Every organisation is different, but with a minimum of one new technology being pinpointed as the 'holy grail' of digital success per year (Big Data, VR, Blockchain, AI; what next?) many are wondering how to stay ahead of the game. How do you define success in a world that keeps changing faster and faster?
As a result, companies keep pouring billions into new tools and processes. However, humans are still calling the shots and managing these innovative systems. Digital transformation will not occur without transforming the human side: mindsets, working patterns, expectations, success models are all key in making the most out of what many are calling an endless transformation.
MAKING DIGITAL HAPPEN
The challenge is clear: helping teams succeed in an ever-changing digital world. But: what kind of support? What kind of training? How will you know it's working? There is definitely a lot more to it, but here are some key elements to consider based on my experience with the human component of digital transformations:
flat communication
Every organisation thinks of itself as 'flat'. Flat communication involves people and teams from different levels and scopes communicating fluently with each other. Here are some questions to consider communication matters in your environment:
Does the CEO communicate regularly with all team mates?
Does communication often flow across different hierarchy levels without having to follow the 'chain of command'?
Do people in one department know what other departments in the company are doing? Is it easy to find out what's the 'latest and greatest'?
Are there collaboration platforms (besides productivity suites) where teams can find company information and connect with other teams on demand? Can teams choose the information they want or is it mostly top-down?
Digitally successful companies encourage open information to flow across teams. Without it, duplicate efforts become commonplace. A sensible balance between structure and flatness shouldn't get in your way.
collaboration
Let's face it: collaborating in person isn't quite like collaborating remotely. In global organisations, location and culture can also be significant factors besides the use of video in meetings and similar remote-friendly tips.
Teams need to build trust and collaboration to work successfully together; this becomes even more critical when you have teams working out of specific hubs. Hubs can foster local collaboration, but risk creating siloes and disconnecting locations from each other.
Ensuring remote, cross-cultural collaboration best practices are used will remain key in connecting hubs and building global capacity. Certain online training courses could be a good starting point.
IT GOVERNANCE
Shadow IT is every Technology team's nightmare. How can you avoid it while giving teams room for innovation in a world with thousands of new applications being released every day?
Give up expecting teams will stick with their current software: the fact they are looking for better ways to do their work is something to encourage. Instead, make sure they are using IT governance best practices. They should be able to easily answer the following:
Is this application supported in the company's catalogue?
With a specific purpose in mind, which application should I use?
What should I do if I can't find an application for my purpose in the approved company catalogue?
DIGITAL LITERACY
I strongly believe in empowering teams with the right means to find their own solutions. Some digital skills, while still foreign to most elementary education, are becoming key tools not only to create new digital solutions, but also to understand what others are doing or even to join the conversation altogether.
Now--what are the skills? I'm aware of the many different opinions around this. Still, I'm convinced every digital transformation initiative should offer basic training on:
Digital content creation: creating visuals, videos, digital products.
Web design: it's become a standard for customer-facing elements. HTML, CMS, Javascript, UX Design are key in working with web.
Code: despite the amount of languages, there's a similar logic to most of them. In my experience, Python is the easiest to learn and apply quickly. You can develop small applications and process data in a matter of weeks.
Digital marketing: managing online campaigns and interactions.
Data analysis: capturing, interpreting, plotting data and using it to inform decisions.
Different teams may pick a custom combination of the above based on their needs. These 'enablers' will give teams the right tools to take process innovation to the next level.
COMMUNITY
You will want your practices and knowledge to continue growing over time. Establish a community of experts who can feed and inform initiatives and for people to know where to go for support.
EXPERIMENTATION
As much as you might encourage teams to be innovative, they are unlikely to do so if they perceive it isn't safe to experiment, or it can result in negative consequences. We all need support and the right means to ensure innovation won't get in the way of our work.
Set up spaces for experimentation and failure. Hackatons, pilot groups, A/B testing, prototypes are all great ways of giving innovation the space it deserves.
CUSTOMER CENTRICITY
You may be wondering why customer centricity. Here's why: there's a danger with all the topics above. They can all be properly applied, but geared towards a self-focused culture, increasing the company's interest in its own processes instead of looking towards the outside. It may sound cliché, but none of the above will create real impact unless put to work in the customer's best interest.
I've seen multiple companies trying to develop customer centricity in their teams. Ideas and mindsets are great, but they stick a lot better when clear frameworks are put in place. In my experience, Design Thinking is a great methodology for this purpose.
What DO YOU THINK?
Are there any topics you're missing in the list above? Have you tried any of these strategies with positive or negative outcomes? Leave a comment or get in touch to share your thoughts or if you want to chat more about successful digital transformations.
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