5 guiding principles for a successful IT transformation program

Change in an organization brings along a certain level of risk, especially when significant investments in IT are involved. Fortunately, agile working and design thinking has limited the threat of new systems not doing what they were intended to do. However, I still see investments in IT transformation going wrong. Opportunities to improve the working of the company are often missed and even worse, the new tools are not used on the shop floor. Extensive change management programs are then called to the rescue, but often these are too little too late.

The better way is to be ambitious and thorough from the start of the project, and follow a consistent process from day one.

Here are five guiding principles that will help you ensure the return on investment for your IT transformation program:

1. Alignment

The first priority is to get the whole organization on the same page, everybody who is involved must work towards the same strategic objectives. I’m not talking about the general mission of the company or “why we do what we do”, but rather how the transformation will contribute to this mission.

Determine with all key stakeholders, probably the complete management team, what your ambitions are for the program. How far are you intending to take the change? Are you seeking radical innovation, or is this the right time for incremental improvements that will guarantee positive effects quickly? Decide on the priorities and challenges for your program, and make them very concrete.

By involving the c-level and the full management team you bring the IT transformation program in line with the strategic priorities of the c-suite and the board, while at the same time connecting with all aspects of the business.

2. Involvement

The strategic transformation will touch the whole organization, therefore it’s crucial to involve everybody in the program. I’m talking about all departments but also all the people, especially the people on the floor who experience how things work on a daily basis. You’ll be surprised by how much they have to contribute. The right process and modern collaboration tools allow you to get everybody on board and harvest ideas efficiently.

An email from the CEO to all will not do the job alone, you need a tried and tested process that is supported by an extensive (internal) communication campaign. Capturing ideas in a time when people spend a lot of time on their smartphones sharing opinions on Facebook will require a similarly user-friendly platform to capture and stimulate idea generation and collaboration. Make sure you use the latest collaboration tools.

3. Persistence

Where opinions and ideas on social media are casual, we can not let the eye off the ball when our colleagues make the effort of sharing their ideas to make the company better. Every idea, every remark, and every like has to be taken seriously and will be taken seriously by the contributors. There’s an important role here for the management team to get their hands dirty and be involved.

All the input needs to be considered and evaluated and you need to take some kind of action. At the simplest level, the action will be to inform the person who contributed the idea that this has not made it to the immediate priorities. After actions are defined, they obviously need to be executed and again the contributor must be involved.

You must be persistent both in terms of the depth of your actions and in follow-up over time.

4. Focus

There’s a risk of losing sight of the desired results when you are overwhelmed by new insights and ideas. Here, focus is of the essence. You must ruthlessly go for concrete results and keep aligning all actions with the priorities and challenges you defined at the beginning.

5. People

Even though we are talking about transforming IT systems and possibly also processes, in the end, it’s the people who will make or break the program. By involving them in the process with a clear mission from the beginning, and by cherishing their input as a valuable source of knowledge, you are generating buy-in on a broad scale. This will be the secret sauce to making your program a success.

The incredible amount of knowledge that resides in the minds of the people is now part of your program and will serve to improve the quality and increase the probability of success of the upcoming transformation.

Are you planning an ambitious IT project or transformation program? Contact THINK with people to discuss a concrete action plan for your case.