You understand the WHY behind why you should start a digital transformation in your company, but now you’re probably wondering HOW to do it and do it effectively. This isn’t the time to jump into the deep end right away and start implementing ideas with no plan. At the same time, this isn’t the time to think small.
Getting Started on a Digital Transformation
The first question you should ask yourself and your team is: “If we had a magic wand, what would we change?” To put it another way, imagine a world with no barriers and amazing technology. If you operated in that world, how would you operate?
Don’t worry about if it flies in the face of what you do currently or if you don’t think it’s possible. Don’t worry about the cost (at this point). Don’t worry about what your competitors are doing. Think about the ways you want to revolutionize your employees’ and your customers’ experiences. Don’t filter yourself during this process either. While some ideas may turn out to be impossible or completely cost-ineffective, you never know until you investigate them.
It can also be helpful to bring in an outside perspective during this process. Engage your employees in focus groups. Get customer feedback. Bring in a consultant. There are lots of ways to expand the points of view that you’re hearing from during this reimagining process. You get our free guide to working through this here.
Dig Deeper
Once you’ve dreamed of all of the big dreams of improving your organization and everything you want to change, you’ll want to start narrowing things down more and dig deeper. For each area, you’ve thought about making a change in, consider even further what exists there right now. Brainstorm and think about how technology could improve your organization, and evaluate the potential return on investment in each of these specific areas that you’ve identified.
What’s Next?
Once you have your digital transformation wishlist narrowed down and thought through even further, you can begin to prioritize the items on your list based on the value that could be gained from their implementation.
Some questions that need to be asked include:
What process exists today?
What are the challenges?
What is the software idea?
What would be the key features?
What would be the impact if implemented?
Approximate cost?
Estimated ROI (scale 0 – 10)
To help you work through these questions, download our free worksheet here.
Think about the impact that all your ideas could have on your organization and find a way to rate them, even if it’s imperfect. By being able to assign a numerical value to each idea, you are able to rank them in a more balanced way. One way to assign a value to your ideas is to quantify the cost of implementing the idea and the benefits it would bring to your organization.
After you come up with a prioritized wishlist for digital transformation, it’s important to work with a development team to implement your chosen ideas.
Take Advantage of a Digital Transformation Expert
Organizational transformation is one of the hardest things you will ever have to do as a business owner. Bringing in an expert who specializes in digital transformation will remove some of the pain points you will encounter through this process, and smooth over the ones that can’t be removed. An expert will also be able to ensure that you are using the right technology for your ideas, and may even be able to suggest technologies and ideas you hadn’t even thought of as options.
Whether you choose to just dip a toe into the digital transformation world, or engage in a full-scale transformation, it’s clear that the time is coming for all companies to consider how they can change the way they do business in today’s digital world.
To learn more about creating a digital transformation in your organization, check out our latest podcast episode where we cover this and more!
