Despite the challenges of adopting new technology, such as cleaning software, business stand to gain with sufficient investment and training.
Adopting new technology has many benefits, including increased productivity and (by extension) a greater ability to impress prospective and existing clients. The long-term pluses for new, innovative technology far outweigh the initial costs of purchasing and implementing the software in the first place.
On the other side of the coin, adopting a new technology — a new software program, for example — does have its obstacles and drawbacks. A company that is unable to overcome these obstacles will quickly find that the aforementioned technology (no matter how great it is, or how beneficial it’d be for that company) is unusable and a waste of time and money. Because of this, I’d like to talk about two common obstacles for businesses in the janitorial industry, as well as how to overcome those roadblocks.
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Unfamiliarity with new technology: In the case of the janitorial industry, take the case of a company that has been in business for decades, always doing inspections with pen and paper. Switching to a process where employees do inspections on a mobile app is a big change — one that may perplex those who simply aren’t accustomed to using smartphones for anything other than calls and text messages.
This is where thorough and effective training comes into play. Even if it takes a bit longer to fully explain and train employees on how to use the new technology, every minute spent on it will pay off in abundance.
At CleanTelligent, we try our best to do our part in making that comprehensive and thorough training readily available. We do this by assigning specific customer support representatives to each client of ours — that way, each client’s support representative is familiar with the unique needs of that business — and we’ve also chosen to make customer support a free benefit for all of our customers. We believe that, since in-depth training is sometimes needed when our clients adopt our software, that they should be entitled to all the training and information they need to make their selection of CleanTelligent a beneficial one.
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Change is hard: The Aveta Business Institute had this to say about this roadblock, as well has how to get to the root of the problem:
When change is necessary due to new, advanced technology, it should be welcomed. Resistance from employees only makes the change more difficult. Employees should be made aware that procedures will change, that new equipment will be brought in or that a new computer system will be integrated. Whenever an employee or department is affected by a change, they should be warned ahead of time and given enough time to prepare. Employees need positive encouragement so that they will more easily accept what will happen. This is called change management, and its methods should be studied by management before business-wide change is implemented.
Once new technology is incorporated into a company, employees and administration should see the benefits take effect very quickly. If a change has caused problems within the company procedures, those issues should be focused in on and eliminated. At times, new computer systems will have bugs or glitches that make them work incorrectly. Company executives must work diligently to find solutions to these issues before they cause any damage to the company. They should be aware that if new technology is brought in, they will need to be watching for these obstacles. They need to monitor the progress of the newly implemented change to make sure it is truly beneficial to the company overall.
Employees can benefit from new progress and changes because they learn new technology and computer systems as their company incorporates them (this knowledge is a great resume booster). They can take these new-found technological skills with them to another job or to obtain a higher position within the same company.
In addition to what is already mentioned above, I’d like to add my two cents: When going through the growing pains of adopting a new technology, there will be times when you start wondering if it’s too late to turn back. Going back to traditional processes that you’re already familiar with is an easy thing to do, but don’t let it control you.
Taking the plunge and embracing new technology is exactly that — taking a plunge. There may be those times where you look at the obstacles facing you, but don’t let that cause you to waver. Technology is the present and future, and will only benefit you and your business if you let it.