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06/05/2007The Role of Management in Technology Deployment
A few short years ago, when someone used the words communications technology, they meant the ability of two people to exchange ideas over a phone line. Today, the term has become synonymous with seamless integration of data, voice and video on the same device, and the ability of two or more people to work together wherever and whenever they chose. And yet think: have the procedures we used to perform our work when phone lines transmitted only voices changed? Barely! Let’s take a simple example and explore the dimensions of our fear to change process with the times… a case worker in the field, who after finding a family eligible, writes up a “report” which would allow this family access to a new benefit. This report is usually written in long hand, or sometimes in more progressive governments entered into a laptop or PDA. However, the end result is the same- the report has to be printed out, put in front of a supervisor or two, and approved. It then begins a laborious journey- either in paper or electronic form- through a maze of controls and data bases before the name of the fortunate family can be entered into a list of families with access to the given benefit. So, while the capture of the information at the client home may have been done automatically on a lap top, the actual process of benefit flow still involves multiple sign offs and a lengthy process in the office which lacks the wings of automated speed. How could this be done differently given the wonders of communications technology? Some leading edge jurisdictions are beginning to experiment with new processes, defined through efforts of Business Process Reengineering, which eliminate steps in the process and speed up the flow of benefits to the family. Once the current processes are documented (or “mapped”), management and line workers are given a chance to change them to new, accelerated ones that bypass steps no longer needing human intervention. Approvals to accept the field worker recommendation are translated in a series of automated rules that can handle the vast majority of situations, and one could imagine the case worker being able to start the benefits flowing with the stroke of a wireless device linked securely to the enterprise data base… So why don’t we do this? Perhaps it is in human nature to resist changing processes which worked in the past with fair results. Back in 1911, Frederick Taylor wrote in his Principles of Scientific Management that there must be stern exercise of management leadership before productivity improvements can be deployed effectively. While he wrote of new methods to improve bricklaying and steel working output, his observations are still relevant in government service work today- including his admonition that workers by themselves will not seek such improvement. He said that the workers must be managed towards a path of improvement by someone who sees the benefit to the whole enterprise and can coax individual performance changes. It is this person or team of persons that is essential to the successful use of new technology for governmental service delivery. Is this person a technology manager? Perhaps, but not always! Sometimes it may be an administrative person, or even a political leader who has the will and strength to change the way work is performed by the employees. And these people who can wave a magic wand and allow process change to occur must be made part of any new technology deployment effort today- yet rarely are. This role of management in business process change will be the foundation of a series of Broadband deployment blog items that have highlight how significant productivity improvements can be made and must be managed for success. In each, we will see the role of this management leader in creating change, especially in business process. Do you have a favorite example of such re-engineering? Have you tried to change process through technology only to be rebuffed? I hope you use this blog space to let all of us know, and perhaps participate in a dialog that could create new approaches to solving old problems. One thing is sure: the promise of communications technology is massive, and we will truly tap it only when we begin to change routine, everyday work processes. Next week, I will present a simple way to see how re engineering and technology adoption work together, so that we can begin to find ways to explore the true RoI of broadband deployment! Costis Toregas is President Emeritus, Public Technology Institute, and a lecturer at George Washington University. He chairs the Business Processes reengineering Roundtable at the W2i Digital Cities Convention.
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