We’re entering a new age of technological innovation in research. Sponsored research is expected to keep growing over the next decade, and complementary tools and technology solutions are growing with it.
But where do you find the time and resources to implement new technology when your day-to-day workload is already at its limit?
Start by finding a technology partner with a vetted track record of successful implementations and customer support.
The benefits and challenges of implementing new technology
The right technology can become a digital extension of your research team — a hub and an activator that speeds up and simplifies your day-to-day work. Adopting the right technology solution can bring numerous benefits to your research organization, including:
- Efficiency. Manual processes consume enormous amounts of time. Tracking down signatures, waiting for status updates, managing document storage and compliance — the sheer number of manual tasks can become overwhelming and deeply inefficient. Technology can help reduce that time and effort with automated workflows, notifications, centralized dashboards, and more.
- Flexibility and agility. Research administrators know each grant or project has a unique set of requirements and features. Technology can both automate and adjust criteria to ensure a more seamless flow of information, greater flexibility, better data integrity, and increased team agility.
- Visibility and transparency. Lack of visibility and transparency into the status or specific data within a research project is not only frustrating for individual team members, but also incredibly inefficient. When team members are unable to collaborate using the same data, miscommunication and challenges naturally arise, slowing down the project. With the help of advanced, integrated technology solutions, like Cayuse, research teams can say goodbye to outdated and inefficient filing cabinets or siloed digital systems, and hello to a centralized dashboard of reports, files, data, and more.
- Error reduction. Manual data entry is often susceptible to errors, and fixing them can be a massive drain on time and energy. Technology solutions not only speed up the data entry process through automation, but also ensure greater data accuracy and integrity.
Of course, even with the obvious benefits, a massive change can feel overwhelming for your team. Implementing even the most necessary change can be difficult and meet with internal pushback. It’s not uncommon to hear pushback from team members like “But this is how we’ve always done it” or “Learning a new system will take too much time.” In some cases, they may worry they’ll be left behind if they don’t learn the system or adopt the new changes fast enough. These are all natural reactions. To help your team embrace change, including new technology solutions, be sure to communicate early and often about the change and its importance. Listen to their concerns and feedback. Help them feel more involved in the change, and they will naturally become more invested as well.
Regulatory compliance can emerge as another challenge to overcome. How will you ensure the new technology will meet regulatory standards? Noncompliance can carry hefty fines and even damage your research program’s reputation, so it’s best to take the necessary steps to avoid these headaches altogether. Start the conversation early during the vetting process. Be direct: Ask prospective technology providers how their solution will help your team adhere to compliance requirements. Verify this information with other existing customers. This prep work will leave you better informed about the solution’s capabilities, thereby enabling you to choose the best option for your program.
Time is always a challenge, but it becomes an even greater hurdle during software implementation. With many teams already trying to reduce administrative burden, leaders and team members may rightly ask, “When will we have the time to do this?”
The key to resolving each of these challenges lies in your approach to implementation.
Essential steps for a successful software implementation
First, let’s look at the key stages of implementation:
- Discovery/process review. This stage takes 2-10 weeks and includes a deep dive into your current processes, interviews with stakeholders, assessments of existing and future requirements, and mapping expected integrations.
- Configuration. This stage takes 2-14 weeks and involves developing and testing integrations and data conversions.
- Delivery. This stage takes just one week and involves your final data load, training for power users, interfaces with critical third-party systems, and system documentation.
- Rollout. This stage takes just one week and includes a campus rollout strategy, change management support, and a transition to ongoing support and maintenance.
So how do you simplify this whole process? Here are our top five tips for streamlining your new technology implementation:
- Ensure the system meets your research goals and needs. Does the vendor understand your industry? Will the tools they’re selling do exactly what you want them to do? The closer the fit, the smoother the implementation.
- Overcommunicate with your team. Change management requires excellent communication. Communicate clearly before, during, and after implementation. Seek feedback from your team members and let them know how you’re using that feedback.
- Evaluate your processes and simplify workflows. Your teams will need to collaborate to find the right tools and identify how best to structure workflows for automation. The vendor you choose should help identify redundancies and repetitive processes for automation.
- Find a partner that offers employee training. Learn about what kind of training your potential vendor offers and how they will support your team’s development, support, and use of the tools.
- Ensure your team has the right tools. Adopt training documentation, references, and more. Ask your vendor for examples of the tools they offer teams to maximize success.
