Success in Digital Transformation is About More Than Technology

Embarking on a digital transformation journey comes with a long list of objectives, with action items occurring within larger action items. In order to stay on target for your goals, you’ve got to carefully manage timelines and anticipate potential delays or budgetary challenges. It can be difficult to keep focus and effectively direct your teams.

While digital transformation is equipped through technological advances, there’s much more to the process than just the technical. When you’re managing a cloud migration or integrating blockchain, it can be easy to work diligently through the steps to implement new technology and miss the people-oriented aspects of the process that ensure its success.

Bring Your Team Along. Every size enterprise is pursuing digital upgrades, and taking the step of equipping and engaging your team is what will set you apart from your competitors. Your employees should have a clear understanding of the benefits they can expect from new technology, and you should invest in developing the digital skills of your employees. You’ll need to plan for regular opportunities for contact between you and your team, with time spent updating them about upcoming changes, listening to their feedback, and taking action when possible to remedy any challenges.

Listen to Your Customers — and Keep an Ear on Broader Trends. Again, it can be easy to keep your head down and focus on the technical during a digital transformation, but it’s important to resurface now and then. Keep your ears tuned to your customers and take note when they provide criticisms of their experience with your company. Customers are keenly aware that they can easily jump to a competitor’s website, so it’s a great deal for you if they take a moment to tell you they’re not happy and give you another shot.

You’ll also want to be aware of bigger trends across your industry and beyond. Otherwise, you might miss opportunities for your brand to reinvent itself or ignore a trend that is important to your customers. There have been plenty of casualties in the pursuit of customer convenience, so make sure your company doesn’t become one. Keep an eye on economic and social trends that may call into question the future of your business model.

Keep Your Values at the Heart of Your Digital Transformation. As you contemplate the types of technology you’ll incorporate, all of the shiny new features and tools can be distracting. Without a focus on your overall purpose in your organization about how these tools serve your customers, you can lose sight of your values. Be sure to include discussions about corporate values in your planning sessions, and help employees evaluate decisions in light of which option aligns well with your values.

Are you putting together a digital transformation strategy, or are you involved in a plan that has temporarily stalled out? To learn more about creating a successful digital transformation, contact us at One Connect.