It takes people . Yep , people . Your people ... and You . •
AGENCY TECH
So , how is it these people ' s fault ? How are they the top reason a business ' s new tech efforts fail ? Well , ok , they aren ' t . Not your team anyway . Perhaps this is controversial , but the people most at fault … or , more positively stated , those in a role to ensure success , are the leaders of the organization .
Why the hyperbole ? Given the assertions made thus far about what people - the team , are looking for at work and how significant people are to literally every aspect of a business , it ' s unfortunate to see examples where they weren ' t proactively integrated into technology needs , choices , and implementations . Again , rephrasing the positive , it ' s amazing to see how well technology needs , choices , and implementations do go when a company ' s team is highly engaged and supported through that journey !
This is not a new message , as much has been written and spoken about change management and culture … and deservedly so . But we often get asked for some specific examples . To help , ACT has built a tool kit titled “ 7 Steps to Better Agency Tech Decisions ". This is a high-level framework to navigating what can be very complex , confusing , and even emotional . Additionally , we ' re in the process of updating it to include AI considerations as well .
Let ' s dive into several specifics and change the narrative to : “ People – The Top Reason Your New Tech Efforts Succeed ".
• Be transparent about your plans for the business now and in the foreseeable future as this will help your team better understand the decisions you are making .
• Be very clear about their role in your plans , their job descriptions , performance metrics , how they ' ll be compensated , and again , tie those to your plans .
• Give your team defined processes , make certain they understand why the processes exist , train them , continue to train and coach them , and be open to their ideas about improvements .
• Truly engage your team and offer them safe avenues and opportunities to share what is working well and what isn ' t working as intended .
• Address the people and processes areas first .
• Consider tech and new tools after people and process .
“
... those in a role to ensure success , are the leaders of the organization ....
• Do a deep dive into your current technology to make certain you are using it to its fullest and that your team is fully trained .
• If new tools make sense , engage the right people on your team to be a part of the selection , due diligence , RFP , demos , installation , training … all of it ! Note , not every employee can be involved here based on size of your company . If choosing a subset of the team to be involved , be transparent about what they are doing , how feedback will be gathered , and how updates will be shared .
• After a tool is chosen and installed , your team is trained , and you ' re humming along , revisit all of the above and be open to continuous improvement . Afterall , not everything goes perfectly , and your team will be among the first to notice .
• Keep iterating and involve your team !
As you can see , it takes all of the people in a business to ensure success . It takes leaders who define strategy , create a vision , motivate the team , and give them what they need to be successful . And it takes engaged , trained , and celebrated employees who are bought in to the company ' s goals .
It takes people . Yep , people . Your people ... and You . •
Chris Cline is the Executive Director of the Agents Council for Technology ( ACT ).
SEPTEMBER / OCTOBER 2024
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