As a business owner, you’re spoilt for choice if you’re wanting to implement new technology. There’s a plethora of new systems, apps and programmes out there, all designed to help you do something more easily, improve efficiency, connect people or increase productivity.

But with so many to choose from, how do you know where to start?

The answer is, you don’t. Not until you’re sure why you want to implement the new technology anyway. Get that right and the rest will follow. Sounds easy, right?

Think of the end point to get the beginning

This might sound counter-intuitive, but really it’s pretty simple. What it means is you need to review your business goals, and which ones you’d like to really improve. Like we said a right at the beginning of this blog, you need to figure out what you want from the tech and start from there.

Once you’ve done that, move on to the processes associated to that goal or goals. This involves really looking at everything you do in-depth and documenting it all, so you really understand how it works.

You’ll probably find lots of processes that fit these criteria. That’s fine. Narrow the list down to two or three and make a decision about which one to start with. Try and choose something that’s not too complicated to see how you manage. Then you can move on to more difficult processes when you’re more confident.

Even with new technology in place, people are your most valuable resource

At this point, you might want to read our guide blog on Introducing automation in your business as it’s full of useful stuff that applies here too. What the blog doesn’t talk about so much, however, is what to do with your people once the technology’s in place, so we’ll concentrate on that here.

Whatever technology you implement and whatever you use it for, it’ll never be as valuable a resource as your people. They know your processes inside out and without them, the technology won’t work as it should do.

Take them through the change

People always deal with change better if they’re fully involved, so bring them in right at beginning by telling them what you’re doing and why.

Part of the change they’ll need to cope with is learning how to use the new technology. As we mentioned earlier, keeping things simple will make it easier for people to get to grips with. If they can see real benefits to the new system, they’ll be much quicker to embrace it.

Of course, there’ll be those who struggle with something new. Adjusting to the unfamiliar doesn’t come easily to everyone and it can take some people longer to become familiar with a different way of doing things. Keeping them positive and well-supported is what’s needed to help them get there.

Some suppliers offer extras that could come in useful too, like online training courses or even trainers who’ll come to your workplace. Encourage people to use these resources and ask for help if they need it.

So now you know the secret to successful technology implementation, you’re ready to take that first step.