High-Tech or High-Touch? Part 2: Evaluating new media

Wed, 14 Apr 2010 18:13:00 GMT

When evaluating media tools, ask yourself these questions:
What are the business results you want to achieve?
Results can include: automating an existing process, educating employees on compliance issues, persuading employees to change behavior, encouraging collaboration or managing the organization knowledge base during times of transition.
Is the tool an industry standard?
In selecting media that’s new for your team, choose ones that have become standards in other
organizations. Ask your vendor for his/her client list, or do some quick surveying of peers in
similar organizations. Most organizations should opt to be in the ‘early majority’ of adopters
(roughly the first 1/3), instead of ‘early adopters’ who don’t have the benefit of a technology
track record.


How might adopting the tool change communication and your organizational culture?  
Keep in mind that the most ‘media rich’ approach (the number of sensory channels used) remains 
personal contact.  The best blend is a combination of high-tech and high-touch media, 
particularly in uncertain times.


Use these criteria to form the basis of your business case.  Partner with a business leader to 
pilot the technology in a single department, and make sure that the initiative is driven by the 
business.

High-tech or high-touch?: Evaluating the impact of technology on your organization

Tue, 30 Mar 2010 19:01:00 GMT

YouTube. Wikis. Facebook. WebEx. You’re bombarded with articles and vendor pitches encouraging you to adopt new technologies to help your employees be more productive. But when budgets and timelines are tight, we need to ask how we can predict whether new technologies will be embraced and be useful.

Here are two characteristics that all successful media share:

Standardization. New media, whether videotape, DVDs or email, weren’t fully embraced until there were one – or sometimes two – standards. In selecting media that’s new for your team, choose ones that have become standards in other organizations. Ask your vendor for his/her client list, or do some quick surveying of peers in similar organizations. Most organizations should opt to be in the ‘early majority’ of adopters (roughly the first 1/3), instead of ‘early adopters’ who don’t have the benefit of a technology track record.

Ease of user creation and updating. Fast, relevant content wins over flashy production values. New designs and even new vocabulary were needed to make websites, video games and blogs accessible to a mass audience. Here’s where HR can add value by training employees not only in how to use the new technology, but also in how to describe its features and suggest improvements.

Taken together, these characteristics can build your business case for adopting new technology.

The Change Agent by David Cheatham

High-Tech or High-Touch? Part 2: Evaluating new media

High-tech or high-touch?: Evaluating the impact of technology on your organization