Four ways that organizations have dehumanized IT

Organizations have dehumanized IT.

It’s not a question of “has it happened at our organization?” It is the recognition that it has happened.

Despite the investments organizations have made in technologies and process designs intended to solve business problems, the critical component of the solution has been overlooked. That component? The humans that are interacting with those technologies and process designs.

Four ways organizations have dehumanized IT

How have IT organizations become dehumanized? Here are a few attributes of a dehumanized IT organization.

IT associates think and work in terms of a “ticket.” An IT-related issue is treated as a faceless and voiceless number, rather than as an issue that impacts the productivity of a fellow colleague. IT masks its interactions with the consumer behind technologies, such as email or messaging through a service management tool and neglects the opportunity to connect and empathize with the consumer.
IT sends out generic, post-interaction surveys, rather than host face-to-face discussions with consumers. Exasperating the situation is that these surveys typically ask the same questions over and over, oblivious to the humans receiving those surveys. Furthermore, what little data that is captured on those surveys is rarely reviewed, much less actioned.
IT organizations do not conduct regular service level review meetings, much less have real SLAs. A service level review meeting should be a great opportunity for face-to-face discussions with consumers and key stakeholders to review service level agreements (SLA) to determine if IT products, services, and performance meet business needs. But what many organizations call a “SLA” is nothing more than some defined configuration parameters used in a service management system. Even worse, those parameters are defined with no input from the consumers served by IT.
IT organizations develop new solutions with no involvement from the consumers that will be using those solutions. The frequent approach to new IT solution development is to conduct a few meetings with sponsors and key stakeholders to gather their requirements and gain commitment on budget and resources. Any consumers that will be using the new solution are usually not included in those meetings. In many cases, the “solution” is jammed into an already in-use technology that often is neither fit for purpose or use.

Why is humanizing IT so important

There are many reasons why humanizing IT is so important. First, it’s well known that happy employees deliver better customer service. A humanized IT approach delivers better human-centered designs and intuitive user-friendly systems and interfaces.

This recent research journal article discusses many benefits that result from humanizing technology teams. A benefit that may not be obvious is enhanced employee satisfaction and retention. By creating a more human-centric work environment, IT organizations can improve employee well-being, leading to higher job satisfaction and lower turnover rates.

Humanizing IT can also differentiate an organization’s products and services in the marketplace. This recent article discusses how companies that think that business decisions are taken solely on ROI and impact to the bottom are fooling themselves. Embedding human-centered designs within an organization’s products and services encourages emotional connections in B2B relationships, which drives brand loyalty and customer retention.

Enter human centered design

In a world where digitization, automation, and artificial intelligence are driving businesses to invest increasingly in technology, the more that the consumers of that technology value human interactions and connections.[i] This is where human centered design (HCD) can help.

HCD is an approach for problem solving that starts with understanding what consumers need and arrives at a place where innovative solutions address those needs.[ii] HCD is about solving problems, not implementing solutions. This means that effective HCD requires a mindset shift within IT from ”problem solver” to “listener and learner”. By using the HCD approach, IT gains a better appreciation and understanding of consumer challenge, builds better connections with the consumers of solutions, and drives better trust and communication with consumers.

Challenges

While embracing the HCD approach has numerous benefits, organizations are often faced with challenges in adoption.

First, many organizations take a “technology-first” mindset. Rather than first understanding the end-user perspective, organizations identify and implement a technology that seemingly addresses a business problem. On the surface, this “technology first” approach may seem like an easier and quicker fix for business and consumer challenges. But the reality is that technology will only be as good and well-received as the consumers are able to use those technologies easily and successfully.

Convincing senior management can also be a challenge. Traditional metrics, such as efficiency and ROI, may not capture the value of improved user experiences.[iii] Some leaders are concerned that becoming human-centered comes at the expense of ignoring business needs.[iv]

Overcoming deeply entrenched ways of working can be problematic. Organizations have developed ways of working that have evolved over longer periods of time. Employees have been and continue to be evaluated and rewarded based on these ways of working.

Take some first steps for rehumanizing IT

Adopting a human-centered design approach within IT will not happen overnight. But every journey begins with a few steps. Here are a three steps for starting to rehumanize IT.

Ditch those satisfaction surveys. Instead, conduct regular focus group meetings to not only capture consumer feedback, but get direct face-to-face input regarding improvement opportunities.
Conduct Gemba walks. Take a page from the Lean methodology and go to where work is being done. Observe, not evaluate, how consumers are interacting with technology. Show respect to consumers by listening to their concerns.
Begin participatory designing. Participatory design is a core concept of HCD. It means involving the consumer at the beginning of design activities. Consumers sometimes find it difficult to articulate what their challenges and problems are until they see, feel, and experience those challenges. Involving the consumer from the beginning of design efforts will result in solutions that are more user-friendly, intuitive, and accepted.

HCD can a be a transformative approach for businesses and the IT organizations within those businesses, especially when it comes to the implementation and use of technology. Starting with and including the humans that will be using those technologies in the design of products and services is the key to success in this digital age.

[i] https://www.thinklikeapublisher.com/humanizing-content-as-an-answer-to-ai/ ,Retrieved January 2024.

[ii] https://aircall.io/blog/customer-experience/10-benefits-of-human-centered-design/ Retrieved January 2024.

[iii] https://www.lusidea.com/blog/challenges-in-adopting-human-centric-design-practices , Retrieved January 2024.

[iv] https://www.hrdconnect.com/2023/10/06/human-experience-management-enabling-business-performance-through-human-centered-design , Retrieved January 2024.