For the remainder of this decade, 10,000 Baby Boomers will turn 65 every day. More than ever, adult care and senior living facilities will be using technology to cut waste and maximize efficiencies so they can manage an influx of new residents. But incorporating tech into an operation can be a challenge for guests and staff alike – particularly in adult care and senior living facilities where some people are comfortable with technology and others may either struggle with change or require extra help in adapting to it.
A recent podcast from Foodservice Director recommended some approaches that can help with the transition. Focus on speed and safety. Digital menus can expedite food preparation and ensure that special needs and requests are accurately recorded and applied to a guest’s order. Offer flexibility. Providing the option of larger print, along with menu photos and the capability to listen back to an order, can help make guests feel more comfortable. Identify ambassadors. Test new technology with focus groups of users (including groups of guests and also groups of staff) and recruit supportive participants to help you spread the word about its functionality and benefits. Involving them in naming the new technology can help them feel a sense of ownership of the platform. Be transparent. What are the costs and potential challenges? Integrate digital food ordering with other functions. Platforms that incorporate other capabilities – like the ability to contact management or nursing support, as well as access information about health data and social activities, can help streamline and simplify the tools residents need in their daily lives. Consult outside help. Independent sources can help you identify possible shortcomings. E.g., what are the potential disadvantages of the technology? Will it dovetail smoothly with existing systems? Is it adaptable enough to last for the long term? Does it provide actionable data that can bring greater efficiency to the operation? What level of support is provided – and has the vendor been around long enough to develop a significant track record in that area? Finally, offer training that can be adapted to different learning styles and generations – and that helps draw out the strengths of various team members. If you can demonstrate how their skills will be needed in new ways once new technology is in use, you can help minimize resistance to its adoption.

In a recent restaurant technology podcast from Fast Casual, participants compared restaurant technology to an iceberg: Only some of it is visible on the surface right now – the invisible majority lingers underneath. Considering how tech advancements have transformed other industries over many years, the imminent growth of restaurant tech makes sense, particularly as tech natives in Gen Y and Gen Z represent a growing portion of the workforce. And if most restaurant tech is yet to come, it’s important for today’s tech to leave space for what’s in the pipeline. Looking at the platform you have now, how readily and smoothly can additional technology plug into it? Consider where you’d like to take your business in the next five to 10 years and how well your current system would allow you to adapt to that growth. Where do you expect to make your money? Look to integrate tech that can bring greater efficiencies around cost, labor and real estate to those areas of your business – then you will have a solid foundation from which to branch out into new channels, day parts or service models. When assessing potential providers, collect references, review case studies of the technology in practice, ensure the company has been in business long enough to have worked out kinks in its core products, and be aware of any long-term contracts that could make it difficult for you to swap out a product (or vendor) down the line if needed. When you’re ready to roll out new tools, incorporate a period of time for the change to happen so your team has space to digest it and make it part of how they work. This is especially important if you have operated in a different way for a long time and your new technology represents a significant departure from that. If you can, run any new functionality in a test environment that leaves room for you to make mistakes and try new approaches as part of the tech adoption process.

Whether you’re looking to slim down your tech stack this year or integrate new tools, your technology is likely to be the nerve center of your business going forward. Your ability to harness it and have your staff using its full functionality will be critical to managing your business in real time and course-correcting as needed. At a recent Fast Casual Executive Summit, restaurant leaders shared their thoughts about using technology to the greatest advantage. Eric Knott, COO at PDQ Restaurants, emphasized the need for employees beyond the tech team or restaurant leadership to be involved in selecting, testing and determining the need for new tech. "Anytime we evaluate any technology, we bring in a resource group of individuals from the organization to weigh in and get opinions,” he said. “That could be a cashier, somebody that works the drive thru, a store manager. So we have a good group of opinions on how it touches each of them.” These representatives can help you appreciate the nuances of integrating new tech with your service model and what functions are more important to solving existing problems. Beyond that, they can also make for helpful ambassadors and potential trainers of the tech down the line when you’re trying to increase buy-in across your team.