5 ways to enthuse your colleagues over digitization

digitisation, eSignatures

Is your company considering to switch to digital processes? Like the introduction of digital client identity recognition, digital document generation or digital signatures? Then we do not need to tell you about the advantages of digitisation.You are convinced of the added value. You have already tried to convince your employees, the management board by showing the cost reductions and process improvements. Probably you have tried reassuring your colleagues how much easier their work will be after this digitisation. But they are not convinced.

How can you get them on board? Here are five tips that will win them over.
 

1. Focus on the human factor

Most likely you have been chasing your colleagues with rational data, like efficiency benefits, cost reductions etc. However your colleagues are human beings. The reason for your co-workers to resist might be that they fear the change or even fear losing their job!

Take some time to talk and ask them what it is that holds them back. What is the part of your idea they do not like? Put yourself in their shoes. Ask them what they think will happen if the company adopts the change and then what will happen if it does not.

Designing an employee experience might be helpful as well. By visualising their future work process, they might drop their objections.
 

2. Involve both opponents and ambassadors in the project team

One of the reasons for resistance might be that your colleagues feel they have no say in the transformation or change. Therefore **give opponents the opportunity to express their objections, by adding them (or their peers) to the project team.** Make sure you also have ambassadors – preferably young tech savvy people with a positive attitude – to rebut. In this way you are not the only one defending the change, which will make your case stronger.
 

3. Set up a pilot & promote hands-on experience

Most IT projects include a pilot. Communicate clearly to the sceptics this will be a go / no-go moment based on agreed criteria. This will be a fair deal to everybody, as long as the criteria are agreed upon by the whole project team (consisting of both opponents and ambassadors). Give the opponents the opportunity to have a first encounter with the new system. Nothing works better than letting them have a hands-on user experience.
 

4. Figures and statistics

Of course the hard data remains important as well. Always make sure your story is sound by supporting it with data. Make time to set up scenarios and show colleagues and management how much time will be saved. Plot the following processes, their processing time and cost involved:
– Getting a signature of senior managers that are often occupied or out of the office;
– Scanning and processing the authorised documents;
– Printing out a version for each signatory, while still needing to paragraph each page;
– Manually verifying if the documents have been signed by the correct (mandated person).

Compare these processes in a simple way to the future situation after the digital solution has been implemented. Infographics and journey maps might be useful tools here.
 

5. Organise a kick-off and communicate regularly

To support the transformation as a positive change you could organise a kick-off campaign before the project really starts.

By making all employees part of the project, the ‘not invented here’ syndrome can be avoided. Make them feel they are part of the new solution by listening to their reactions. Give feedback on their comments and communicate on a regular basis about the progress by sending newsletters or organising events after important project milestones have been achieved.
 

Digitisation is nothing without the human factor

Never underestimate the human aspect in projects. Although digitising your identity services and e-signatures clearly offer advantages, it will only be successful when it is truly adopted by the company’s employees. Therefore focusing on its adoption by all stakeholders is as important as the technical and managerial side of the transformation.

Clearly this goes also for your customers. How will they handle a new method? In one of our next blogs we will give tips on how to win over your customers for the change.
 

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