Implementing Technology

So many factors are involved in deciding when, why, how or if a person or corporation to implement a new technology. As it is with anything involving people, I don't think that it is possible to produce a fail safe philosophy of implementation. Instead, I think that technology implementation has to be considered in conjunction with the human element and is therefore a case sensitive issue.

When I was in high school I worked a part time restaurant job in my hometown. When the restaurant first opened up, every order was hand written on a receipt pad of sorts and the carbon copy was passed back to the kitchen and placed on a pin up board. To complete the order, a line cook had to read the hand written ticket and communicate what each member of the kitchen staff was responsible for. Naturally, as time went on and the restaurant increased in popularity, more and more people came, volume increased, and this system became apparently inefficient.

The need to switch to technology was apparent. Within the first 2 months, we had moved to a computer system where the waitresses in the front of the house would enter the orders into the computer. The orders would then print out on a mobile printer in the kitchen, and each order would be broken down into each section of the kitchen staff. (For example, the ticket would have 3 sections: "Grill, Fryer, Salads." Each team member could look under his section to see what he needed to do to complete the order.) Our average ticket time decreased significantly, and we had less problems with orders than ever before.

The same staff, however, did not react with such a welcoming spirit when it came time to switch computer systems. Management made the call that it the current technology wasn't the best, especially with their intent to make the restaurant a chain. The need for a simple, uniform computer system throughout all of the stores became a top priority as expansion started to happen.

This time, with everyone accustomed to a particular technology, resistance was vocal and widespread. For the cooks, it didn't really matter because they were essentially receiving the same type of ticket in the back. However, the waitresses had a hard time locating all of the products on the new system and weren't able to enter orders with the same speed and accuracy as they had before. The decision was made, though, and there was no looking back.

The restaurant went through a month long transition period and had on site tech help for every shift for the first 2 weeks. After that, tech support was readily available through the phone and would be called in on occasion.  It wasn't an easy transition, but eventually the technology stuck and the staff grew accustomed to it. In the end, the new technology was irrefutably better and more efficient. It just took a lot of work to keep staff morale high during the transition period and it took dedication from the management team to grind it out and be there to provide support and guidance through the struggle.

My personal experience highlights the important of management buy-in and dedication. Had there been apathetic managers, the new technology would have been a bust and the restaurant may not have grown to what it is today.