impacts the patrons, your

front line people will be bracing for that feedback.

• No matter how much preparation is done or how awesome the technology, some patrons will pushback.

• Include responding to patron feedback in training. – Otherwise you may contend with that negative PR.

– Consider writing full on scripted responses.

What Does Good One -on -One Help Look Like?

• Patience

• Calm

• Listening

• Fear soothing

• Hands on

Soft Rollout- Begin without Beginning

• No advertising.

• Gentle introduction of the new technology without expectation.

• Final beta test to sort out bugs and hang ups

• Amend the manual as necessary.

Release Day Can feel like this:

But… • Prepare for the worst and encourage the best.

• Remember that you are the PR department. – Find a positive spin.

• Address issues as they come up.

• Smile through it all. Especially when you get ‘I told you so’ from your Doomsday Prophets.

• It takes about 12 weeks to adjust to a change.

Forward into the Past! • Training is ongoing for all things. • Consider periodic refresher courses. • No Help Desk? Designate your trainers as

Desk. • Even better, promote the best trainees to Help Desk

status. • Ensure that the extra responsibility isn’t a burden or

that feeling will transmit to the trainees. • Be available yourself to answer questions. Strive for

patience and calm.

your Help

Trickle Down Effect • Get your administration on your side.

• Sell them hard on the technology.

• If possible, train them first. Make them experts.

• Ideally, create an environment that gradually does not allow for them or anyone else to use workarounds.

Know When to Hold ‘em and When to Fold ‘em

• Sometimes new technology doesn’t work out. • Give it at least six months before making a final

judgment. • When possible, avoid long contracts that bind

you to something you haven’t had a chance to properly test.

• Admit to a failure, but don’t let it stop you from trying something new again.

Veronica Reynolds

vreynolds@rcls.org