Group C, I think that first of all we need to understand why these "protestors" are against trying the new technolgy in the first place. Are they afraid because they had a bad past experience with this particular technology? Are they afraid because of their inadequate knowledge surrounding the new technology? Or what else could be making them so reluctant to try it? I think once people see the benefits that technolgy can bring to their practice and have the proper training and opportunity to try it out for themselves the "protesting" quickly diminishes!! Cathy
I think the best way to get the buy-in from the protesters is to involve them. Before presenting the Blackberry as the PDA of choice for your organization (for example), get people to try different models from different vendors to involve them in choosing the technology that will work for them. Presenting things as a fait d'accompli (sp?) is a surefire way to get the protesters to dig their heels in further.
Another simple strategy to increase technology acceptance is to implement a mentorship program. We need to hook up techno savvy people with the not so techno savvy people. I really like this idea as it also builds relationships at the same time as increasing informatics adoption. In our nursing education program we have had good success with mentoring this type of situation.
I believe that education is the key. All new ideas and proposed changes are met with resistance due to the comfort level that we feel with the ways things are. It is my belief that in addition to promoting new technology, education and increasing the comfort level of users and consumers is essential for successful implementation and transition. Renee
Heather: I must agree with your comment about PDA's. We are introducing PCA's and I have 3 different company's showing their models. I have involved all the nurses in the perinatal area so that they can provide their input on which device is prefered. As you mentioned they will have a say in what they use therefore will be less likely to protest. Thanks for you comment, Deb
In our facility the resistance to new technology was realized when a pilot to do the theory portion of CPR via computer resulted in over 20% dropping out due to the technology involvement. So, what the organization has now done, is offer free basic hour long computer classes for staff, and other day long classes on outlook, office, powerpoint at a huge reduction in cost. This is one way to meet the challenge of resistance, and surprisingly lots of people signed up and went to the first one, then moved on to other more advanced classes. Its all about how the technology is introduced, it would have been better to do the pilot now, following the education sessions, there would definitely be more acceptance.
Similar to peer/mentorship programs,our organization has adopted "Super-Users". These are front-line staff who have received the training on the new technology and experience in applying it, just ahead of the core group. The group build confidence when they see that one of their own is successful and are usually more comfortable asking of that person for help rather than a supervisor or trainer.
Well, I agree with all of your comments. Comfort levels will increase with use. Giving people a chance to participate in the selection of devices should also increase involvement and acceptance - it works with hand sanitizers! Offering classes and support from super users would be good too. I think that discovering some of the amazing time savers computers can offer could sway the more technologically challenged. I was very excited when I discovered 'Control A' and 'Control Z" for example - as well as some Word and Excel tricks. I wish I had started with some courses instead of trial and error, as I would have saved scads of time (and frustration)! - Madeleine
9 comments:
Group C, I think that first of all we need to understand why these "protestors" are against trying the new technolgy in the first place. Are they afraid because they had a bad past experience with this particular technology? Are they afraid because of their inadequate knowledge surrounding the new technology? Or what else could be making them so reluctant to try it? I think once people see the benefits that technolgy can bring to their practice and have the proper training and opportunity to try it out for themselves the "protesting" quickly diminishes!! Cathy
I think the best way to get the buy-in from the protesters is to involve them. Before presenting the Blackberry as the PDA of choice for your organization (for example), get people to try different models from different vendors to involve them in choosing the technology that will work for them. Presenting things as a fait d'accompli (sp?) is a surefire way to get the protesters to dig their heels in further.
Heather
Another simple strategy to increase technology acceptance is to implement a mentorship program. We need to hook up techno savvy people with the not so techno savvy people. I really like this idea as it also builds relationships at the same time as increasing informatics adoption. In our nursing education program we have had good success with mentoring this type of situation.
I believe that education is the key. All new ideas and proposed changes are met with resistance due to the comfort level that we feel with the ways things are. It is my belief that in addition to promoting new technology, education and increasing the comfort level of users and consumers is essential for successful implementation and transition.
Renee
Wonderful ideas fellow bloggers!
Thanks for sharing, Laura
Heather: I must agree with your comment about PDA's. We are introducing PCA's and I have 3 different company's showing their models. I have involved all the nurses in the perinatal area so that they can provide their input on which device is prefered. As you mentioned they will have a say in what they use therefore will be less likely to protest.
Thanks for you comment,
Deb
In our facility the resistance to new technology was realized when a pilot to do the theory portion of CPR via computer resulted in over 20% dropping out due to the technology involvement. So, what the organization has now done, is offer free basic hour long computer classes for staff, and other day long classes on outlook, office, powerpoint at a huge reduction in cost. This is one way to meet the challenge of resistance, and surprisingly lots of people signed up and went to the first one, then moved on to other more advanced classes. Its all about how the technology is introduced, it would have been better to do the pilot now, following the education sessions, there would definitely be more acceptance.
Similar to peer/mentorship programs,our organization has adopted "Super-Users". These are front-line staff who have received the training on the new technology and experience in applying it, just ahead of the core group. The group build confidence when they see that one of their own is successful and are usually more comfortable asking of that person for help rather than a supervisor or trainer.
Jennifer
Well, I agree with all of your comments. Comfort levels will increase with use. Giving people a chance to participate in the selection of devices should also increase involvement and acceptance - it works with hand sanitizers! Offering classes and support from super users would be good too. I think that discovering some of the amazing time savers computers can offer could sway the more technologically challenged. I was very excited when I discovered 'Control A' and 'Control Z" for example - as well as some Word and Excel tricks. I wish I had started with some courses instead of trial and error, as I would have saved scads of time (and frustration)!
- Madeleine
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