Bringing everyone along with your digital transformation

The Diffusion of innovation model from Everett Rogers shows how a new product is taken up over time. Sustainability comes when we reach a critical mass of people adopting the technology. .

In an era of constant technology led change, digital transformation and the rise of AI. The ability of our people and culture to adopt new technologies and to adapt our ways of working to incorporate them will be one of the biggest enablers, or constraints, to our success.

Up to 50% of our people are likely to be in the late majority or laggard groups who change more slowly or could even be actively resistant to change.

It’s unlikely to be feasible, and certainly not desirable, to get rid of half of our people so a key requirement in digital transformation is moving these groups up the curve more quickly.

The strategies for engaging these different groups are different. For early adopters we may just need to make things available and let them run with it. For the slower adapters we need a strategy.

Late Majority

The late majority are more sceptical about change, they prefer tried and tested solutions.

They are more likely to be influenced by the successes and momentum coming from the early majority – so keep marketing this.

We need to provide social and other proofs of the technology working in their context.

We need to make adoption as practical as possible. Training needs to be engaging and focus on real world application.

Peer pressure from earlier adopters / early majority and other influencers is important but they may be put off by the innovators (Please bear this in mind if you are a young evangelist from a digital hub)

Laggards

The “laggards” usually prefer traditional methods and can be averse to change and risk.

They often have less contact with or input from early adopters and the early majority. It can take significant effort to change this group.

They usually need significant support and communication on the why and how and may be resistant to accessing it.

Traditional alternative ways of doing the work will need to be removed over time so that using the new technology becomes the only workflow option

What’s your plan?

Thinking about your team, who are likely to be the early adopters, majority and laggards at adapting to a new technology that you will be introducing?

How can you engage each group appropriately in accelerating adoption of the new tools and adapting our ways of working? A one size fits all change strategy is unlikely to work.

If you found this blog thought provoking, you might find our tech accelerator training module useful – please get in touch

Tech accelerator

New technologies are arriving constantly, get ahead of the curve by driving faster and more complete tech adoption

• Understand how adoption of technology has an impact on digital transformation and team performance
• Discover how to plan a new technology introduction to maximise adoption
• Learn to identify how different groups adopt technology in different ways
• Explore strategies for engaging each group to achieve full adoption
• Apply the techniques throughout to create a tech adoption plan for your team