How ready is your team for digital transformation?

In my experience building a Digital Mindset ("DM") in your organisation is the first and most important step. What is DM? In a past article I wrote (could be found on my profile) I defined DM as a set of attitudes, behaviours and beliefs held by people or a group of people that influence curiosity about disruptive Digital technology in an organisation. The main characteristics that DM people posses are: 👏🏽 Agility & Adaptability 👏🏽 Growth Orientated 👏🏽 Fail often, quick and fast mentality. One of the most effective ways to build the DM culture is to create a SAFE TO FAIL environment. Encourage people to try without the fear of consequences if they fail. *more on this "Unlock your Digital DNA" newsletter on my profile

I think the most important piece of advice I can offer is to always keep the end user in mind throughout the entire process. From the initial planning stages, to the design and build of the system, to the implementation and testing, and beyond - always ask yourself how this will impact the user. Another piece of advice is to start small and test, test, test! It's much easier to expand and scale a successful pilot project than to try to fix a broken, over-engineered system. Keep the scope small, focus on the user experience, and test early and often.

The mind is where readiness is first attained. When the mind and the vision are in sync and supported by technology, progress begins. Of course, as much as tech is required for a successful digital transformation; we also need the correct team structures, procedures, and a mindset focused on agility, customer-centricity, and continuous development. It is crucial to develop teams that have a growth mentality, where obstacles are regarded as chances to learn, setbacks are considered as stepping stones to get better and adaptability is appreciated. Such an attitude is crucial to achieving the objectives of digital transformation because it generates a culture where people are encouraged to innovate & push the envelope for betterment.

One framework I like to recommend is the 'OKR' framework - Objectives and Key Results. This framework focuses on setting clear, measurable objectives, and then defining key results that help you track progress towards those objectives. This approach can help you measure the impact of your team beyond just the technical aspects of the project.

Consider how the team can collaborate to solve the complex issues which digital transformation will uncover. Empower the team to experiment together to try out different solutions and learn from the experience. This will take the pressure off the leader to be the answer to everything and as the team find the way forward they will be both engaged and have higher morale and wellbeing.

Involving teams in the digital transformation process is critical to its success. No matter how great the technology is, if the people who will be using it aren't on board, it won't be successful. So, you need to start with building a culture of innovation and empowerment. You need to make sure that people feel safe to speak up and share their ideas, and that they have the support and resources they need to make those ideas a reality. And you need to make sure that everyone understands the 'why' behind the digital transformation - why it's important and how it will impact them.

Digital Transformation is People, Process and Technology. A Digital Transformation without the People part, is just a Technology Refresh. The paradox is that, People are the Problem and... the Solution. An overwhelming amount of companies have the DT initiatives led by Engineers and Techies , leaving the end users out of it and the Execs unable to understand the business value of it. It is utterly important to have the end users involved as they will be the best to share: 👉 Feedback what is needed 👉 Explain the major challenges 👉 What your customers say 👉 How they see technology enhancing them to do better. But MORE IMPORTANT: 👉 End users feeling involved will diminish their fear and remove the resistance barrier.

If I had to pick the 3 most important elements to consider digital transformation, I would say they are: culture, data, and technology. 1️⃣Culture is critical because, without a culture of innovation, your transformation will fail. 2️⃣Data is important because you need a solid data strategy to make sure you're making decisions based on accurate information. 3️⃣And technology is key because you need to make sure you have the right tools in place to support your transformation. ℹ️Beyond the top three, I would say: people, processes, governance, security, are all important pieces of the puzzle.