Sway Engine Marketing

A Technology Review Committee led by employees who understand the company’s mission and strategy is an effective way to vet new technologies and recommend how a company should incorporate them.

A Technology Review Committee has two functions:

1) To stay informed about new technologies and how they might affect the company.

2) To gather feedback from different technology users in the company at an early stage.

There are more technology ‘solutions’ than any company can or should use in its business. These include technologies that make operations more efficient or technologies that facilitate marketing, including social networs, email applications, mobile applications, etc.

How to Make the Committee Work:

Here are some tips for developing a strong committee:

•    The committee should be led by a senior executive, someone who can set an agenda, institute a process and keep the committee’s work in line with the company’s strategic goals.

•    The commmitee should include a broad cross-section of employees whose jobs will be affected by the incoporation of new technology. This includes employees who are not generally savvy about technology or who exhibit resistance to new technology. Their feedback will unearth potential challenges in getting widespread adoption.

•    The committee should institute a formal process for reviewing technolgies. This can be as simple as asking each committee member to research and present on a technology that they have heard about or think could be incorporated into their departments.

•    Company leadership should give committee members time at work to fulfill their tasks. It should be supported as a critical part of their job. To communicate its importance, members’ work might be evaluated and tied to pay or bonues.  In some cases, committee membership should be mandatory for key employees.

Remember, technology should never drive strategic objectives. It should only support the objectives that leadership has established based on the company’s values, mission and resources.