An inclusive approach to technology

Every business must adapt to changing technology, but that process of integrating new tech into the workplace doesn't always go smoothly.

Employees prefer to use technology they are comfortable with, and forcing them to get used to something else can lead to problems.

Michelle Carter, a Washington State University professor and researcher of management, information systems and entrepreneurship, has studied how people respond to an increasingly digital world, both in everyday life and in the workplace.

"It used to be we introduced technology first in the workplace and then applied it to our personal lives," she said.

But that has changed, she said. In a world where smartphones and tablets help make technology more accessible than ever, companies must adjust to the technology people already use.

Her research started when she became interested in the way younger people used technology. The reason it seems they are "addicted" to their phones, social media and the internet, is because it empowers them, Carter said.

They can go anywhere thanks to GPS, and they can learn anything thanks to Google. They solve problems and can have almost any question answered at their fingertips.

When those empowering tools are taken away from them, that means "taking away the feeling that I am in control," Carters said.

Carter said that during her research, she was struck by how work projects would fail, not because the technology was faulty, but because employees didn't want to use it.

In the workplace, people forced to use some other technology may start finding workarounds and go back to using the technology they are used to, she said.

In response to this, companies don't need to give over to everything the employees want, Carter said. But they should get a sense of how an employee identifies with the technology they already use and, "develop incentives and mechanism to loosen that identification over time," she said.

That means doing more than just organizing a two-week training period, which many companies do after rolling out something new. Companies must make the technology their employees already use less attractive, thus making them less likely to identify with it. It means rewarding them for using that new program and even making it part of their job description, Carter said.

Carter said being cognizant of how people relate to their technology can be applied to every aspect of life, not just the workplace.

Sometimes the expectations that society places on people to keep up with new technology can marginalize those who don't have access to it, including the elderly or the differently-abled.

In Seattle, where Carter lives, the city has experienced a massive tech boom that has led to great prosperity for many, however, there is another population that has become marginalized, which may explain why Seattle has a growing homeless crisis, she said.

"We have to be cognizant of the solutions that we try to implement for individuals have unintended consequences societally," she said.

Carter said society in general needs to be more inclusive in how it approaches technology.

"The world does march on, but it can march on without leaving people behind," she said.

Anthony Kuipers can be reached at (208) 883-4640, or by email to akuipers@dnews.com.