Change can be daunting. When it comes in the form of new technology, it can be even more challenging if you aren’t rolling it out in a compelling manner. After all, adding on a new platform, software or app is only effective if your team is actually using it.
“If you focus on the who and how, the what of technology becomes far more effective because you’ll have people that believe in it and are prepared for it, and you’ll have a process designed to effectively implement it while minimizing risks,” says Jerry DeJournett, CEO of Strata Landscape Services, based in Los Angeles, California.
When To Invest in New Technology
Your priorities as a business will determine when you should consider adding new forms of technology. Adam Swank, director of technology for Ground Works Land Design, based in Cleveland, Ohio, says operational deficiencies, growth limitations, or customer engagement gaps are all instances when they’ll look to augment with technology.
“For example, we’re going through a rapid amount of growth, and for us to accommodate that, I’ve had to step into automating our recruiting process,” Swank says. “I really leaned into building that process out, and that change was really a requirement of our growth limitations.”
Swank says they also have a weekly meeting where they review financial and operational numbers to determine areas for improvement.
“It’s taking the executive team and each one of core departments of technology, finance, sales, and operations and one of us may not be seeing what the other one is seeing,” Swank says. “But when we collectively talk about it, we start painting a really clear picture of how we can get better in those areas.”
DeJournett says when they identify a need, they’ll determine whether they need to build or buy the solution. He says they will implement new tech when the value of the technology has a trackable ROI in relationship to its cost and the cost of training and implementing it.
Marion Delano, director of technology and marketing for Level Green Landscaping, based in Upper Marlboro, Maryland, says they strive to remain on the cutting edge, so they tend to be open to trying new technologies to a fault.
“Our implementation process typically begins with leadership discussions before flowing down to our branch management team,” Delano says. “Getting buy-in at this level is essential before actually launching and rolling out the technology.”
Lawson Thalmann, chief technology officer for Chalet, based in Wilmette, Illinois, says it comes down to prioritization for them.
“We don’t want to bite off more than we can chew in any given quarter,” Thalmann says. “A lot of times we ask whether it’s a ‘need to have’ or ‘nice to have,’ which helps sort through what will actually move the needle in the near term.”
How to Avoid Investing in the Wrong Tool
After identifying a need, the last thing you want to do is end up investing in the wrong platform. Swank recommends taking your time during the discovery phase to ensure you’re selecting the right solution.
“You’re almost always solving for a problem,” Swank says. “Approaching that problem, you got to think about it. Am I being reactionary or am I being scalable? Are you reacting to solve this immediate problem or are you going to address that root cause?”
Swank says too often, businesses will implement new tech as a Band-Aid without fixing the true issue.
He suggests starting with cross-functional communication with your team to find out what baseline functionalities are needed at a granular level. Swank says he’ll bring in stakeholders whose departments would be impacted by a change to determine if the software is a good fit for the team.
“If I say, ‘I need you to make me a sports court. I need it to have lines. I need it to have a net. I need it to have a half court,’” Swank says. “You’re thinking of basketball court but what I really needed was a tennis court. So, I filled your requirements, but you can’t play the sport you’re looking for. You have lines, you have a net, you have half court, but it’s the wrong game.”
Swank says you should also consider the downstream effects of implementing a specific software or tool before investing in it. This is why it is critical to research and demo the different options before deployment.
“It’s not possible in every case, but we place much greater trust in vendors that believe enough in their own product to offer a trial,” DeJournett says.
Delano says they conduct extensive testing and communicate with the supplier upfront to determine compatibility with their systems.
“We also leverage our contact network to gather feedback from existing users,” Delano says. “This approach typically ensures a good comfort level when introducing new technology.”
Delano says their history of working with technology partners in the landscape industry has given them valuable contacts who keep them informed about new technologies.
“Awareness of new technology comes through our professional networks, attending events like NALP’s ELEVATE, and technology companies’ marketing and sales teams,” DeJournett says.
Thalmann says their leadership team keeps their ear to the ground about what technology is working in the industry. When it comes to AI usage, they are looking to other industries for inspiration and working directly with technologists to bring cutting-edge applications to the landscape industry.
Building Buy-In
Once you’ve done your homework on your new tech solution, the next step is ensuring user adoption across your company.
“Before launching any new technology, we conduct extensive discussions with all potential stakeholders to gather their feedback and understand concerns,” Delano says. “We recognize that rollout success ultimately depends on our people’s willingness to fully utilize the technology, so working with them upfront to ensure openness and minimal resistance is imperative.”
DeJournett says they’ve developed the three Cs of technology deployment: Commitment, Commiseration, and Carrots. Commitment is making it clear to the team that the change is here to stay.
