You don’t use technology for technology’s sake—you use it to support your organization’s mission. If the tools are difficult for your team to use or not working as expected, you won’t make much progress toward your goals.
How do know whether your tech stack is working for your staff day to day? You may see red flags, like rising numbers of tickets in your IT helpdesk. But even if everything seems to be running smoothly, it’s wise to occasionally check in with employees about their IT experience.
Here are five questions to ask employees to help your organization better understand if technology is doing what you intend and helping, rather than hindering, your team’s productivity and efficiency.
Are our software tools easy or difficult to use? Carlos Cardenas, CAE, director of information technology at the National Board of Certification and Recertification for Nurse Anesthetists, said he asks this question to identify gaps in NBCRNA’s technology. “It could be separate systems not talking to each other. It can also let me know if there are any gaps in process,” Cardenas said. “The third thing that will come out of that conversation is if there are any gaps in training. If you tell me that software is difficult to use, and I ask you why it’s difficult, you may unveil, ‘I don’t really know how to use this particular software.’”
Has the technology hindered you from doing your job? “Our professionals have a value they bring,” said Max McCarty, director of enterprise architecture at ISACA, an association that represents IT professionals. “The technology is simply a catalyst for them to apply that value to the betterment of the organization.” If the technology gets in the way of staff delivering value, “that becomes an issue.”
