Aligning your company culture with your digital transformation plans
With the unprecedented climate in which we find ourselves, it’s more vital than ever to align company culture with your digital transformation plans.
Most industries face constant challenges from procurement teams. They’re pushed to deliver year-on-year cost savings that are only achievable by looking at new ways of doing things. Technology can play a crucial role in delivering this.
The world is adapting to this more digital lifestyle. So, businesses will find themselves investing in more technology, methodology and increases in processes to ensure efficiency.
The value in digital investment
Digital investment enables companies to expand their core business. But many companies either do not realise the benefits or do not complete their investments. For example, in a study on reasons for using/adopting cloud technology worldwide, respondents said:
- 41% improves availability and resiliency
- 39% improves agility and responsiveness
- 34% improves product innovation
- 28% saves them money
Anyone can learn a methodology. But, investing in the latest technology or most advanced applications can set you apart from your competitors. Let us take the spreadsheet as an example: “Excel’s usage demographics are quite impressive, showing ubiquitous adoption of the solution”. However, 80% of users use only 20% of the features.
Therefore, companies invest in licence costs for a tool that does a whole lot more than people use it for. The same applies to more advanced applications – people aren’t trained or shown the personal benefits of using available functionality.
As well as investing in technology, invest in your people to improve efficiencies within the business. The pace of change in today’s world means investment in new technology can’t be a one-off. It must be the start of a rolling programme.
There are high stakes at risk. So, ask the right questions to invest in the right technology – with the right training and processes for success.
Understanding the methodology
Let’s take project management methodology, be it Prince2, PMI, Agile or others. Methodologies ensure that you codify accumulated practitioner learning and take it into account to increase success.
However, the stats are bleak. According to a 2017 report from the Project Management Institute (PMI), 14% of IT projects fail. Of the projects that didn’t fail outright, 31% didn’t meet their goals. 43% exceeded their initial budgets, and 49% were late. The 2018 PMI statistics are just as bad – ‘15% of projects are failures’.
There’s often a “tick box” approach lying behind the failures. And they’re combined with not engaging with the real issues and bringing people together to solve problems along the journey. So again, the way people work and apply the methodology makes the difference. This goes down to mindset and the usual quote about company culture – “it’s the way things are done around here”.
The impact of digital transformation
The same goes with digital transformation. The potential benefits are enormous. But to realise them, you must address the problems this can create and take your people along the journey. Take into account the current ways of working. Then work out the steps to move to the target state. Taking more successful steps delivers a far higher ROI than one unsuccessful step.
“Change is like learning. If business leaders want to deliver change effectively, they need consultants who move employees and company cultures through the right steps to maturity, first.”
Or to put it simply:
Our qualified practitioners cover the full spectrum of organisational design, process, company culture and digital transformation. So, get in touch to find out how we can help your business thrive.
