Managing change along your Digital Transformation journey

With any reform, along comes resistance… resistance to change. This is true for you also, as a technology leader, to manage your Digital Transformation journey. Attempting to manage something essentially requires that you understand the mechanics underlying that. So what is the mechanics behind this resistance? As a decision maker, you need to know why your team might resist Digital Transformation. Let’s peep into their heads for a moment. Their resistance stems from fear; fear of losing control.

Because they are used to certain ways of doing day to day activities and this transformation will change how their everyday at work will look like, and because they are not sure whether they can cope up all of it, fear grasps them.

Technology leaders are responsible for diligently handholding them through the Digital Transformation journey, not just because it’s your initiative, but also because it’ll then increase the probability of its success manyfold.

So how to handhold and manage the inevitable change that comes with any revolutionary transformation as Digital Transformation?

Exactly! You got it. By helping them manage their fears. Remember that you cannot assume the fear will go away completely and that they’ll be at ease. The difficult truth is that mostly they won’t. Because until the new reality sets in and your employees see and experience that it is helping them, the fear will not wear away. But what you can do as a CIO is to bring this fear to a manageable level so it doesn’t hinder the company’s pursuit of Digital Transformation.

Here are few ways to help manage this change smoothly and keep the situation in control:

1. Buy the buy-in

As a decision maker, one of your first instincts is usually to start looking for Digital Transformation solutions. But as you do that, also start talking to your teams. No, don’t talk directly about ‘Digital Transformation’ yet. But talk about the issues they face everyday in the current system. If you are smart enough, you should make them spill the beans. Make them concede that they need a better system for everyday work.

Now this doesn’t happen in a day or in one meeting. Leverage your influence as a technology leader in order to keep gently persuading IT, Administration, HR, and related teams over weeks, if not months. Begin this effort almost a year ahead of the time than you actually plan to implement the Digital Transformation solution.

2. Prepare your Digital Transformation calendar

Some CIOs are meticulous and very detail-oriented. If you are too, then it might help to prepare your Digital Transformation journey calendar to keep pace and do course corrections as you move forward.

3. Patience is key

Be patient. Tune yourself into the listening mode. Listen to your team’s problems with the current ways of working. They need to feel assured that their CIO is serious about the whole Digital Transformation effort and will do the needful to make them feel at ease throughout the journey.

4. Inclusive strategy

Inclusion is the way to go. As a CIO, be smart to quickly identify the champions in your team, those who will aid you in your Digital Transformation journey. Who are the ones who are most responsive and excited when you talk to them about this effort? Identify them and include them in the decision making process wherever and whenever possible.

Remember it cannot be a single man show. You need a team to back you every step of your transformation.

5. Assurance through training

As I initially mentioned, one of the reasons for employee resistance is fear of the unknown, i.e. fear of a new system, in this case. Some CIOs choose to alleviate this apprehension by arranging relevant trainings.

Initially, you need to train the champions in adopting the new system. Next, if possible, make the champions train the rest of the team. This way, once the employees start getting their hands dirty, and they become more familiar, their fear becomes more manageable. Remember, it doesn’t go away completely. This means you still need to continue doing the #1 item on our list, which is to go around more and keep talking (and more importantly listening) to teams. This has to be done throughout the Digital Transformation journey.

6. Prove the impact

Nothing can be more on-the-face than actual experience. So show your team how the Digital Transformation catapulted by you as a CIO, can add magic to their everyday life. If you can identify a champion ‘team’ who’ll be bold enough to go through the change and talk about their experiences with the rest of the company, there’s nothing better than that. It will help you take on your Digital Transformation journey on a much faster and smoother pace.

Try to first apply Digital Transformation to the parts of your company that have the most impact and will bring value to your business. Then showcase this impact to the other teams. Keep iterating this in phases.

7. Be the change

As Mahatma Gandhi said ‘Be the change you wish to see.’ You, the CIO, should be a true supporter and absolutely believe that this will work and take the company on its next reformation journey.

Yes, there might be hiccups. Some things may not work as expected. The software you chose might fail and you may have to change it altogether. These things happen. Come on! That’s life ;) But that’s what makes life interesting and challenging — all those unanticipated twists and turns. So train your mind to accept them. Keep moving forward and keep reverberating a positive attitude about this whole endeavor and you’ll see the magic unfold.

This is a guest post by Priya.Sri, CEO of CubeYogi. Seeded by a rich experience of about 15 years in the software industry with Fortune50 firms, she is passionate about the magic that software and automation help achieve in the real world, and in making businesses more productive. She publishes articles about best practices for businesses, sales and marketing teams. CubeYogi, leader in Zoho Solutions and Consultation, has been designing and implementing custom business workflows/apps for businesses, sales and marketing teams for close to 7 years now, having crafted experiences for more than 100 customers worldwide. Say thanks, point out their mistakes, or just chat over coffee with CubeYogi at hello@cubeyogi.com or tweet to @cubeyogi.