Why Strategy and Tactics Belong at the Core of Your Digital Transformation Initiative
As we continue to navigate the global health crisis, companies must adjust their model.
Restaurants that didn’t offer online ordering options have been forced to adapt. Businesses that valued in-person meetings have gone virtual. Industries that once relied on large in-person gatherings — sports and music — are reevaluating their strategy.
How does your company approach digital transformation?
Where Leadership and Digital Transformation Come Together
When it comes to digital transformation, stakeholders must act intentionally. To ensure their organization’s success, they need to leverage the right blend of strategy (an overarching plan) and tactics (action steps).
But what should this process entail?
Before COVID-19, roughly three-quarters of process and performance management professionals were already reporting their organizations were undertaking digital transformation. About two-thirds of knowledge management experts claimed the same thing.
Today — six months into the pandemic here in the United States — it’s become paramount for leaders to identify weak links in their respective organizations and pivot. There’s an overarching sense of urgency where digital transformation is concerned.
Strategies to Drive Digital Transformation
The secret is out: Digital transformation is an essential disruption.
In 2020, companies must take a comprehensive approach to ensure their organizations’ survival.
This means that leaders need to offer a blend of useful, efficient, and appealing features to the people they serve. There’s an overarching need to evaluate what consumers want and what they are willing to accept to access the products and services they desire.
Strategies for doing so include the following:
Prepare for a cultural shift
Making changes to your business model may well lead to cultural shifts.
Say you’re employed at a financial services firm that previously maintained a formal dress code. Perhaps your team is now working remotely. The company culture may well become more casual in response to the digitalization of your daily tasks.
As a result, this may shift the overarching culture. It’s essential to be prepared for — and open to — these types of changes. They’ll affect how you communicate, the talent you attract, and the way you go about your business.
And that’s okay. So long as you’re prepared for change, you might even embrace this cultural evolution.
Embrace trial and error
So your marketing company has implemented a new customer relationship management (CRM) tool or a contactless payment platform like Square.
Maybe your investment is higher you’d like it to be, or the features aren’t serving you the way you expected. Perhaps, after a few weeks, you find a solution that can better accommodate your needs.
Again, these growing pains are par for the course. Digital transformation and experimentation go hand in hand, and leaders should embrace trial and error during this process. Change should lead to growth, which isn’t inherently a straight line.
Tactics to Fuel Digital Transformation
Strategy can help leaders pinpoint the methods they need to drive digital transformation. In this way, tactics are no less important. When it comes to digital transformation, stakeholders must consider:
Implement a backup plan
Alternative payment methods. Phone ordering in the event of online failure. Data backup.
These are just some examples of situations that demand a backup plan. To ensure smooth-sailing digital transformation, leaders have to cover all their bases.
Accordingly, to retain loyal customers and engaged staff, companies need to institute a backup plan for everything they take online.
Collect audience and employee feedback
Leaders take note: Do your due diligence and make sure your people are happy.
This means integrating tactics to gather consumer and team member feedback.
From online surveys to social media outreach, communicating with the people you serve is crucial. Many people are resistant to change, and it’s best to be aware of their reservations.
In this way, gathering feedback can help make sure your digital transformation is genuinely effective during these uncertain times.
Have questions about the unique blend of strategies and tactics that make up digital transformation? Having a trusted consulting partner in the digital transformation initiatives are the best way to ensure success. Reach out to Slalom New York or any of our Slalom teams for more information.
Slalom is a modern consulting firm focused on strategy, technology and business transformation. Learn more and reach out today.
