Is your business ready for digital change? 6 areas to focus for success

Digital Transformation (DT) means different things to different people.

I can tell you now, there is no magic formula to adopt to make it happen.

DT covers a huge subject area, but generally refers to the process of changing your business by embracing the changes/opportunities in online customer behaviour OR through the adoption of digital technologies directly ….OR (which is actually more likely) both!

If you are contemplating embarking on digital change then you are contemplating changes to strategy, skills, technology or operations just to name a few.

Assessing the readiness of the wider business for DT initiatives (or any change) is key to understanding the starting point, and therefore the size of the challenge to deliver the results.

Whether a business is regulated or unregulated, the process is the same.

So, take the vision, strategy, business/product roadmap and dependencies and ask yourself…

What could possibly prevent me from delivering effective digital change?

I’ve led lots of change in my career and I find it useful to breakdown the business into the following 6 areas:

1. Strategy and Planning e.g. Is the Vision and Strategy in place and approved? Is it in the business plan? Is it realistic? What does success look like and how do you measure it?
2. Governance, Controls and Policy e.g. Is the correct authority in place to make the changes happen? Are the CXO aligned/incentivised to the Vision and Strategy? Does everyone understand their role in the prog of change?
3. Operations/Logistics e.g. Can the business cope with the pace of change? Could there be issues with suppliers?
4. Systems and Tech e.g. Is the existing tech able to cope with the change? if not, is there a plan B? And is it funded?
5. Central and Support – Finance, HR e.g. Does the business have the skills and resources to support the change? if not, can they recruit fast enough? is cash flow sufficient? How will the business measure success?
6. Brand, Comms and Reputation e.g. Is there a comms plan to support the new Vision? Who is the figurehead of change? Are the employees and partners on board?

To validate your vision and strategy you must validate your readiness for the change.

It is as important as the end result to which you aspire.

We can help……

Here at DWG, we’ve developed the tools and methodologies to help you plan and roadmap change and transformation, de-risking the journey and highlighting opportunities and potential issues.

Our Transformation Readiness programme aims to put you firmly in control of change in your business, providing you with the information and recommendations to deliver the best results. The process is non-invasive and usually takes about 4-6 weeks.

Get in touch with me for an informal chat about your digital change needs, including transformation readiness: