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Digital coaches, empathy in action




It had to be about halfway through my drive into work that I began to feel a throbbing pain in my forearms and hands. I was clutching the steering wheel so tightly as the anxiety continued to build regarding the changes happening at the office this morning. So, I decided, like any red blooded American, to search my iPod (2007 model) for the quintessential song to help me through this moment; "Eye of the Tiger" by the appropriately named band Survivor. Even I, Overwhelmed Oscar, can muster the strength to get through our companies transition to the cloud, I repeated to myself while listening to this song over and over again. 



Influential Irene and I were "cube-mates", I began to share some of my thoughts with her hoping it would relieve some of my stress.  Irene, "from a technology perspective things seemed so much simpler in the late 90s and early 2000's. We all consumed and learned how to leverage software packages, institutionally installed and likely to remain in service for many years.  Admittedly the flexibility of the software tools was quite limited; however, we learned to adapt our workflow processes to those supported within the solutions provided."  Irene added "the training regiments were straightforward as well, we prepared content, delivered during a training class, and monitored results."



So, Oscar, continued Irene, "why are you so anxious?" The question was so simple yet Oscar was struggling to put together a response. Initially Oscar began to realize the silliness of his anxiety, heck this is just a different software system, it serves the same function, why am I getting so upset?  I just need to "rise to the challenge" as I hummed the song now burned into my prefrontal cortex.  I have it Irene, proclaimed Oscar; "the difference is the paths we have to take are now much greater than they were in the past". For instance, when I come up to T intersection and two choices are available, left or right. Yet this cloud-based solution is more like a city center where I can drive in one spoke and be presented with 15 alternate routes. The choices are so robust that I struggle with where to start as in the past these decisions were made on my behalf.



Irene, who was responsible for training in the organization, transitioned quickly through two emotions; enlightenment and concern. Enlightenment as she agreed with Oscars response and concern as the traditional training approaches for software packages would not work in delivering cloud-based solutions. The same core elements for adoption had to be in place, the user had to resolve to use the tool, and the leadership had to provide clear expectations. But it was more than that, company level training needed to cover how to get to the toolset, individual and team coaching would position the software as a benefit and not just another distraction. Time would be spent understanding the natural work habits of an individual and suggesting a path to productivity. The real beauty, thought Irene, was the flexibility of a standard platform which could be personalized, without customization or compromise of corporate objectives, to each person.



It is not hard to find articles talking about digital transformation yet very few speak to the need for digital coaching. Providing a one-size-fits-all approach will likely yield the same or even reduced use of tools as the user will never think to stretch outside of their comfort zones.  If the objective is to enrich the user's experience with this transition, you will have to develop digital coaching approaches.
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