Technology Enablement (Techen)
Technology Enablement is a methodology designed to help people successfully integrate a new technology into a business, especially an IT based technology.
I've been involved in enablement for years now, exactly how many years we're not going to talk about as it could make me feel old, but it could be more than time you've been alive depending on how old you are 😂.
During that time I've helped a number of companies adopt new technologies and I've come to realise that, while the technologies may change, the methods you use remain constant. You can use the same techniques to enable lots of different technologies.
So what is Enablement?
Enablement is the process of making someone able to do something, or making something possible. (source: Cambridge Dictionary)
To successfully adopt a new technology into a business, many things have to happen. Some of these are obvious, like buying or licensing it; some are less obvious, like providing support; and some are darn right obscure, like skills champions. We use Enablement as an umbrella term to cover all of these things. Why Enablement? Because you are literally enabling people, and by extension the business, to successfully use the new technology.
Why target Technology?
Why specifically targeted technology? Technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes, especially industrial. It's a huge part of the modern world. In fact, it literally makes our modern world possible. So it makes sense to have a method to adopt a new technology by applying the same rigour as we employed when creating it.
Or to look at it another way, there's no point in adopting a new technology if no one uses it. And the number of times a business introduces a new technology and it fails, is staggering.
It can fail for one fo two reasons -
- It doesn't meet the needs of the business, or
- The business decides not to use it
Technology Enablment addresses the second reason and helps you makes sure this doesn't happen to your business.
Why a Methodology?
A methodology is "a system of methods and principles for doing something", in this case enabling the successful adoption of a new technology by a business. By being systematic in our approach, we greatly increase the chances of success.
Techen
Let's be honest, Technology Enablement is a bit of a mouthful. It's accurate but doesn't exactly trip off the tongue. So in true geek style we've shortened Technology Enablement to Techen.
But it's more than that because, techen is also a Middle English word that means:
to show, declare, demonstrate; teach, instruct, train; assign, prescribe, direct; warn; persuade (source: Wikipedia).
All of which seem very appropriate for what we are trying to achieve here, and completely in line with what we're trying to do 😊.
So what is Techen?
Techen is a distillation of all the things I've learned over the years about doing technology enablement. It encompasses 4 main areas or cornerstones. Get the cornerstones right and your enablement will succeed.
The difference between Techen and Enablement
At times I'll almost seem to use "Techen" and "Enablement" interchangeably, but there is a subtle difference between them.
Techen is the methodology, it the how you do something. It has a capital letter because it's a proper name - all those years of English classes at school weren't wasted 😊.
Enablement is the what you do; it is the action of helping people to adopt a new technology.
The Four Cornerstones of Techen
These are the four cornerstones of Techen. We use the term cornerstone because:
The cornerstone of something is the basic part of it on which its existence, success, or truth depends. [Collins Dictionary]
Strategy
Strategy is all the boring bits that go around a great idea to make it work in a corporate environment. It is the strategy, the process, the procedures, the governance. I say boring but they're not really, because they are the glue that holds everything together and makes it consistent, reliable and reproducible; all of which are essential if it's going to work in the long term.
For more information on the Strategy cornerstone, check out these posts #strategy
Education
When we talk about cornerstones, nothing epitomises this more than Education. When you are implementing a new technology, it is absolutely essential that your users are taught how to use the technology. But for Education to be successful it needs to be a lot more than just a quick online course. Different people learn in different ways, and different people will need to achieve different levels of skill with the technology. Your Education platform must be able to accommodate all of these needs.
For more information on the Education cornerstone, check out these posts #education
Community
This is one of the most neglected cornerstones of enablement, and ironically it's one that can contribute the most to the successful adoption of a new technology. We are social beings and we love to feel we are part of a group. Community is about drawing people together and giving them a common purpose. It's also about setting people up so they can help themselves, and each other, with the new technology, because facing a new challenge alone is daunting, facing it with others is easy.
For more information on the Community cornerstone, check out these posts #community
Support
As people begin to use a new technology, one of the key things that will help adoption is how easy it is for them to get the help they need, when they need it. That might be self-help in the form of FAQs, it might be 1-2-1 help with an expert, or it might be peer help from a messaging app. The Support cornerstone is all about making sure that support is available and that people know where to find it.
For more information on the Support cornerstone, check out there posts #support
The improvement of understanding is for two ends: first, our own increase of knowledge; secondly, to enable us to deliver that knowledge to others. John Locke