Can you get your AI/automation tech rollout to Cross the Chasm in your operations?
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If an assistive AI or automation tech improves your bottom line in a small trial run, that doesn’t automatically mean it’ll translate to big savings on a full team rollout. A trial run usually involves tech savvy early adopters/champions who are open to change. If this tech is meant to assist your entire team and involves a change in how they do work, you need to be deliberate and patient in your rollout. Looking at this from a transcription operations lens, here’s what you need to watch for as a leader if you are exploring transcript automation tech, including ASR:
Could your team feel that their jobs are at risk?
Having worked with dozens of transcription teams over the years on tech adoption, I’ve seen freelance and staff typists get their back against the wall when they hear of ASR in transcript production. They are worried that it’ll replace them. It’s important that the leadership team communicates what the new process will look like, and how their role will evolve.
Do they need to learn new skills to adopt this tech?
Typing from scratch is very different from editing. While the first requires a high typing speed to be productive, the latter requires a high degree of comfort with hotkeys to navigate and edit a draft document in the text editor. Think about how differently your typist works compared to your quality control staff.
Are they incentivized appropriately to adopt change?
The incentives differ for staff typists vs contract/freelance typists. Staff typists should have a pay scale that lines up with productivity, so that they have the ability to make a bonus when they cross certain thresholds. Freelance typists need to see a higher average pay per hour in the end, if they are paid by audio minute or page.
Deliberate and clear communication is key to ensuring that you don’t end up with a rebellion on your hands.