The four phases that matter in a digital transformation
Digital transformations require top-down commitments to reinvent the business rather than just improve it. Without this sponsorship and management commitment, you will fail to address the real issues at the core of the transformation.
“Without a transformation of the core the value proposition, people, processes, and technologies that are the lifeblood of the business—any digital initiative is likely to be a short-term fix.” (Mckinsey)
A digital reinvention requires prioritisation of decisions and how to implement those decisions being the key element of a successful digital transformation.
Our approach is to imagine how the organisation would work if it were completely digitised and visualise the future end state. A collaborative leap is needed to identify how a business might serve customers in new ways across their entire journey through removal of operational silos and unification of end to end processes.
The first step is to validate which capabilities, skills, and technologies in the ecosystem complement, support and or augment the desired digital transformation and how to include them accordingly.
Choose a digital transformation leader who is immersed in all things digital and has the vision, ongoing direction and empowerment to lead other senior multi discipline leaders to drive the day to day activities with a focus on collaboration, customer centricity and a tolerance for risk.
The change and communications plan are as important as the transformation plan and worthy of a title to catch the attention of everyone, after all we all know empowerment linked to the title of “CEO”.
The initial objective should be to engage and win over the influencers both inside and outside the organisation with crisp and clear messages, in a steady cadence, using all relevant formats and channels. It’s an influencing program, so messages need to be tailored to the audience—from employees to the board to shareholders.
The key lever to a successful digital transformation are the resources available in-house and with partners. The challenge is not just about making sure you have the right people, in the right place at the right time, but to make sure they all work in collaboration, agree on the transformation blueprint and have a joint desire to succeed.
Digital transformation requires agile budgeting with short term budgeting cycles for capital operating costs, driven by each element of a digital initiative’s progress giving priority to those areas when required.
The sequencing of the transformations towards delivering quick wins that yield revenue benefits and reduce costs aggregating toward cumulative effect is critical, so the delivering a cohesive digital programme which does not undermine the ultimate benefits of scale.