5 Ways to Jumpstart Your Year with Digital Transformation
Happy 2023! It’s the beginning of a new year. And hopefully, you’ve had a chance to recharge, reflect and retrospect on 2022, and devised a plan to make your 2023 successful. It’s in that same vein that many executives are brainstorming opportunities for a successful year for their organization.
One popular area under consideration is how to employ digital solutions. According to a recent BCG survey of executive decision makers about 60% plan to increase investments in 2023 in digital transformation. Increasingly, executives are looking to digital pursuits to enable profitable growth; drive unfettered employee potential; and provide prosperity for communities, customers, and partners.
I’m sure these executives have done their homework. So, let’s talk about a few things that should be at the top of their list to jumpstart their efforts (cue Eye of the Tiger).
Digital Transformation
But before we begin, let’s get on the same page on what we mean by Digital Transformation. Here’s a definition we like…Digital transformation involves integrating digital technology into all areas of a business with the objective of fundamentally changing how an organization operates and delivers value to its customers. The Enterprisers Project
If done properly, digital transformation can change the way a business operates, bringing significant financial and operational gains. The benefits? Increased efficiency, greater business agility and, ultimately, the unlocking of new value for employees, customers and shareholders.
Ok. Let’s begin.
Craft a Solid Digital Strategy
You can’t (or shouldn’t) start a road trip without a map. And you can’t (or shouldn’t) start your digital transformation without a “strategy.” An effective strategy details how the organization will employ digital solutions to delight key stakeholders and customers, differentiate their business, build new business models, and supersede their competition.
Ultimately, the strategy should address the following: who you’re building for, what the long-term vision is, where the strategy will and will not focus, when key priorities/requirements will be addressed, why it will benefit your users and solve their pain points, and how establishing this strategy will help your organization achieve its goals.
Eastan Advice
Focus first on constructing a clear digital strategy…don’t rush into software selection or implementation. In defining your strategy, do not make it overwhelmingly complex, just bold and differentiating enough to be compelling, exciting, and impactful to your organization.
If you’re looking for guidance in constructing your strategy, we recommend the strategy diamond framework popularized in “So You Think You Have A Strategy”.
Another model to consider is Jay Galbraith’s Star Model. Galbraith’s five-pointed star details the foundational and interdependent considerations of Strategy, Structure, Processes, Rewards, and People.
Develop A Supporting Digital Roadmap
If you establish a strategy, clearly, you’re going to need to make your strategy realizable and actionable…a roadmap.
Crafting a digital roadmap is no different from planning a road trip…you need to identify the key steps to take, their sequence, and when to take them. Your roadmap should enable you to move digital goals and business objectives forward.
When done the right way, digital roadmaps are powerful tools that drive impact and alignment across key stakeholders. You can set expectations around which new items are in scope, which are out of scope, and when your stakeholders can expect you to deliver those items.
Eastan Advice
In devising your roadmap, set your focus on “value creation.” In doing so:
- list out your priorities across your business areas.
- evaluate the priorities based on impact, complexity, cost to implement, and business area impacted (e.g., marketing, customer service).
- sequence your roadmap focusing on those activities that will have the most impact with a relatively low amount of complexity and cost.
- develop your roadmap to focus on 1–2 priorities at a time per iteration.
- execute.
Establish a Supporting Organizational Design
Successful transformation starts with a recognition that there will always be a new wave of new technology; change is the only constant. And most executives realize (or should) that successful digital transformation starts with how well an organization can adapt and adopt new solutions.
According to Darwin, “It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself.”
Next on the list look to establish an organizational design to support your digital transformation efforts. “Organization design” involves the creation of roles, processes, and structures to ensure that the organization’s goals can be realized. Referring back to Jay Galbraith’s Star Model, we see the interdependent considerations of Strategy, Processes, Rewards, and People in our organizational design.
Eastan Advice
Executives should design a digital organizational structure that aligns closely with their overall digital strategy and how they intend to capture value from digital solutions/services. The organizational structure should include leadership that thinks and acts differently from traditional players. Additionally, the structure should embed processes and practices to drive performance and health across the organization,
The organization design should address how the organization will cultivate talent and leadership, and properly reward team members. It should be further noted that as the job transitions, the model to engage and support them long term should also change.
A point of reemphasis: It is critical that organizational design and readiness drive technology selection and not the other way around.
