Five ways to accelerate digital transformation

Pressure to accelerate digital transformation is mounting, but all too often with a poor return on investment. How can your business speed up change and deliver on potential?

Digital transformation was already gathering pace before the upheaval of 2020 – PwC research reveals that more than 80% of business leaders believe that technology will fundamentally change their organisation.

Yet, the moment we went into lockdown, slow and steady change went into overdrive. Satya Nadella, CEO of Microsoft, spoke for many companies including those here in the Channel Islands, when he said: “We’ve seen two years’ worth of digital transformation in two months.”

The rapid shift to remote working and primarily digital customer engagement has provided a powerful catalyst for this next big leap in transformation - a potential precursor to the 5th Industrial Revolution. Crucially, it also shows what’s possible when your organisation gets behind change. Looking ahead, digital transformation is not only an opportunity to do things faster and cheaper, but also better. The game-changing potential includes closer customer relationships and sharper data-driven decisions. Moreover, while digitisation is often presented as a threat to jobs, it could create new and more fulfilling tech-enabled forms of employment.

Falling short

The problem is that digital potential is too rarely realised. IDC analysis estimates that 70% of all digital transformation initiatives do not reach their goals. Of the $1.3 trillion that was spent on digital transformation in 2018, IDC estimated that more than $900 billion went to waste.

Why do so many transformation projects fall short? In my experience, businesses tend to look at faults in the systems for an answer. Yet this can miss the critical human dimension. How can we ensure that our people have the skills to make the most of the technology? How can we secure their buy-in for change?

Stepping up

How then can you increase your chances of success? From my experience, there are five key steps to delivering on the transformational potential:

1. People, People, People

Your people are the ones who will ultimately have to accept, apply and embed the change. Tellingly, a PwC survey of financial services leaders revealed that the biggest barrier to digitisation in their organisations wasn’t technology, process or data, but people.

The right people with the right skills and appropriate authority should be included in the change process from the start, from solution design, through to building and testing and on to adoption.

Your workforce as a whole also needs the skills to make the most of the new tools. This investment in upskilling should be ongoing so you’re developing your talent, taking on board their ideas for improvement and identifying people who can support the growth of your business.

2. Strong governance and oversight

Failing to plan is planning to fail. It’s essential to have a structured plan capturing the relevant workstreams, dependencies, critical path and associated criteria. Plans will inevitably evolve and change as the programme progresses, but there should always be one in place. This not only ensures that the transformation team is working towards defined goals, but is also accountable for delivery within agreed timelines.

3. Business understanding and buy-in

Digital transformation requires change at all levels of the organisation, from the board to the business frontline. Winning over your workforce is therefore critical. As such, it’s important to build the impact on your people into your evaluation and planning.

In explaining the changes and taking your people with you, it’s important to remember that digital transformation is as much a cultural as a technological shift – new ways of working, engaging and making decisions. How can you create champions for change? How can you address potential anxieties?

4. Clear, compelling and regular communication

Communication is critical in securing firm-wide understanding and buy-in. If you neglect this, you risk creating a vacuum for rumour and misinformation.

The starting point is a clear, consistent and relatable change story: Where is the organisation heading? Why is it changing? Why is this important? What’s in it for staff?

Establishing lines of communication between the transformation team and the business would allow any questions or concerns to be raised, heard and acted upon. The channels of communication can be varied, from emails and periodic updates, through to implementing regular firm-wide demos, live Q&A or fireside chat sessions. Other useful options could include an internal microsite for the programme.

5. Be open to, and accepting of, failure

Your digital transformation journey will have challenges and encounter failure in some form or another. Recognising and accepting this up front as part of a ‘fail fast’ approach would help you to quickly identify what went wrong, address it and learn from the experience.

Backing for change

2020 has accelerated everyone’s awareness of digital possibilities, but the core principles for how change is adopted and embedded still remain. An empowered and engaged workforce is key, helping to drive transformation and reap the dividends.

Our team can share our experiences of working on a range of digital transformation projects. Please feel free to get in touch.