It takes about two days to change a guy from being petrified of a computer to being, well, at least not afraid of it. Within a couple of months, the fellow is just so proud of it that he wants to demonstrate it for other people. There's a psychological principle that says participation leads toward involvement, and involvement leads toward commitment. To that end, the manager's approach should stress how computerization benefits employees, rather than how it benefits the company. Or you might try paying some people by the piece so those who learn the system and get documents out quicker realize some financial benefit.
Computers often make the old boundaries between jobs obsolete.
Office politics and turf wars can exacerbate existing problems with, and may even contribute to, computerphobia. If top management sometimes seems oblivious to the problem of computerphobia, it's because many CEOs are terrified of computers. They've got so much invested in being in control. Golson's observation is supported by a survey of 500 CEOs done last year by Personal Computing magazine. The poll found that only 21 percent of respondents used a computer either at home or at work, and that most members of that group spend less than an hour a day with a computer.