What is a good methodology for digital transformation?

We have a tried and tested methodology for creating a digital transformation strategy, it's called the N2D Method.

It takes an organisation through 3 simple steps and it has been used for many digital transformation projects.

Step one helps you to identify the most important needs of the people the organisation serves and helps you to align those with the ones that also serve your business objectives.

Step two helps you to identify opportunities and wastage.

Step three helps you to assess, in detail, which things you might adopt.

It creates a people-centred approach to transformation, it is simple, dispassionate and evidence-based.

Let me know if I can tell you more.

Hi Marieta, 

A digital journey is unique for any company, as I do not know your organisation. I will give you an overall perspective.

1. A digital transformation is a way of gathering digital change management under one umbrella, so your stakeholders will be from different sectors/departments and of different specialism.

Whatever you do, don't try everything at once. Pick 2 or 3 opportunities to focus your digital roadmap on. Probably, these up to 3 opportunities will be part of areas that will result in the highest ROI (Return on Investment); and which can be delivered in a timely manner (you need to have the sign-off and no wasted time in bureaucratic waitings).

I recommend keeping the focus initially high-level and articulating the benefits to the business and the team members. 

2. To enable people using technology- you will need Learning and Development plan. You want the change to be seen as an investment in the team. It is important to communicate that this is good for building their careers, rather than their jobs.

At the end, any digital transformation is  like a any other big project- it has similar challenges and constraints.

3. If done right- using technology will free time and lead to cost efficiencies. It is good to think to invest back some of those money in the employees (better salaries, trainings, development plans).

4. Half of the journey is completed if you through the technology-based solutions you help the customer-facing teams perform better. 

The results of a digital transformation should be something around:

• reduced budgets
• improved SLAs (service level agreements)
• improved performance on a daily basis

5. Digital transformation can definitely be part of the continuous improvement in your company. You can always take advantage of further advances in technology.

As I said earlier, if you do it right- the cost efficiencies will help you be prepared for innovations.

6. To sum up: Technology is not the standalone solution, but combined with people on board and a people strategy will lead to a good digital transformation. 

C.

There are a number of pillars defined for Digital Transformation (DT) methodolgies. In the main, these are Customers | Competition | Data | Innovation | Value. Each of those pillars deals with the "what" aspect of DT - but not the "how".

DT is a mindset that needs internal advocates to work. It's no good simply deploying or migrating with a "hit and hope" strategy - individuals need to be invested in the overall plan. Many times I have hit issues where an individual is concerned that their role is in jeopardy with a strategy being devised to migrate their work tasks to a Cloud solution - and that is a major issues. So - aside from those 5 pillars - People is a massive part of a DT plan. A good way to gauge your readiness for DT is in understanding not only what you need - but also what is available in the Cloud, to satisfy that need.

In the very first instance, it is imperative that each person involved in a DT plan is aware of their role. That will require education. Education not only in their part to play - but what the strategy will bring, as benefits - optimization, automation, ease of use, ease of access, etc. All of these things are set to give a level of comfort to that individual - and not to alienate them - as a plan of DT is devised. So, rather than them being an antagonist or non-conformist - they become an advocate - or even a Power User.

Once you have the People on your side, the process of DT planning becomes much more of a project or program - than a hill to climb - the Process and Technologies. Ideas and innovations will come from all sides - and all of it is valid input to the plan. Frequently I hear "Oh - yeah - we could do that.... and that... and that, too..." - the people are invested!

How you go about a DT plan is really down to the business you are in, the tools you use and the technologies that drive them. The rest is in the approach to those elements. More loosely defined, you could categorize them through a good, old standard used within the "RFP" process - Functional Requirements, Non-Functional Requirements, Security Requirements, Operational Requirements, Deployment or Migration Requirements and Commercial Requirements.

I've written a free introduction to DT around contact centers ("DTPS") over on SkillShare - but it works equally as well for any line of business - it could be 45 minutes of your day well spent: https://skl.sh/2H5v5yg