Sue Shellenbarger* says some workers can’t deal with new or redesigned systems, but there are ways to reach the resistors and keep an operation humming.
Photo: S. J. Harmon
Every office has one — the holdout who sighs, “I’m just not good with technology,” then avoids learning to use the latest office tools.
Technological change in the workplace sparks tension between resistors who grumble and drag their feet and co-workers who rush to embrace new tools.
One Luddite can hobble the work of an entire team.
But bringing laggards into the fold requires understanding of the psychological obstacles they face, helping them see the benefits of new technology and giving them enough time to learn it.
Attorney Paul Cannon was surprised when some employees at his Texas law firm fought his decision to replace obsolete software they’d been using.
Some resisted watching training videos.
Others turned subversive, continuing to store files on their computers instead of the cloud.
A few obstructionists blamed the new system for the tiniest of errors and insisted on dumping it.
Others tried to use it the same way as the old one, only to find that this generated so many errors he had to hire two helpers to clean it up.
“One thing I learned from all this is that a lot of people are afraid of change, because they’re afraid of making a mistake,” Cannon says.
“They know how to do their jobs under the old system.”
“Even if it’s cumbersome and inefficient, it’s comfortable.”
“And comfort equals security.”
Some resistors blame new technology for piling on grunt work that others should handle.
Doctors in a 2005 study of three hospitals had to start using electronic medical records systems.
They complained that entering prescriptions and treatment orders themselves, rather than relating them to nurses, was demeaning.
Adapting to new technology has become essential in most jobs.
Still, struggling with complex new technology can spark fears of looking incompetent or losing status among peers, posing a threat to the user’s sense of identity, according to a study published in March in the Journal of Management Information Systems.
“Some people are too embarrassed to admit they don’t know how to use the technology, so they don’t use it at all,” says Lindsey Pollak, author of The Remix, a book about managing a multigenerational workforce.
Others attempt workarounds.
Persuading seasoned workers to add new gears to machinery that already works can be a tough sell.
People learn in different ways and need to be introduced to new tech in ways they can grasp.
Sarah Boisvert, founder of Fab Lab Hub, recalls a mechanic who wanted to use a 3-D printer but had trouble getting started.
To ease him into it, she gave him a manual task, cleaning out clogs in the printers.
“Watching this guy’s hand unclogging things was like watching a dancer,” says Boisvert.
He soon declared the printer a cool machine, and started learning to use it to make the truck parts he wanted.
Workers also need to see how new technology will benefit them.
When senior executives at a Canadian company set a splashy rollout of a new system for managing relationships and interactions with customers, “all the leadership was super-excited and the tech team was geeking out over it,” says Larissa Lowthorp, a consultant who helped with the change.
The 85 customer-service employees assigned to learn it, however, had grown used to the 20-year-old software being replaced.
“For them, it was like going from Jurassic World to the Jetsons,” Lowthorp says.
They were paid partly by the number of calls handled, and many feared the new system would slow them down.
Only after the potential benefits, including the ability to see far more customer data quickly, became clearer to them did they begin to embrace it.
If a peer is struggling with new technology, express empathy and ask if you can help, Pollak says.
“You might say, ‘Hey, you seem to be struggling with this. I found this really helpful tutorial you might like, or I asked so-and-so for help’,” she says.
What if your boss is the Luddite?
Some managers still insist that employees print out emails and deliver them to their desks.
Pollak advises treating bosses like clients, paying attention to their habits and comfort levels.
Make helping the organisation the focal point.
“You can say, ‘I need to get this report to the client by 5 o’clock. I have this software that can do that. Can I show you how?’,” Pollak says.
“Talk about the results you can achieve.”
When employees resist new technology:
- Show empathy. Resist any urge to criticise or label them.
- Offer to guide them step-by-step through the functions to allay anxiety or fear.
- Explain how the new tools can be helpful in their jobs.
- Suggest video tutorials, verbal coaching or hands-on practise tailored to their learning style.
- Arrange help with their workload to allow time to master the new systems.
- Expect productivity to slow down for a while until everyone learns the new tools.
* Sue Shellenbarger is a columnist for The Wall Street Journal. She tweets at @SueSWSJ.
This article first appeared at www.wsj.com.
