The concept of digital transformation has been around for a while now. This has been a goal of companies across industries, not just the tech sector. From banks to factories to shop floors, companies all over the world have been trying to utilize and maximize technology to make their businesses more efficient and future ready.
COVID-19 and the increased virtual activity simply emphasized the importance of having the infrastructure, the processes, and the policies to support virtual operations. This created an even greater interest in accelerating organizations’ efforts to digitally transform.
But what is digital transformation? “Digital transformation is the process of using digital technologies to create new — or modify existing — business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements. This reimagining of business in the digital age is digital transformation” (Salesforce, n.d.).
Yes, this is about using technology to make process more efficient, effective, and innovative. But who uses these technologies? Who ensures that they are utilized in the most efficient, effective, and innovative way? It’s the people in your organizations.
More than simply investing in technological tools and platforms, digital transformation is about: (1) looking at the whole system and its different aspects (people, their mindsets, their behaviors, the rules and processes that reinforce those behaviors, hierarchies and organizational groupings, etc.); (2) seeing how these aspects work together; and (3) finding a way for these aspects to work with technology to provide value to the organization.
Here are 3 things to think of to get your people ready for true digital transformation:
Identify the core processes and activities that will be most impactful if turned into digital experiences. Think of the “everyday” processes and activities when identifying your “core”. Most people usually think of high-tech gadgets or online apps when they think of digital transformation. While these are good examples, these are not the only examples. Sometimes, we don’t need the most high-tech solutions to start our move to the digital space. By starting with the “everyday” processes and activities, we are helping our employees get comfortable with this new environment. We are also helping them see the value of digital solutions in making their everyday lives smoother, easier, and hopefully, better.
Meetings are activities that happen all the time. There are different types of meetings. There are different goals that these meetings exist for. Identify how technology can make those goals easier to achieve. For example, if a meeting’s goal is to brainstorm ideas, there are online tools like whiteboards and mind maps that can help make this a more productive session.
Sharing of documents that need to be edited, checked, and validated by more than two people is common in organizations. Usually, this happens by sending the document back and forth through email. Being able to save files in the cloud and use sharable & editable links can save time and create efficiencies by limiting the possibility of inaccuracies.
Meet your people where they are at. Recognize that everyone is at a different ability and comfort level when it comes to using virtual tools. Our current experience presents a unique opportunity to learn new skills and ways of working. Thus, what you can do as teams & organizations is to practice together. Especially for leaders, it sends a strong signal if you are also trying to digitally transform yourself. If you invest the time and effort into learning these new online tools and platforms, your employees will see that learning these is a worthy investment.
Provide opportunities to develop core skills – specifically, focus on communication and strategic thinking. Moving our organizations into a truly digitally-transformed future will need employees who can communicate their thoughts, ideas, and emotions; and employees who can make connections between and among the different pieces of information available in the system to create new value.
Without many chances of observing non-verbal cues, much of our online interactions are dependent on words. Thus, clarity becomes even more important. We need to get our points across in a way that others can understand and align with. Moreover, we also need to practice infusing empathy into these communicative interactions. Now more than ever, showing this ability to care for the other is a skill that will be valued by colleagues, direct reports, leaders, and customers.
Strategic thinking enables us to look at all the information available, connect the pieces, gather insights from these connections, and use those learnings to impact our decisions. Digital transformation has enabled us to get lots of data from various sources. But the ability to use this data to make meaning and create decisions that will benefit the organization – this ability relies on our employees.
In a truly digitally-transformed environment, interactions between human and technology are seamless. To get there, employees have to find ease and comfort in being in the digital world. They have to be able to see the value using technology brings to make their work easier and to free up time to focus on the higher-level thinking required for creative and innovative work. Thus, invest in your people so that they can think and behave in ways that will push your digital transformation efforts through this “new normal” and beyond.
References: Frankiewicz, B., & Chamorro-Premuzic, T. (2020). Digital Transformation Is About Talent, Not Technology. Harvard Business Review. Retrieved from https://hbr.org/2020/05/digital-transformation-is-about-talent-not-technology. What is Digital Transformation? | A Definition by Salesforce. Salesforce.com. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.salesforce.com/products/platform/what-is-digital-transformation/.
Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash
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