How to keep your People at the center of your business as you add new tools and procedures to modernize your company? This is an important consideration, because it is not more efficient processes and software programs that will lead to your success. No, in fact, People are the heart of your success. They will be the ones managing Processes and Technology to carry out projects. So, before starting a new project, it is primordial to analyze these three players: People, Process and Technology by asking yourself such questions as:
- How ready is each of them for change?
- How much more workload can they support?
- How much time will the changes take to implement?
This sort of analysis will greatly impact your decision-making. In order to capture the beauty of this analysis, consider this example. You are starting a new project which will modernize a sector of activity. For this example, let’s say you are working on making your inventory levels more precise. To do so, you have to introduce new software (Technology) on which your staff are not skilled (People). However, the steps (Processes) will remain the same as before. By doing this exercise, you realize that your energy and focus will be best served on implementing the new software while training your staff to use it properly.
In such a case, training is paramount so that the cost-saving and time-saving technology can be integrated and used effectively. You will need to find out if training material already exists and if it needs to be adapted to meet your specific needs. It may mean creating material from scratch. You will also have to make the material available to your team. Effective training will keep People motivated to contribute to the project’s success.
Clearly, an analysis of People-Process-Technology reduces the risk that integrating the software will be a waste of time and money. People will be prepared to use the new technology effectively and the software will become an asset rather than a burden. Not only will such an analysis help you determine the training needed, manage risk, and focus your energy, it will give you an overarching view of projects. This bird’s-eye-view makes communicating a project’s progress and steps much easier and effective.
For, these three elements, People, Process, and Technology, have complex relationships which can be leveraged to achieve your objectives.
Starting with People, they are the ones who use Processes every day to accomplish their tasks. Technology, in turn, imposes certain Processes. People, then, have to learn new Processes and also new Technology. Technology helps automate some Processes, whereby affecting People. Technology also needs to adapt to some Processes. Making a pie graph can therefore help you understand the connections and decide where to put your effort.
‘People make changes, NOT Technology!’
Of course, all three elements are important, but always put extra emphasis on People. They are the ones who make changes, not Technology. They are the ones who put Processes to work for the greater good of the business. Humanizing your business always wins over implanting cutting-edge Technology or introducing trendy Processes. You will gain more value from investing in People than in any Technology or Process.
