There’s no doubt that improvements in technology drive productivity and improve our lives. But in government agencies and enterprises throughout the private sector, managers often look to technology as the silver bullet without realizing the false economy they are often creating.
In economics, a false economy is an action that does save money at the beginning but which, over a longer period of time, results in more money being spent or wasted than being saved. When it comes to technology tools, like CRMs, ERP, Electronic Onboarding, and others, most managers don’t realize they are creating a false economy when they implement a new technology tool. They are focused on improving something and believe that a new technology tool is what will deliver the improvement.
Don’t get me wrong, the technology tool is not the problem. In most cases implementing a new technology tool is a good idea but tools are implements, they are not processes. Installing a new technology tool before examining the business processes where it will be used is a classic error. Adding a new technology tool to an existing, out of date, and poorly operating process creates a more efficient poorly operating process; that’s not the goal of most managers.
The decision to install a new technology comes from Management; in most cases front line workers and subject matter experts are left out. They may be asked to provide a review between multiple tools being evaluated; but most often there is no thought given to reviewing the process that the technology tool will help execute. There is a wealth of information agencies can learn from our subject matter experts to make the implementation of a new technology tool hyper effective.
Yes, get that new technology tool, but before you do, review your existing processes. Leverage the time-tested techniques of Lean Six Sigma in your review and trust your subject matter experts. They will show you how to make that new technology tool deliver maximum benefits. The key takeaway is – never automate an inefficient or outdated process.
When agencies don’t review their processes before implementing a technology tool, they create a false economy instead of maximizing benefits. The old catch phrase from the 1980’s still rings true: “You can pay me now or you can pay me later.” Up front expenses for process review and improvement are significantly less than future payments for revising technology tools that were implemented using old processes.