It’s hard to understand why that one pesky staffer refuses to embrace your association’s technological advancements. But there are a few simple ways to make staff feel comfortable with changes as they happen.

Maybe your staffer isn’t ready to adapt. Maybe they feel held back by the new technology — finding its flaws but unable to see its benefits. Perhaps they’re worried increased automation could put their job in jeopardy. Whatever the case may be, it’s important to nip that feeling in the bud before it spreads throughout the office and limits use of the new software (simultaneously minimizing your return on investment).

3 tips to help staff embrace your new tech

• Teach them the benefits: The easiest way to encourage use of new technology is to teach your employee how that software will make their job easier. If your technology of choice is a productivity booster, help them understand your new software is there to reduce the amount of meticulous work and free them up for more member engagement or idea generation. In the long run, your new tech will help make everyone’s job more fun.
• Employ some empathy: The simplest reason your employee has failed to embrace a new piece of technology is lack of training. Ask a power user on staff to help them navigate through the software. Or, better yet, when choosing new systems to implement in the office, make sure it comes supported by tons of free education tools. Your employee will be free to make use of those learning opportunities at their own pace.
• Don’t change too much at once: If you’re changing your social media management platform, association management software and video editing system all at once, things are going to get rough. Try gradual changes. It’ll pay off over time.

Could the new system be the problem?

If you’re worried the new system’s the problem, not your reluctant staffer, consider this canvassing of tech experts recently conducted by the Pew Research Center. Industry experts see no reason technology would decline in value, despite what your frustrated employee might think.

“My personal view is that the talent and energy contained in technology-oriented parts of society will push ahead, and, on balance, we will think we are better off 10 years from now, with 2027 technology, than we are today,” Michael Roberts, first president and CEO of the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers told Pew.

The problem is, most associations can’t afford to worry about the future and forget today. So if you find your top staffers spending too much time futzing around in your clunky CRM, or worse, slowly reducing their use of the system, maybe your technophobe of an employee was onto something. Maybe the problem is your AMS.

If it turns out your AMS is the problem, Protech Associates would love the chance to find you a better solution. Click here to learn more from a member of the Protech team.