Culture can often the hardest part of an organisation to change. Changing this isn’t easy but starts with strong leadership with the ability to drive change across the business. 

This also links back to leadership buy-in. If an organisation’s leadership team don’t have confidence or belief in and don’t support the digital business transformation, it will be difficult to motivate and engage employees and influence cultural change across the organisation. 

Digital business transformation involves changing the way a business operates and the way its employees work. It’s about embracing digital solutions whilst not forgetting the human experience.

Resistance to change

The challenge is how to foster a culture that at best embraces and welcomes, or at least doesn’t shy away from and actively obstruct change, and to find ways to acknowledge and address resistance when it occurs. 

Involving and empowering teams, ensuring appropriate resources, tools and support are made available, having open, honest, consistent and regular communication, demonstrating results, ensuring accountability and learning from mistakes can all help counter resistance.

Does your workforce have the necessary digital technology, skills and resources to drive a successful digital transformation programme?

Successful implementation isn’t just about technology, it’s about the people using it, employees and customers. At times there may be a skills gap that can mean the need to attract new talent as well as scaling up and providing support and training for existing employees to develop and retain their skills and experience within the business. 

Employees must be supported whether through training, partnering with experienced technology vendors or implementation partners, introducing peer support or in other ways to ensure they have the capabilities, skill sets, confidence and motivation needed to enable and support new technology and other changes introduced.

Are you meeting customer needs and expectations?

Customers are becoming more demanding and discerning and with higher expectations than ever. 

Businesses need to undertake market research, to better understand what consumers want and what their competitors are doing. 

Many digital solutions are no longer nice to have options but necessary to survive and stay relevant. 

The challenge is to keep on top of this, understand changing needs and demands and ensure any digital transformation will help the business meet the needs of the consumer and market.

Are budget concerns and constraints holding you back?

A common challenge is around budget concerns and constraints, particularly a problem if there isn’t a clear strategy to begin with. 

Lack of a clear strategy also makes it difficult to set a budget or keep to it. Scope creep can also be a challenge where additional customisation is added, changes introduced, decisions made and timescales extended, adding cost and often little benefit. 

As well as a clear digital business transformation strategy (aligned to overall business strategy) a realistic budget, goals, timeline and milestones are needed. 

Do you have a clear definition of what successful digital transformation looks like?

Many organisations don’t take time at the outset to define what successful transformation will look like. The consequences can include never-ending moving of the goalposts and a disunited, uninspired workforce which leans towards old legacy methods.

A successful digital business transformation strategy and outcome will be unique to your organisation, its needs and its ambitions, so planning is essential.

Sometimes organisations introduce more complexity than needed rather than finding ways to simplify, streamline and improve.