Emergency services are accelerating their plans to implement #digitaltransformation strategies that significantly enhance operational effectiveness and organisational efficiencies. But to achieve success, it’s vital that the implementation brings everyone in the organisation with them on the journey to success.
That means understanding that new users are going to have different ranges of acceptance and understanding of new technology and so will progress at a different pace. Our research and experience show that many find change hard, and those less used to technology outside of their workplace are perhaps scared to fail or feel overwhelmed by all this new information. It doesn’t matter how simple or intuitive new technology is if the end users are afraid of it and resist adoption.
At Unblur we recognise that our customers won’t realise all the benefits of our solutions unless we tailor the implementation to everyone’s needs and pace of learning and acceptance.
💡 Our success in delivering digital transformation is founded 5 key principles:
1- Develop a full understanding of the range of user profiles and think like them, recognising that firefighters are not software developers. Remember also that they are often from different generations and educational backgrounds.
2- Introduce changes in a step-by-step process that allows for different rhythms of adoption so that everyone can make the journey at their most comfortable pace. If they are not comfortable, they will resist or abandon.
3- Focus on what information is needed and when, rather than overloading with data.
4- Give end users plenty of opportunity to talk about their fears and in so doing help them overcome them quickly.
5- Where possible, use people with operational experience in your team who can relate to the realities and pressure of the incident ground, using real examples.
Our team has successfully applied these principles as we support Bomberos de West Midlands implementation of our IRIS Incident Command solution. The staged implementation incorporates proof of concept in two command areas training crews and working with them for 6 months to make any adaptations to enhance operational effectiveness.
The pace of the programme is designed to meet the needs of users and ensure full understanding and acceptance. Once complete, the technology will roll out in phases across the entire organisation for use at every incident, achieving supporting safe and effective
responses to incidents.
