Maximizing Digital Transformation Outcome
Many projects miss their mark but it’s not likely the Digital part. Have we fully grasped the Transformation part?
In this world of rapidly evolving technology there is an insatiable appetite for digital adoption. However, the outcome often does not yield the promise(s) - especially those from technology providers with “enthusiastic” salespeople.
“People want to be successful and be recognized.”
It’s not that technology fails to deliver, nor is it because your business has bad people. Fundamentally, technology is an enabler, and most people want to succeed and be seen as contributing – when you give them the chance.
“Understand root cause and how changes impact downstream processes”
Often, technology projects miss their mark because the business did not effectively translate its objectives from planning to execution. Worse, planning failed to identify the real issues. However, a major impedance of successful digital transformation is failure to grasp the impact of change.
The following are considerations to extract the most from your digital transformation initiative.
Clear Objectives - Does the organization (the people) have a clear and documented understanding of its business objectives enough to guide the initiative? Are objectives prioritized, focusing people on the things that matter most? This extends beyond the project scope to things like strategic plans, vision statements, and corporate values.
Leadership Support - How does the leadership engage and recognize effort and progress? Feeling their presence generally motivates staff to stay on track. This is not hard. A simple handshake and thank you can go further than a scripted speech or blah, blah memo. See and be seen.
“Communication is the grease in the wheels of change”
Communication - Without getting into a project management 101, strong communication raises situational awareness ensuring the project runs smoothly. As stated in the previous point it is a key motivator. Communication is the grease in the wheels of change. Even when things don’t go as planned you can effectively mitigate negative outcomes and learn from it.
Change Management - How is everyone made aware of the changes? Buy-in and awareness at the outset are critical at all project phases and levels of the organization. “Surprises” foster fear or feeling of being “out of control” - obvious detriments to change propensity. Also consider that roles can and should change dramatically, and in some cases eliminated. Do you remove resources to save cost, or repurpose them to increase capacity? Both carry their own risk and reward.
IT Resources - How are IT resources stacked up? It is more to do with engaging them in a manner that clearly outlines their pivotal role in the design phases right up to deployment and ongoing support. The more they understand the business objectives, why they are here in the first place, the more apt they are to make better decisions in design and execution, but also, allocate appropriate resources. Often, they are overstretched. Prioritization is critical given their responsibilities within the project(s), but also in the broader scope of technical support.
Funding - How is the project funded? It doesn't always go as planned. Contingencies need to be part of the project. This includes taking advantage of newly discovered opportunity as the project takes shape. Consider low-hanging fruit without excessive scope creep.
“Digital Transformation is not a project; it is a journey.”
Consider that digital transformation by itself is not a project. It is a process in and by itself that often gets overlooked. As with new annual targets, new methods are required to achieve those targets – especially stretched ones.
“Transformation is a process”
Evolving a change process begins with clear objectives, communicating them, and affording staff to analyze existing processes, technology, and people in a concerted way to design, develop, and execute in the most effective and efficient way possible. The more defined and documented your change process, the faster you will generate new ideas and the faster you bring them to fruition.
Culturally, people will learn to embrace change (transformation) and result in a sustainable competitive advantage.