How to lead change when the change requires buying a new technology

Leading change in any context is hard. Add technology to the mix and it becomes even harder, especially in higher ed, an industry with analogue roots in which institutions are de-centralized by nature and habits favor consensus-driven decision-making. These realities, paired with recent initiative fatigue, mean that any change that involves bringing in a new technology can feel impossible.

The good news is that it’s possible—and often the right move for today’s colleges and universities. Popular buzz words like “digital transformation” and “data-informed decision-making” might make some (justifiably!) groan, but they point to an underlining need for newer and better technologies to scale our efforts and provide a modern student experience. Let’s dig into what steps you can take as a change leader to prepare for the hard but doable task of championing a new technology.

What does “leading change” mean?

Leading change is targeting a specific behavior change or outcome, garnering enough support for it, and then communicating about it persuasively throughout. It is not being a project manager, or instilling comfort with uncertainty, or gaining universal acceptance of the change. Change leadership and project management are a Venn diagram, not one overlapping circle. So, while project management is a useful skillset, what I’m addressing in this post is leadership beyond execution.

Accept the challenge

Don’t read past this one! Too often I’ve spoken with individuals who aren’t able to answer the question “Why do you care about this initiative?” without resorting to some canned line or worse, “My boss told me to.” If you are on the hook for leading a change that requires new technology, you need an answer to that basic question—one that you believe. Many people on campus are already skeptical of the promises made by a new technology or underestimate what it will take to work. You will likely need to deal with people in both camps, and this requires commitment to see the change through. If you’re uncertain about it (or even at a “maybe”), you should not be leading the charge. Saying “yes” without being committed could lead to numerous challenges and even put your role in jeopardy; saying “no” with a principled reason will ensure your future efforts are taken more seriously and protect your reputation from the harms that come with half-hearted effort.

What are the risks of legacy tech “lock-in”? Check out this infographic.

Know your stakeholders

If you’ve accepted the challenge the next step is to reflect on who else is involved. Think about individuals in terms of their stake in the initiative, their stance, and how strongly they feel about it. Does the person have veto power? Are they impacted by the change? Do you need their work or knowledge to implement the technology? The two most common mistakes I’ve seen people make at this stage are thinking about stakeholders in a way that is either too narrow or too vague.

• Too narrow: People tend to limit stakeholders to those with power or those that are the most impacted. So, while it’s obvious to consider the stance of the CFO or Board of Trustees, it’s just as important to understand how your call center is impacted or how the budget director will feel about the proposed change.
• Too vague: Try as much as possible to reflect on individuals, not groups. Faculty might directionally think similarly but they are not a monolith. A CIO might hold one point of view but that doesn’t guarantee their Director of Enterprise Applications feels the same way.

You should end this phase with a lengthy list of stakeholders that are grouped according to their stance and type of stake.

Maximize stakeholder actions

“What’s in it for me?” That’s the question you want to answer for every stakeholder you identified. Prioritize those with power and be extra careful about dissenters with veto power. The best-case scenario is that there are intrinsic motivations you can leverage to secure their commitment to take action. But you may also need to think creatively about extrinsic rewards or penalties for participation. At minimum, you need to have some real incentives you can communicate to undecided stakeholders that sway them towards your point of view. For example, as a faculty member I might not care that using the LMS more will make IR’s life easier. But if you demonstrate that it helps students succeed, maybe I’ll give it a try.

This particular step often feels uncomfortable. Penalties in particular go against the consensus-driven nature of higher education, and we’ve all witnessed times where rewards or penalties were handed out in ways that exacerbated historical harms to marginalized groups. These types of risks make it all the more important that you take whatever time available to answer the question of what the new technology can do for your stakeholders, so you can incentivize undecided stakeholders to take positive action and avoid causing significant negative externalities. If you’re new to the institution, consider asking a more tenured peer of yours to review your communication plan and look for potential missteps.

Watch the webinar: Be the Change Champion Your Campus Needs

Secure commitment

Now that you understand who the stakeholders are and what’s in it for them, you need to figure out how they each think about new technologies so you can tailor your messaging. Are they a visionary who needs to understand how the technology advances your strategic plan? Or perhaps they are a process-oriented person who needs to understand the who, when, what, where, why, and how before they say yes. Still others need to hear that you’ve done your homework to make sure as many people as possible are aware and on board.

Leading change requires a lot of one-on-one or one-on-a-few meetings to get done. There’s no way for you to address the needs of a diverse audience in a large setting like a Cabinet meeting. Mass emails and large meetings have a place in building support, but if you aren’t following up with specific groups or individuals you are missing an opportunity to persuade more undecideds to commit to your cause.

New technologies will stir complicated feelings even among supporters. If it isn’t worth the time to make sure they understand why their commitment is important, you might be leading the wrong change or have picked the wrong technology to support it.

You’re ready to get started!

From scaling student support to powering informed decisions, technology has a role to play in a lot of necessary and exciting work on campus. If you find yourself in the position of leading the charge to find and implement a new technology, these steps are a great place to start securing commitment—yours and others’—to make the change successful and sustainable.