We aren’t all naturally skilled when it comes to using IT and new technologies. Sure, the younger generation is often early adopters of new tech and will find it easy when they are faced with using something new in the workplace. However, if you have some older employees in your workplace, you might find that they are quite nervous about using certain new pieces of IT and tech. They might think that it is all a bit too complex for them! But that won’t be the case - with a little help and encouragement, you’ll find that you can get anyone on board with the latest tech, even all the technophobes in your office!
So, ready to turn your technophobes into tech whizzes? Here are some great tips that will help you out.
Be Approachable When People Have Questions
There is a good chance that some of your employees are nervous about asking you or their coworkers questions about tech. This could be out of embarrassment. So, first of all, you need to make sure that you are always completely approachable. That way, your employees won’t be too embarrassed and worried about going to you with any tech queries. And then that means they can iron out any problems as soon as possible, so they can then get on with their work. You should also encourage all of your tech-savvy employees to be approachable as well, then they can help your other employees with their tech problems. Make sure that no one is patronizing when it comes to tech and IT, though, as this can be very off putting for workers who need help.
Sign Up For IT Support
If you know that some of your employees are going to regularly run into issues with their laptop or tablet device, it’s worth signing up to an IT support subscription service. That way, they can simply call up the experts to help them with their problems. In a way, this is better than them always reaching out to you for help as that could take up a lot of your important time. There are now lots of tech companies, such as ATB-Tech.com, who offer firms their tech support services. It’s really worth seeing if there is some room in your budget for this.
Offer Different Learning Techniques
You should always offer continual training in tech for all of your employees. To make sure that this training is as effective as possible, it’s a good idea to offer sessions and courses aimed at different abilities. That way, you can split up your workforce and focus on everyone’s weaknesses and develop their skills. But when you are thinking up the different training sessions, it is really important that you offer a variety of different learning techniques. We all learn things in different ways and have our preferred methods of taking in new information, and this is something that you need to be aware of. For instance, some of your employees will learn better through actions and so will need to do very practical training. However, some may prefer to read about new tech that they need to use.
Outsource Training To The Experts
Training your employees is a lot to take on, especially when you need to focus on running your entire company at the same time. So, there is no wonder that some employees prefer to outsource all of their training completely. Not only does this free up a lot of time for you so that you can focus on more important things, but it also gives you the chance to get some IT and tech experts to carry out the training for you. That means that all of your employees will be learning from the best. This way, your employees won’t be left confused by any aspect of the training, hopefully. And they won’t feel too worried about asking the trainer any questions - after all, that is what the trainer is there for!
Create A Buddy Scheme
Lots of companies use buddy schemes when onboarding new hires to the company. If you aren’t familiar with this type of scheme, you can read more about it at hr.com. But, basically put, the buddy scheme sees employees who have been working at the business for a while paired up with one of the new hires. That way, the new hire has a contact who they can reach out to whenever they have any questions or issues in their new role. It’s also a good idea to employ this kind of system for any tech issues. To do this, simply pair up your most tech-savvy employees with those who aren’t quite as experienced or knowledgable with their laptops. Whenever the inexperienced employees need a question answered, they can reach out to their buddy!
Let Them Know The Benefits
You might find that some of your employees aren’t that interested in learning about new technologies and IT processes. That’s probably because they don’t really understand all of the benefits that will come with it once they do increase their knowledge and experience. So, it’s always important that you let all of your employees know the many benefits of learning more about tech, especially in the workplace. Once they understand that learning more about the many benefits of tech, they might be more open to learning more about it and participating more often in training.
Keep It Positive
You need to make sure that all of your tech and IT training is as positive as possible. This way, it won’t alienate any of your employees and they won’t be put off from learning more about all the tech that they need to use in the office. If someone struggles to understand a concept, rather than getting frustrated with them, stay calm and positive so that they don’t feel bad about their difficulty with the subject. They’ll get there eventually with all the right training!
You’ll be able to turn all your technophobe employees into tech whizzes in no time at all!
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