Getting new technology at home or work is exciting. It's fun to see all the capabilities that could improve your daily life, uplift your business operations, and increase collaboration and productivity. However, once the shopping honeymoon is over, the technology has to be implemented, and that is where the challenges begin.

Of course, there can be numerous considerations on the technical front depending on the scale of the transition, but the most important step in planning is making sure your users are ready to adopt and use the technology's new capabilities. Otherwise, what was the point?

Communicating from the top of the association about the changes coming and the benefits they will afford the organization and its members is critical to success.

When building your technology transition plan, create a user transition plan that ensures adoption on day one. Every organization is different and user expectations vary, so make sure your plan is tailored to your staff and not just a generic checklist. Your plan should meet the goals of inclusion and adoption and should address four key areas.

1. Executive support. Communication from the top of the association about the changes coming and the benefits they will afford the organization and its members is critical to success. Most people do not like change but can be willing to adapt to something new if they see why it's necessary. An effective way to get buy-in across the organization all at once is by holding a town-hall-style meeting, run by leaders who can explain why the technical changes are required.

2. Training. As soon as the decision is made to implement a new system or technology that will affect day-to-day operations, start training immediately. The training process should cover the capabilities of the new technology while focusing on any changes in business processes that the switch will require. Because people learn in different ways, consider developing a detailed training plan with multiple delivery options, including flexible online programs; instructor-led, in-person sessions; and personalized, deskside options if possible.

3. Celebrate success. Make sure to have a consistent communication plan that details the progress of the transition, addresses any issues or concerns with the strategy, and highlights what parts of the implementation process have been completed. The key is that the communication plan should demonstrate progress. It's important that staff see the positive results of their engagement.

4. Measure. Anecdotal results and success stories are beneficial to measuring a project's impact, but defining and measuring critical success factors will help you and your board know if you have achieved your goals. For example, if adoption rate of the technology is a success factor, you should measure both initial attachment rate and sustained adoption over time. In addition, if you want to give your team the best chance to succeed and keep operations running smoothly, you should measure to what extent the organization has met training goals prior to the change. This will help gauge the staff's preparedness for using the new technology. While it is rare to deliver a perfect technology transition without any hiccups, measuring can allow you to quickly identify and rectify any parts of the process not achieving the expected results.

Adopting new technology can be exciting and scary. While people naturally fear change, especially technological change, association staff can succeed in adopting new systems despite that fear by understanding their role in successful implementation, having clear expectations for the transition, receiving a variety of training resources, and, most important, knowing they are not in this alone.