Welcome to Insight - our new blog series spotlighting the best ideas, breakthroughs, and practices from Scotland’s colleges as employers. In this first edition, Chris Sumner, Head of Digital at South Lanarkshire College, shares how a focus on early staff engagement and peer learning can build confidence - and make technological change stick.

I’ve been in my current role for around five years now, covering everything from digital infrastructure and development to student records. It’s given me a real sense of how much the systems and processes we put in place shape people’s day-to-day experience at work.

One of the most noticeable changes over that time has been the increasing pressure on staff capacity. That reflects what’s happening across the college sector, where workforces have reduced in response to ongoing, real-terms cuts to funding. Colleges have had to make difficult decisions and now operate with much less headroom.

That shapes how I think about digital change. Whenever we’re introducing a new system or tool, the question is simple: will this actually make things easier for staff – or just add something else to manage? 

Timing and purpose really matter. If we’re asking staff to engage with something new, it has to bring a clear, practical benefit – whether that’s cutting out duplication, simplifying a process, or making it quicker to find the information they need. That often leads to conversations about automation, but it’s important to be clear about what that means. This isn’t about replacing roles. It’s about making the best use of limited capacity. Done well, automation can free up time that staff can put back into things like professional learning or improving services for students. But none of that will happen unless staff are involved from the start.

For example, if we’re changing something like the staff portal, one of the first steps is to speak directly with staff. What do they actually need? How do they use the system in practice? Often it comes down to very simple things, like how many steps it takes to access key information. Those insights make a big difference when it comes to getting it right.

Confidence is another important factor. Digital tools, including AI, are evolving quickly, and not everyone starts from the same place. For some staff, there’s uncertainty about how to use new tools. For others, it’s a question of whether they add anything to ways of working that already feel effective.

Formal, instructor-led training has a role, but we’ve found peer learning particularly fruitful. One of the most effective things we’ve done is run a digital showcase for the college – where I was on a stage interviewing lecturers in front of a large college audience and asking them, “tell us about how you use OneNote or Adobe Express”. Part of that event was signposting them to their own colleagues: fellow staff members who had the expertise and who could work directly with them, helping them to learn and develop their skills with a particular tool. That kind of peer-to-peer support really matters. When people can learn from colleagues they know and trust, it builds confidence and helps new tools bed in more quickly.

Digital tools can also support Fair Work – helping enable flexible working, capturing staff views more effectively, and freeing up time for professional development. But keeping pace with technological change isn’t straightforward, especially if we consider the time and complexity involved in procurement.

Strong safeguards are essential, particularly given the data colleges hold. But there is a balance to strike. Streamlining and simplifying procurement regulations wherever possible would speed up tool delivery for our staff, empowering them to work more sustainably, creatively, and autonomously. Equally, more streamlined data – gathered on unified, nationally available platforms – would also bring real benefits.

Ultimately, digital change work isn’t about the technology itself. It’s about being clear on the problem you’re trying to solve, understanding how people actually work, and making sure the change delivers something worthwhile.

Of course, these are not just technical challenges – they reflect the wider context colleges are operating in. It’s clear to me that colleges are committed to innovation, to Fair Work, and to delivering for employees, learners and communities. But they are doing so from a much leaner starting point than in the past. Any expectations of sector-wide reform need to be grounded in that reality.