5 Steps To Successful Digital Transformation
After attending “Transforming Business with AI” held by Blok71 in Jakarta 24 August 2019, I realize how people so close with technology yet never fuse the concept to their business. Industry and businesses in Indonesia currently in a race in shaping their new development approach.
Per August 2019, Indonesia economic growth reached 5,2% flashing faster than 5,3% total growth as a prediction in 2019. With that number, Agus Sambodo, head of IKPI, with full optimism put importance into digitalization to take a role in economic plan 2020–2024. He claimed that Indonesia potential is facing a bright economic in the future.
The challenge to reach that future is huge. As Indonesian youth sayings “Tidak semudah itu Ferguso” or not so easy my friend, Indonesia must boost their regulation, infrastructure, and human resources. Technicalities like regulation and infrastructure are most likely possible to be tackled in no time, unlike the human resources that needing organic changes. Mr. Sambodo told that Indonesia needs more programmer in macro and micro.
Driven by fear of technology, our current workers afraid of losing jobs to those programmers and the robots. If you or other workers are not techs savvy enough, how do you survive in this digitalization? You don’t have to be a coding master in 2 weeks or give up and start crying because soon you will be homeless. All you and your company need to do is digital transformation.
Let’s dive further into this digital transformation.
What is a digital transformation
George Westerman in Leading Digital: Turning Technology Into Business Transformation identify digital transformation as a radical rethinking how an organization uses technology, people and process to fundamentally improve their business performance. In general term, digital transformation as the integration of technology into the people and process inside the company to change the way they operate and how they deliver value to costumers.
Digital transformation is a cultural change that requires the company to actively challenging the current status quo, excites experiments often, excites and accept failures. Changing a grass rooted business process sometimes feels like stumbling into a huge rock. Big companies that try to implement digital transformation many times fail then stop and turn back.
Digital Transformation Is Hard: Hardest Transformation of All
McKinsey says that transformation is hard, and digital ones are harder. Based on McKinsey research, the business transformation success rate is less than 30%. While digital transformation success only reaches 16%.
Even digitally savvy industries, such as high tech, media, and telecom, are struggling. Among these industries, the success rate does not exceed 26 percent. But in more traditional industries, such as oil and gas, automotive, infrastructure, and pharmaceuticals, digital transformations are even more challenging: success rates fall between 4 and 11 percent. (McKinsey, 2018)
In the real world, if your corporation couldn’t adapt and implement the digital transformation, it’s also impossible for your company to compete and survive. Sooner or later you need to implement the digital way of company process and improve your value for your customer.
Reason to drive steadily to digital transformation
To taste the sweet impact of digital transformation, companies must focus on cross-departmental collaboration to synchronize their philosophies with rapid development models. The new business model will be followed by new revenue streams. Both are driven by customer expectations around products and services.
The expectation of customers may be translated as “how to survive” in this business. Howard King, in an article in The Guardian, says “Businesses don’t transform by choice because it is expensive and risky. Businesses go through transformation when they have failed to evolve.” If you love your customer this reason is enough for you to try digital transformation.
If the customer is not enough reason, then think to fight your position in the business to win over incumbents in the market. You must find your edge in the business that your competitor currently lacking. If you realize, maybe from the outside company looking strong in technology, yet you may be not inside of the company process. Changes are not only affecting your value to your customer but also making your company grow faster.
The Way To Successful Digital Transformation
Having technology in your office is easy. The technology-supported changes are what creates gab between a successful one from the rest. Citing McKinsey research about five categories of the chances of transformation succeeding:
1. Choose your digital-savvy leader in place
The transformation will reform the whole level of your company, especially when it comes to people talent and capabilities. Most of the transformation in a company changes its top positions with the new one that familiar with digital culture and technologies. All level engagement will be in the same direction as the leader shaped. The commitment of key roles in the companies will give a smooth transition to the transformation. With committed tech-savvy leaders and other key roles (at very least seniors open to it) the company 1.6 times more likely to success (McKinsey, 2018)
2. Level-up your workforce capabilities
Once the leader shows the digital way, now the people must run through the way. So they need to developing talent and skills so they may support the company. Three key changes they need: first, redefining and clarify individuals’ roles and responsibilities and match it with the transformation goals; second and third are people who play integrator and technology-innovation manager role. People in these roles help to boost internal digital capabilities among colleagues. They must understand to connect traditional and digital part of the business.
3. Change the mindset
This is should be the most important part of digital changes because this is contingent on your people able to accept and understand the changes. Changing mindset may elaborate into cultural and behavioral changes. Transformation needs to be embraced by all employees.
Changing mindset should reinforce new behavior in the working process. Many companies claimed when they change their activities in working for example like the way worker to learn or open work environment. This process also needs to be liquid and open to the employees to say about the new process.
4. Having the right tools
Sustaining a good new culture into your office, now your people is ready for better tools. Digitalization tools are not limited only to the physical electronic like a laptop, but also what application that your office use for professional purposes or having a digital assistant like a chatbot. To get the right tool, analyzing your team and what they need to step up their game is a must. Vutura.io provides chatbot platform that enables you to customize your chatbot without coding. Now your team can do human-chatbot workflow system.
Clearly, the tools are not your weapon, more like your support armor. The other way around, your investment in digital transformation will be wasted. The fact that you pay bags of money into, for example, Human resource AI assistant and your HR division are unfamiliar that resulting nothing. Harnessing the mindset and also the culture first and the most important thing.
So what fundamental tools that you must know first? Well, data is your best counselor in the digital jungle. Using tools like google analytics and familiarize your researcher to be a data analyst will be best. Chatbot, as I mentioned before, currently used by many big companies (small and medium too) to engage with their customer consistently, increasing customer satisfaction, and gaining precise customer behavior as data.
5. Making both traditional and digital communication method in your favor
Quoting old idiom, “two heads are better than one” is where we are going here. Solving a problem with more people is always better right. Transforming a business digitally indeed needs more people also more method. We currently on the transition process into a fully digitalized world and combining the traditional method and the digital one is making the transition smoother.
Digital transformation is applicable for both your office and also to shoutout your value to the customer. Your coworkers might work remote, thanks to messaging apps now you can communicate with them without having to work in the same space. Imagine how the working flow is never delayed helping your business strategy to be on track.
Better communication traditionally and digitally is what makes your company reach your target. Your team will always ready with the strategy even there changes in the way, they will also easier to understand the reason and why is it important. The liquidity and improvement of working flow only happen if your office communication is clear and central.
Simplifying Success with Digital Transformation
Digital transformation should be prioritized in the right way. Leading a company to 50 years or more sustainable business is what going to happen with DT. Three major way for you to success; imagine your workplace as the place your workers want to stay; upgrade your tools; centralize and improve your team communication.
