A data collection app can transform operations for a ductwork cleaning business – providing your team actually uses it. How do you ensure your team will get on board with new technology that could revolutionise your business?
It may be an old question, but it remains a good one. According to Forbes, digital transformation fails 70% of the time and a massive 90% does not deliver any measurable ROI. Damning figures. And employee resistance is undoubtedly a major part of the problem.
For ductwork cleaning businesses, rolling out a data collection app can bring countless benefits, as we’ve outlined in this post. But to enjoy these benefits, you must assume your people are going to resist – unless you craft something so easy to work with and useful they couldn’t possibly say no.
Getting it right could be the difference between their bypassing your app (and continuing with laborious hand-written notes), and adopting streamlined new reporting practices that save your business both time and money and improve your relationship with customers.
This post is going to show you how to help ensure uptake of your data collection app. First, let’s look at just why exactly employees resist new technology.
Why Don’t Employees Buy into a Data Collection App With Proven Benefits?
They may resist your data collection app because they:
- Are uneasy using new tech – they might worry that switching from familiar paper-based methods to an app could be challenging for them
- Think they can work more quickly without it – they might believe learning and then using your app will be another item on the to-do list that will slow them down
- Have bad experiences with previous app rollouts – this is quite possible, given the frequent failure of digital transformations.
How to Roll Out a Data Collection App the Right Way and Get Employee Buy-in
There are several tried-and-tested principles we follow when creating successful data capture applications for businesses. Following them will help to ensure your people get on board and you unlock the benefits of your new tech.
Focus on User Experience (UX)
From the word go, you should – no, have to adopt the user’s perspective. Will every component or function of your data collection app be intuitive and easy to use? Will it help your team members complete a job faster? If not, it’s back to the drawing board or you can guarantee that you’ll meet resistance, and probably lots of it.
Three practical points that will help you meet your intuitive/ease-of-use goal:
- Follow user-friendly standard app design practices, for example, placing the main navigation menu at the top or on the left side of the screen. Familiar elements will make it easier to use.
- Streamline your app by including only the most essential features – do you really need to collect that piece of data? Be ruthless. If in doubt, cut it out.
- Build the data collection app in the order tasks are completed so that one task naturally flows to the next.
Follow these points and you’ll increase uptake and save hours of training, too.
Involve a Team Leader in App Development
You can help achieve the above points if you do one simple thing: invite an employee with thorough knowledge of your processes to the table. We suggest you get an experienced and technically literate employee to review the app. They should also have an understanding of industry standards and quality assurance.
Ask them to assess if the app meets industry standards. And if it includes everything employees in the field need. Gathering this feedback will result in a better data collection app. It will also help to ensure employee buy-in, because team leaders will have a stake in the project and actively promote the app’s benefits.
Communicate!
We really can’t stress the importance of this step enough. Getting users involved in app development is going to help a lot, but to get full buy-in you’ll still need to openly communicate with and sell the benefits to your team.
Make sure your team fully understands why the data collection app is being rolled out. Use real life examples to:
- Explain what the current problem is,
- Reveal why the new data collection app will solve that problem, in terms of increased efficiencies, growth and profits (and job stability, if this is indeed the case),
- Appeal to self-interest by answering the ‘what’s in it for me’ question. ‘This new way of working is going to save you A/B/C’ etc.
Trial Your Data Collection App With the Right People
No software is going to hit every mark the first time. This is why you’ll want to start with a trial, rolling out your app to core users who will return with valuable feedback prior to full deployment.
But who are these users, exactly?
Naturally, they’ll be people who’ll get the most use out of the app. They should also be enthusiastic adopters of new tech and have influence among other members of the workforce.
Do everything you can to make their experience a success. Incorporate their feedback into the final version. And use their positive experiences for internal case studies. By incorporating the workforce into testing, you make the business’ vision a more collaborative one, and you also improve the final product, itself.
Our Efficient Process for Developing Your App
Yes, your software partner should listen clearly to your requirements, but they should also be asking you a lot of questions and talking to your team about the job and work processes. If you’re not hearing plenty of questions, be concerned.
We’ve written a post that clearly describes our process for data collection app development, to ensure you get the results you want without disruption to your business. The process includes:
1. Initial Business Analyst (Rugged Data Coach) Consultation
The first step is a consultation between the client and one of our Lean-trained Rugged Data (RD) coaches; these are professionals trained in data collection, improving business efficiency, productivity and effectiveness.
The client details the process they want digitalising, and explains to the RD coach how that reporting process is carried out currently. At the end of the consultation, we go away and get to work!
2. Initial Business App Build
Next, we take the reporting process and build a first version of a mobile app designed to carry out the reporting more efficiently. This app will be tailored specifically to the client’s process; so, in the case of ductwork cleaning, users can easily input micron readings, time-stamped ‘before’ and ‘after’ photographs, and draw/highlight areas of the system that require work on the ductwork schematic.
3. Iteration and Refinement
Following this initial development, we show the client what we’ve been working on. Here, they can provide feedback, which we take on board and iterate upon. We know how important it is for the data collection app to be perfect for the client, so we put as much effort into our refinements as possible.
After these tweaks, the app will be presented to the client once again, and we take any additional feedback and action any remaining improvements that need to be made. Then, it’s time for testing!
4. Field Trial
We take your nominate early user(s) and train them up on how to use the app. Then, they go out into the field and put it to work. After they’ve used the app, more feedback will be provided, and changes implemented (if any are needed). Following this, the early adopter(s) approve the app and it’s ready for overall sign-off.
5. Staff Training
We often find that no additional staff training is needed post-sign-off because we purposely design our apps to be intuitive and easy-to-use. If the client feels that some additional training might be required, however, our RD coach can provide their supervisors and admin team with additional training which can then be relayed throughout their organisation.
6. Ongoing Management and Improvement
Just because the app is built and in use, doesn’t mean we just forget about our clients! We continue to manage, tweak and add in additional features (new compliance measures, for instance) as they’re needed. Businesses are dynamic, organic and ever-changing, and that’s something we make sure to reflect in the reporting apps we create.
You can read in detail about these steps here.
Rugged Data creates software for the ductwork cleaning industry. Our apps are fully customisable and we will consult closely with you to ensure the product exactly matches your needs. To find out more about creating a bespoke app with Rugged Data, contact our team now.
