Digital transformation of a business is not just another marketing term, it is a new reality that requires a radical revision of business processes and approaches to working with clients. The ability to quickly adapt to changes and optimize their work “on the fly”, adjusting to the client’s expectations, are the main challenges that business digitalization brings with it.
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Recipes for digital transformation of business processes for success
The human factor, outdated IT systems, lack of knowledge, customer habits are the main obstacles to digital transformation. We offer you 5 recipes that will make the transition to new business processes less complicated, costly and risky.
Management support
Digital transformation must be supported and promoted by the top management of the company. This is a prerequisite for the successful implementation of the planned changes. The main task of management is to “sell” (in the good sense of the word) innovations to employees and show how they will affect each of them.
New processes can lead to job loss for some employees. This fact does not need to be hidden and announced in advance so that the planned changes do not become the subject of rumors and gossip.
Availability of a competence center
To implement changes at the operational level, it is necessary to create a cross-functional team, consisting of employees of departments who are responsible for certain aspects of the process. Often for this, a separate center of competence is formed, consisting of employees of various profiles – designers of customer experience and designers, marketers, IT representatives, etc. It is important that the members of this team are open to new ideas, have the required skills, and are not afraid to experiment. Such a center can function on a regular basis, broadcasting best practices within the company.
Organizational transformation
Traditionally, new business processes are implemented within the framework of the existing organizational structure by the forces of employees, which have long been working within the framework of existing processes. There are big risks in this approach, and here’s why:
• Any innovation takes time to learn and adapt. As mentioned above, this always causes a certain rejection among employees. Fear for their work, unwillingness to change established practices, unwillingness to learn, fear of new things are traditional attributes of any internal corporate changes.
• The transition to new processes will require more effort on the part of employees. It is necessary to maintain operational efficiency and at the same time move to new operating rules. In fact, employees should “change shoes” on the go, without changing the speed of movement. It can also create a negative background and cause hidden sabotage or overt resentment.
Evolutionary integration with legacy systems
Digital transformation of business processes affects a large number of legacy systems, which cannot be eliminated at once. Attempts to integrate old systems into new processes are fraught with lengthy projects with vague ROIs. After a few years, it may turn out that what has been done is no longer relevant. To mitigate such risks, it is important to take very small steps and “eat the elephant in pieces.” The duration of individual initiatives should not exceed 6 months. Sometimes it makes sense to use simple temporary solutions to move to the “new rails”, in parallel creating integration interfaces between new services and old systems, or completely replacing the latter.
Engaging and encouraging customers
Customer habits are changing slowly, which slows down the introduction of new service technologies. For example, a significant proportion of passengers at railway stations queue at the ticket office, although there are terminals nearby for self-purchase of tickets. Fostering new patterns of consumer behavior is integral to digital transformation. It is important to identify the key reasons that prevent consumers from starting to use new services and develop measures to engage such customers. Learning, demonstrating benefits, along with incentives, results in results. It is important that the first experience of interaction according to the new rules is successful and emotionally positive.
