To understand technical enablement, starting with the term sales enablement might be easiest. You may or may not have heard of sales enablement, but that’s okay; I’ll start there since it’s so simple.
Sales enablement is an umbrella term for anything supporting the sales process. That could include marketing, sales-specific technology, training, etc. Salespeople need resources to do their job and training to use those resources. All of that and the kitchen sink are sales enablement.
The foundation of sales enablement strategy is to provide salespeople with what they need to successfully engage the buyer throughout the buying process.
Gartner
Isn’t it odd to start an article about what technical enablement is with information and a description of sales enablement? Not at all! That’s because sales enablement has been around a lot longer. So, that’s how it’s most helpful to frame what technical enablement is.
The simple definition of technical enablement that borrows heavily from sales enablement is the following:
The foundation of technical enablement strategy is to provide employees with the technology they need to successfully do their jobs.
And that’s our definition entirely, though we’ll attribute Gartner for helping quite a bit. Okay, it got us almost the entire way there with just a smidge of customizing and terminology wordsmithing.
However, what technical enablement is and how it fits into the organization are a bit different. So, let’s go a bit deeper into defining what technical enablement is.
What is Technical Enablement?
Creating a successful organization requires more than just a great idea or product. It involves a slew of things to enable employees and the company to succeed. Technical enablement, in particular, is an area of focus that can help organizations reach their goals faster and more efficiently.
But what is technical enablement, and how can it help your organization? You saw how it relates to sales enablement, but what about beyond that?
To understand technical enablement and why it matters, take a step back and look at the bigger picture of business enablement. At its core, enablement is a way to empower employees with everything they need to be successful.
Enablement in general is a way to empower employees with everything to successfully do their jobs.
Organizations create a culture of success and productivity by providing employees with the resources to make the most of their current skills and training them for even bigger and better skills. Technical enablement is a subset of this concept and specifically focuses on providing people with the technology and expertise needed to do their jobs.
So, just like sales enablement focuses on the resources and skills of salespeople, business enablement focuses on the resources and skills of everyone in the business. Both sales enablement and technical enablement sit right under the overarching business enablement. Then there’s the fact that there’s a lot of overlap, too.
Salespeople use technology too!
Technical enablement allows organizations to invest in their employee’s growth and development. That could be the technology from IT, the training for that technology, or even as simple as the computer someone works on. Anything technology in the organization that contributes to better work is technical enablement.
Here’s another simple definition of technical enablement and what it means to organizations.
Technical enablement is the practice of empowering employees with the tools and methods necessary to use technology to do their work.
It provides employees with the knowledge and skills to use digital tools to meet the demands of their jobs. Technical enablement involves providing and teaching employees about the software and hardware they use and the processes for using them.
By providing employees with the technical skills they need to work more productively, technical enablement enables organizations to streamline their workflow and increase efficiency.
And then there’s the likelihood that happy employees mean a happy company.
Technical enablement is essential for organizations that rely on technology to stay competitive. It helps organizations stay ahead of the curve and ensure their operations work as they should with the latest technologies. By investing in technical enablement, organizations can ensure their employees can take full advantage of the newest technology.
The Benefits of Technical Enablement
Technical enablement can help organizations in a variety of ways. It could be from improving communication and collaboration to automating processes and enhancing the customer experience. Or perhaps it’s just about ensuring employees know how to use technology correctly so they don’t mess up the system.
In any case, doing technical enablement right has many benefits.
Communication & Collaboration
One of the major benefits of technical enablement is improved communication and collaboration. Both are essential to an organization and using technology to accomplish them with a distributed workforce is even more important.
More employees are working remotely than ever before. And even if they aren’t, seeing someone in person doesn’t always make sense, or it’s impossible. Big organizations with employees at offices across the globe still must work as if they’re remote in many cases.
The organization benefits if employees are given the right tools to communicate and collaborate and know how to use them. If employees feel like their ability to work with others is limited because they don’t know the technology, communication and collaboration will suffer.
Can employees simply send out a document draft and have everyone edit the same document, or must they consolidate feedback from 15 people? That can have a huge impact on collaboration!
Organizations can easily share information, ideas, and resources by utilizing the correct technology. This can lead to increased productivity and better team performance. And if employees know how to use that technology well, all the better!
Automation
Automation is a big buzzword in organizations, especially with generative AI interrupting the way people work. Automation can streamline processes and reduce the need for manual labor. This not only reduces costs but also improves accuracy and efficiency. Automation can also automate mundane tasks such as customer service and data entry.
You’d be surprised how much automation is put into play in organizations to make employees’ lives easier, even if it’s completely invisible.
Custom Experience
An organization that pays close attention to technical enablement and how it benefits employees also improves the customer experience. Organizations can quickly respond to customers and provide better service with better tech.
It’s not just about the technology either. It’s about how well employees can use the technology. That’s where good corporate technical training comes in, an essential part of technical enablement. Employees who can use the technology better, faster, and correctly will do a better job with customers.
Security
Security is essential to every big organization. There’s nothing more harmful than private information escaping or systems being compromised. By leveraging the latest technology and security protocols, organizations can reduce the risk of security threats and data breaches.
