Chances are that you have been asked to be part of a pilot group at one point or another during your professional career. You may have even refused to take part because you didn’t want to deal with the inconveniences and headaches that participating in a pilot group can bring.
For those of you reading who might not know what a pilot group is, I will explain it now. A pilot group is also referred to as a pilot experiment, a pilot study, or just a pilot. According to Wikipedia, it is basically a small-scale preliminary study conducted before the main research in order to check the feasibility or to improve the design of the research. They are usually put together to avoid time and money being wasted on an inadequately designed project. A pilot is often used to test the design of the full-scale experiment so that adjustments can be made before rolling out the new project. The pilot participants have a vital role in critiquing the design so the design group can then make the changes necessary to make the change as painless as possible.
The IT department is often looking for people to test out new applications or changes to the ones that are already in use. Some of the applications that have been tested in a pilot group before being introduced to the rest of the UNC community include Windows 7, Office 2010, Apple 10.6OS, Internet Explorer 8, Thinapp Software Virtualizations, Grader, Academic Alert, Banner 8 and most recently MidTerm Grades and HP Thin-Clients.
On Friday, it was agreed upon that I would be a part of the HP Thin-Client pilot group. When I came into work this morning, I noticed that something giant and archaic was missing from my desk: my CPU (central processing unit). It was replaced by a smaller piece of equipment that was hiding behind my computer screen and was about the size of a Cheese-It box (regular, not family sized). Excited to be a part of cutting edge technology I tried to log on to my computer. It didn’t work the way that it normally did. Was I frustrated? Not really… Inconvenienced? Maybe just a little. So, I called tech support and they literally came running to my office to show me how it worked. After a two minute tutorial, things began to run smoothly. The tech support group asked me to keep a log of things that I noticed were different or more difficult. They want to know the bad things about Thin-Clients so that they can analyze and fix the problems before they are rolled out to a larger group. At the end of the day, I guess I don’t mind having a couple inconveniencing minutes to help improve a process and save other people from experiencing the same problems. I also really enjoy getting personalized support and learning the system a step ahead of everyone else.
If you’re a person who usually has trouble adapting to new technology, you are the perfect person to participate in a pilot. If you are a person who likes to be a step ahead of your colleagues, you are the perfect person to participate in a pilot. If you are uber-critical about new processes, you are the perfect person to participate in a pilot.
So, next time you are asked to participate in a pilot, say yes! Change can be difficult, but if you participate in a pilot you can help make change a positive thing.
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