Another student identified that employees are more productive and open when they understand the changes being made and how to use new equipment or software. If IT leaders can ensure communication to first line supervisors, department heads, and others in both formal and informal leadership positions, nearly all IT implementations will be smoother than without such communications.
In large organizations, it might even make sense to set up a key communicators list as some public organizations build out with community stakeholders. These key communicator groups are sent more detailed information about upcoming press releases and similar proactive information. IT leaders could use this same process to alert interested employees about upcoming technology changes. Such key communicator groups can be used to scaffold upon and support more traditional lines of organizational communication. This allows employees to feel more empowered and engaged in the implementation of new systems. It could emphasize the importance of bringing employees to the table early in the planning stages to help ensure success.
A student in health care articulated the advantage of providing a playground or sandbox for employees to use to experience new data systems. She wrote that this helps employees feel more comfortable as they can try it without worrying that they may make a mistake or cause an error in the system.
Where possible, allowing a practice dataset, even after the full implementation of new systems, can be a boon for employees needing to work through a new process or working on how to more effectively mine data from a system. This can be as effective a process in educational settings as in health care.
Simple and direct notification to all staff of upcoming downtime and scheduled maintenance is another simple way to effectively communicate with employees and students. One of the keys to communication in today’s fluid IT environment is that over-communication is not possible–more communication is most often positive.
Nicole Crowson works as a Dental Assistant at a periodontal surgery office and is currently working on her master’s degree in organizational leadership at Winona State University.
Christine Dvorak is currently working on her Master’s Degree in Organizational Leadership at WSU.
Rachel Ferrington is a Human Resources professional and has a passion for analyzing how effective an organization is in achieving intended outcomes. She is attending Winona State University to complete her Master’s in Organizational Leadership.
Joshua Vu is a interim nurse manager at Mayo Clinic. He is working on obtaining his Doctorate in nursing practice (DNP) with an emphasis in Practice and Leadership Innovations at Winona State University.
Dr. Steve Baule is a faculty member at Winona State University (WSU), where he teaches in the Leadership Education Department. Prior to joining WSU, Baule spent 28 years in K-12 school systems in Illinois, Indiana, and Iowa, and two years teaching in the University of Wisconsin System. For the 13 years prior to moving to the university level, Baule served as a public -school superintendent. He has written 10 books on a variety of educational and historical topics and has served on the editorial boards for two journals. Baule earned an advanced diversity and equity certificate while in the UW system. He holds a doctorate in instructional technology from Northern Illinois University and a doctorate in educational leadership and policy studies from Loyola University Chicago.
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