“I don’t have time for that”.
How many times have you heard those lines? It is often the first reaction to a new technology. It is the cold fish, slap-in-the-face of the overwhelmed. The desperate cry of the overworked.
Many times we let technology get in the way. It can confuse us or stop us from trying something new. Its first appearance looks like more work, more effort, more stress. More of everything that is bad.
But when we look back at improvements in productivity, technology is, without a doubt, the driving force. It has made our lives better – reducing boring, repetitive tasks, improving the speed of our decision making and delivering lightning fast, global communications to our desktops, fingertips and pockets. And yet, for many of us, new technology stops us in our tracks. After all, we are not all “early adopters” eager to try, use and show something new.
Often when we say “I don’t have time for that”, really we are saying, “I’m tired of this relentless change. I’m comfortable with the way I work. I’m good at it and I am busy doing what I am already doing.” In the end it appears to be change for technology’s sake.
But if the world of social media has taught us anything, it is that technology can also be transformative – it can change the way we do things. And it can change the way we think about things. It can change our attitudes.
But where do you start? This great 20 tip playbook from Salesforce Radian6 brings a decisively human element to the technology conversation (and I am not just saying this because I am mentioned in it). And while the focus is social media – this same approach can be equally applied to any communication challenge that you face. After all, it’s not about the technology – it’s about the people. Start by saying hello.