Digital Transformations Part 3: How to Start and What to Avoid

Recently, we have been exploring business transformations. First, we discussed what they are: the use of technology to transform a company’s services or business model by replacing their non-digital and/or manual processes with those that are digital. We determined that they require more than just making measurable changes within your company, though. It is also necessary for a company to undergo disruptive cultural change to truly benefit from a transformation.

After that, we then listed the six reasons your company should pursue a business or digital transformation. Some of the biggest benefits included: making your company more agile, providing a better customer experience, and increasing your profits.

Now that you and your organization are ready to undergo your own transformation, where exactly do you begin? Furthermore, what are some big mistakes you need to avoid?

How to Make Transformation Dreams a Reality

Establish Your Goals

What are you looking to accomplish? Do you need a system upgrade? Time to adopt new processes? Want to incorporate new technology? Be clear about what it is you’re looking to accomplish before you start the process.

Get Everyone on the Same Page

Make sure that everybody in your organization—from the c-suite on down—is aligned on those goals. Commit as a team to the transformation to achieve profitable growth and a better customer experience.

Identify Metrics of Success

Determine measurable metrics that will show whether or not the transformation was a success. These can include measurements of time, cost, errors, and more.

Outline the Scope

Create a workflow path that includes both human and system tasks that need to be done, and then create a project plan and timeline for how to complete them.

Execute

Follow through on your plan, making sure to adjust as you learn. This may involve setting up new infrastructure or obtaining new cloud services. Make sure you test your processes to gauge how well everything is working. Repeat this many times to hammer out every real and hypothetical kink in your transformation.

Go Live and Monitor

Take your system to live, but ensure you’ve set a high bar for continuous improvement. It’s imperative that you closely monitor all of your processes and determine any changes that are necessary for success.

Avoid a Transformation Nightmare

Transformations are a major undertaking for every organization, regardless of size or industry. There are a few challenges for which your organization must be prepared.

Impatience and Lack of Enthusiasm

From the moment you begin planning your transformation, there is a chance that people in your organization will be impatient with the process or have little to no enthusiasm for it. Making sure your team understands the enormous benefits of this process and explaining what is being done, why you are doing it, and how and when it will be done will help to get everyone aligned. If your team is not on board, a successful transformation is unlikely.

“This Is How We Used To Do Things”

Part of a successful transformation is looking forward, not back. No matter how inefficient your old processes may have been, people will always prefer to keep doing it that way. With good change management principles, team members stuck in their old ways can see the endless possibilities of a transformation.

Not Meeting Key Objectives

This is probably the biggest challenge you will face. Oftentimes, an organization’s efforts to undergo a transformation end up with them digitizing processes but not actually improving efficiency or enacting cultural change. Resist the temptation only to spruce up your processes. Set ambitious goals and then achieve them!

This post was originally published by CTR. CTR was acquired by AST in January 2023.