The average data breach cost organizations 9.48 million US dollars in 2023, according to Statistica. Ouch!
This one also doesn’t come down to only the technology. In security, the weakest link is often the employees. Social engineering is the most common way for an evil outside player to access company information. That always happens through an employee who doesn’t know any better.
People are the weakest link when it comes to organization security.
That means employees who aren’t trained in technology and security will be more likely to unintentionally share their password, which could give bad actors access to important information.
Technical enablement ensures that these risks are properly covered. This can help protect customer data and reduce the risk of cybercrime.
By prioritizing technical enablement, organizations can reap a variety of benefits. From improved communication and collaboration to increased automation and enhanced customer experience, technical enablement can help organizations achieve goals faster.
Organizations that implement the right technology and security measures can also improve their security, which can help protect their data and reduce the risk of cybercrime. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t any challenges. Let’s take a look at some of those.
Challenges of Implementing Technical Enablement
Implementing technical enablement is not always easy. Organizations must understand the challenges of implementation and how to address them best.
One of the most significant challenges is understanding the technical aspects of the technology being implemented. Not all employees or teams are familiar with the technology being implemented. Therefore, proper training and resources are necessary for successful implementation.
Did you hear that? Proper training and resources are necessary for technical enablement. That means technical training is essential to the success of technical enablement strategies in every organization.
Technical enablement isn’t really a priority if training employees isn’t a priority.
The complexity or lack of needed features also must be accounted for. Not all software off the shelf is sufficient for an organization’s needs. Or, perhaps the features are there, but out of abundant caution, they’re disabled,, meaning employees lack the tools they need even with updated technology.
Organizations don’t just need good training, though. For technical enablement to succeed, every organization has to have resources for employees to turn to for help directly. That likely means there’s a help desk with which to get in touch. Not only is that an essential internal resource, but it’s also a great team to work with to understand the best training interventions for employees. The help desk can help bridge the gap to the right training while training can reduce help desk calls.
Organizations must also consider the cost of implementing technical enablement. This can include the cost of training and resources, as well as the cost of hardware and software. Additionally, the organization must also factor in the cost of maintenance and support of the technology.
Unfortunately, technology isn’t usually a once-and-done sort of thing. There are ongoing costs, maintenance needs to be done, and constant updates to keep up with the times. Additionally, organizations must be prepared to handle any potential disruptions or outages.
Change management ensures that people are ready for change and that there’s a process in place to enable employees with better technology and processes.
Then, there’s the change management aspect of technology. A technical enablement program manager must bring in change managers when projects begin, and in turn, they both likely need to bring training professionals in at the same time.
Change management includes understanding the new technology’s implications and developing strategies to ensure its successful adoption and integration into the organization. That means managing the people part of change well.
Proper change management can help with technical enablement, and good training is necessary for every organization’s successful digital transformation.
Technical enablement can be a complex and ongoing process, but organizations can successfully overcome these challenges with the right resources and support. By taking the time to understand the challenges of implementation and the tools necessary for its success, organizations can ensure that employees are supported regarding technology.
That’s good technical enablement.
Best Practices for Effective Technical Enablement
Technical enablement helps organizations become more efficient, productive, and competitive when done well. I don’t know of a single organization that doesn’t want that.
Some best practices for effective technical enablement include creating a framework and strategy, measuring progress, and providing ongoing support. To make a successful framework and plan, you should include a clear purpose and goals for the technical enablement goals.
That means always identifying the ultimate goal, requirements, and who will be affected. You should also measure progress regularly to ensure the initiative has the desired effect.
Measure the progress of your technical enablement strategy frequently.
You can measure progress in increased knowledge, improved skills, and greater productivity. Whatever your goal or strategy is, it’s not technical enablement without ongoing employee support and feedback. This can be done by having regular check-ins from front-line managers and providing resources for support. Your enterprise social network (ESN) for training might be a great place for that.
Ultimately, effective technical enablement requires organizations to invest in company technology and train employees to use it. By investing in technology, organizations can ensure that employees have the necessary skills and resources to remain competitive.
Wrap Up
Technical enablement provides employees with the technology, tools, and knowledge they need to do their jobs efficiently and effectively. It involves continually assessing and managing the organization’s technology needs and employees’ needs to use that technology.
This includes ensuring that employees have access to the right hardware and software and the proper training and support. By investing in technical enablement, organizations can benefit from increased productivity, reduced costs, improved customer service, and more.
When technical enablement is prioritized in an organization, there are several advantages. It can help streamline processes and reduce the learning curve for new staff. It can also help improve employee morale and engagement and facilitate team collaboration.
That’s all essential to a successful organization.
While the technology side of technical enablement is essential, training and support are just as much so. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Without one, you can’t have the other.
I suspect every organization is constantly traveling down a path of technical enablement for employees. That means training employees should always be top of mind. We specialize in digital training, the most effective way to train employees effectively and efficiently in technology.
If you’d like to chat about your technical enablement journey and how training fits into it, we’d love to learn more about your journey and how we can help. Schedule a free consultation so we can help make your technical enablement and digital transformation journeys more successful.