“Commiseration is a bit tongue in cheek, but we know change is hard, so we help our team members get comfortable with the new technology, both the upside and the challenges,” DeJournett says. “Doing that requires one-on-one training, walking them through the process on their own computer, phone or device to where we know they’ve mastered it.”
The carrots encourage team members to embrace the change, typically in the form of monetary rewards paid after a period of time or a defined usage milestone with the technology.
Swank adds that if you want your team to adopt a new tool, you have to create a win-win situation for everyone.
“Make sure everyone understands how it will help them in their role specifically,” Swank says. “If you just do this change and you expect adoption without any level of recognition or a reward, then you’re going to lose momentum. People are going to say, ‘Well, why am I doing it?’”
Swank says having an immense level of transparency and ensuring everyone understands the issues and how the change is going to help them is critical.
“From really a high level, it’s just clear communication, knowing what the implementation itself is going to be, not going into it with any sort of gray areas. The process needs to be fleshed out. You’ve got to put yourself in a position where you can communicate to everybody to trust the plan, trust the process, and if you keep changing that every five minutes, then it’s hard for them to trust or lean into that plan.”
After setting the expectation of adoption, DeJournett says they never waiver on holding everyone from the top to bottom accountable for using the new technology, rewarding those who embrace the change.
Thalmann says one strategy they use in change management is to win over those in the middle.
“You have a portion of your staff that are eager for change, so there’s not much need to win them over,” Thalmann says. “Spend the time bringing those who are in the middle of the spectrum – not anti-technology, but also not on the cutting edge. Make them feel like they are a part of the decision-making process. A good trick is to allow them to come up with the solutions on their own. That will allow them to buy in.”
Delano agrees that once a majority of your staff has bought in and experienced the benefits of the new technology, it’s easier to get the remaining team members on board.
When dealing with true resistance, work with the more reluctant employees to determine their reasoning. Delano says they provide a forum for hesitant employees to voice their concerns and frustrations.
“Understanding why they’re reluctant helps us better address their specific issues,” Delano says. “Once we comprehend their hesitations, we can more effectively resolve or discuss them. If we’ve completed this process and still can’t gain their support, forced adoption becomes the necessary final step.”
DeJournett says they don’t just hand out fishing poles; they teach their employees how to fish. For those who are less tech-savvy, they simply spend more one-on-one time with them.
“Just like adopting a puppy, it can be a bit messy but very rewarding in the end if done right!” DeJournett says. “Occasionally, we have an employee who just can’t adapt. In those cases, if they’re a valued tenured employee, then we may give them an apprentice who actually takes on the technology aspect while being trained on the operations side by the more operationally experienced employee.”
Swank says in some cases, pushback can arise from employees who don’t want the increased levels of accountability.
“If people are unwilling to change, sometimes you just have to move on,” Swank says.
Post-Implementation Troubleshooting and Assessment
Even after achieving employee buy-in, there’s not really a ‘finish line’ for rolling out new technology. It’s important to establish ongoing support for team members.
For instance, Chalet established ‘office hours’ as if they were a college professor when launching one of their quarterly tech projects.
“Inevitably, things won’t go exactly as expected, so this has been a key forum for hashing out the issues,” Thalmann says. “We also have an IT Help Desk through Zendesk where anyone in the company can email in to create a support ticket.”
Delano says as director of technology, he serves as his team’s central point of contact for all technology issues. Employees know they can come to him, and he also reaches out proactively to learn what is or isn’t working.
“Issues or errors present huge hurdles to full implementation, as employees quickly become frustrated when things aren’t working properly, so it’s imperative to address problems immediately,” Delano says.
Swank says that he is working to establish champions from each department who are more experienced than a typical user would be. This empowers and enables the team to move faster as they adopt the technology.
“We assign an owner to every new technology, someone who is responsible for successful deployment,” DeJournett says. “That person is held accountable to adaptation by the team and giving daily feedback to management.”
Don’t forget to examine the value your new technology has brought your team. The ROI achieved may vary by usage case. Sometimes, it may be in dollars and other times in increased client satisfaction or other harder-to-quantify elements.
DeJournett says they will A/B test a rollout with different crews or segments of the business when they can.
“If we can’t A/B test for some reason, then we look at before/after data and try to determine if any other variables might have changed at the same time,” DeJournett says. “We’re always assessing our technology deployments and whether there is a better technology or process available though.”
Delano says they also collect rigorous ROI measurements to ensure the value of the new technology. For instance, when Level Green Landscaping rolled out their autonomous mowers, they kept detailed metrics on costs per property and compared them to pre-implementation visits.
“This shows whether we’re achieving cost savings or if the technology is a cost-sink,” Delano says. “We understand new technology may not immediately return positive ROI, so we remain patient as long as we see a pathway to positive impact.”
This article was published in the July/August issue of the magazine. To read more stories from The Edge magazine, click here to subscribe to the digital edition.
