Leveraging Technology to Thrive Under the NDIS
Last week a number of Synapse staff attended the NDIS New World
Conference in Brisbane. Our National HR Advisor Jillian Campbell
attended a session on Leveraging Technology to Thrive Under the
NDIS and has shared her learnings below.
This session looked specifically at the implications of
technology, assessing the use of technology, NDS IT planning and
system selection project, Leveraging information technology
successfully and what the next steps are for organisations.
The key take away messages were that non-for-profit
organisations are pressed to achieve efficient service delivery
with minimising the overheads proportional to staffing numbers. The
key focus is that 80-85% of all time spent by employees in
organisations should be client-facing. Technology cannot disrupt
this percentage and be having staff spending more time on
technology (computers, tablets and smart phones etc.) and away from
the face-to-face supports that we are funded for.
The second key message was that the technology used in
organisations needs to be great value for money, to keep overhead
costs to a minimum. Any system that is implemented needs to be the
right system implemented in the right environment. It was found
that organisations who spent more on systems and technology were
more dissatisfied than those that were efficient and spent smaller
amounts of money on better value. The disability sector is full of
individuals who chose their profession because they enjoy working
with people, not behind computers and systems. If buy-in is not
sought early within the IT plan, then the success of the new system
or technology will be minimal.
The final take away point from this session was to ensure that
regular training is provided to all staff. Organisations fail when
they implement and train employees once the system is brought in.
Without regular training and refreshers in the technology or
system, again the success of it will be majorly impacted. All new
systems and technology need to be treated as a change management
process.
Synapse is in the process of implementing numerous systems and
technologies in order to prepare for the NDIS. Steps will need to
be taken to ensure that the success of these will not be impacted
through lack of time and training to the end users. The greatest
tool that can be used to gain buy-in from the end users is by
describing the reasoning behind the information that is required in
the system. For example, with Supportability, what information is
used within a case note in order to bill the NDIS for the work that
was completed? With the help of the Leadership team and the
Coordinators, employees will be able to get over any bitter and
jaded experiences that they have previously had with technology.
Whether this is with the latest smart phone they bought, or a new
Windows operating system.