Devise a Business Case
In a budget-conscious, results-oriented world, it is no longer enough to simply deliver what you promised. Now, you also need to be sure that what you propose justifies the investment of time and resources needed to create it…a business case.
The business case provides the justification for a project and the expected value derived. A solid business case quantifies and justifies the investment for undertaking the digital strategy. The business case should highlight the expected outcome against the cost, alternative options, and the risks (including the risk of doing nothing).
The business case will help you sharpen your focus on the critical areas that will deliver the most value. It helps you prioritize and avoid wasted resources on areas that do not yield benefits against investments.
Eastan Advice
Ensure that your business case is well constructed and organized explaining the problem, identifying all the possible options to address it, and calculating/showcasing the value to be provided. This will facilitate your ability to explain your thinking and approach to key stakeholders. And it will help facilitate your ability to decide which course of action to take and/or adjustments to make to the strategy based on calculations and priorities.
It is critically important to be factual and realistic when developing your business case. Your stakeholders need to believe in you, the digital strategy, the planned outcomes, and the subsequent benefits.
Lastly, employ reference information to bolster your business case from other competitive business cases. Or socialize with other key contacts in your organization letting them validate your numbers, assumptions, and calculations. This should make the business case more compelling as there is a comparison of data and approaches and outside validation.
Find A Partner
Lastly, executives will likely need a business partner with expertise and experience to assist them in their digital transformation efforts. Most executives will likely need a business partner who can support them in the following areas:
- designing, developing, and selling their digital transformation strategy.
- detailing the supporting roadmap and reengineering processes .
- establishing the appropriate supporting organization design.
- calculating the business value to be achieved.
Just as importantly, they’re going to need a confidante who is disassociated from the politics of the organization but who has a laser focused view on the digital goals and objectives to coach them up and bolster their efforts.
Eastan Advice
Look for a partner that is objective and not oriented to a set software vendor. You want a solution that is right for your needs and not what’s most popular. And, you want to buy only what you need — not more; not less.
Ideally, you want to find a partner that does not care as much about the technology but cares about seizing upon what is required to enable you to attain your goals.
Lastly, you want to enlist a partner that will help you become self-sufficient (learn “how to fish”) in accomplishing your digital transformation goals.
After Dinner Candy Canes (Mints)
As we kick off the year, rather than business books, we’re going to suggest some holiday movies you should (and must) take in:
- The Christmas Story: This is a national treasure and a classic! It’s about a young boy’s relentless pursuit to evade detractors (“You’ll shoot your eye out.”) and secure an official Red Ryder BB gun for Christmas. And like a great singer it’s accompanied by a great orchestra in the form of its narrator, Jean Shepard.
- Planes, Trains, and Automobile: While this is not a Christmas movie; it is technically a holiday movie. (Steve Martin plays the straight man who befriends his travel foil, John Candy, in his pursuit to get home for Thanksgiving.
Conclusion
Today’s organizations realize that to be relevant and viable today, digital needs to be a first-level consideration in their strategy. It’s no longer a nice to have but a critical imperative. Here are some critical items that should be at the top of every executive’s list in achieving their digital aspirations:
- Craft a Digital Strategy: A high-level plan that describes what your organization aims to accomplish with its digital investments, why, where it will differentiate, and how it plans to do so.
- Detail a Supporting Digital Roadmap: A set of steps to implement and realize the digital strategy and associated business goals with the use of digital solutions/services.
- Establish An Organizational Design: A plan to support and achieve your digital strategy and objectives by aligning your people with the skills, training, and rewards to the work to be done.
- Devise a Business Case: Business justification for undertaking your digital strategy evaluating the benefit, cost, and risk of alternative options.
- Find An Objective Business Partner: An external advisor who can assist with your efforts and who will remain objective ensuring you employ a strategy and solution that is right for your organization.
There are other critical items/activities to be addressed of course but this list will help jump start your transformation efforts.
About the Author
Ronald (Ron) Berry is the Managing Director of the Eastan Group. Ron has extensive global experience and success in the B2B and B2C digital transformation spaces in a variety of industries ranging from startups to the Fortune 100.
The Eastan Group assists organizations in making more informed choices about their digital transformation efforts, how to strategize, how to plan, what to change, what to prioritize, and what to ignore while transforming business processes digitally.
Please reference http://eastanconsulting.com to learn more.
