Digital technologies have changed nearly every facet of society, informing how we live, communicate, and do business. For your organization to compete, thrive, and fully leverage market opportunities, embracing digital transformation isn’t just essential; it’s inevitable. In the past organizations gained value through vertical integration, using mergers and acquisitions to consolidate assets or gain dominant access to markets and customers. That was then.
In today’s digital world, it’s all about information, transactions, and interactions that can be facilitated digitally or virtually. Influence and scale in the digital world is not necessarily achieved by controlling assets or becoming bigger. It is done by leveraging data to create strategic alignment that will facilitate sought after market results. It needs to be implemented with an effective roadmap that includes the following elements:
A Detailed Strategy
Before undertaking any digital transformation, you need to have a specific vision about how your organization will set itself apart from the competition. To increase your market share, it’s crucial to thoroughly flesh out the strategy that will deliver your intended end results.
Alignment
Once you have a detailed digital strategy, you need to make sure all aspects of your organization are aligned to that strategy. In addition to having employees, stakeholders, and customers assess the organization’s current capabilities, the Cube Model is a valuable assessment tool because it identifies the realignments needed to achieve strategic outcomes.
An Agile Approach
The digital world operates at a much faster pace and in a more fluid manner than traditional ways of working were designed to handle. Digital transformation requires adopting an approach better suited to working in a digital environment. There are many strategies that can be used, but one of the most successful is adopting the Agile method, which promotes collaboration, flexibility, and adaptability. Originally designed for software development, the Agile method is also applicable to digital transformations because it improves productivity and the speed of decision making, taps into the creative energy of an organization’s talent, and reduces the time needed to achieve strategic results.
Commitment
You can have the most creative strategy, the most enthusiastic employees and stakeholders, and the most effective communication, but for a digital transformation to succeed, you have to commit to see it through to completion. A transformation can be a long and complex journey that requires consistent and dedicated management to be successfully implemented.
If you are getting ready to initiate a digital transformation, the following questions can help you assess your planned approach:
Do you have the capacity and capabilities to realize your digital aspirations?
Is your organization capable of winning in distinctive, digital ways?
Are you looking at how to integrate digital capabilities with other organizational systems?
Lastly, if your organization is undertaking a digital transformation, make sure the answers to all strategic questions are clearly communicated to all stakeholders. Just as important as what you tell them is how you present the information. Presentation and delivery can be everything. Explaining the reasoning behind a decision clearly and concisely lets your team know it was thoughtfully and carefully made. Putting the decision in context enables others to visualize how digital transformation will positively impact the organization — and themselves — moving forward.