There are so many articles and blogs you can read on modern workplace transformation.
I wanted to share some insights from a slightly different perspective. Not so much on the technology aspects, but more to reflect on the business and people change to hopefully underpin choices you can make to support your ongoing transformation.
Firstly, let's reflect on today’s challenge and opportunity. The modern digital workplace is our current reality. As business owners or leaders, we are challenged by ever-increasing pressures to:
- Create workplaces that support multiple generations with different skills and expectations.
- Create work-life balances despite the fact we are stretching our workplaces to be free from boundaries
- Drive efficiency and stay competitive in a world awash with new technology, new competitors, new ways of trading and serving customers.
- Be sustainable, inclusive and diverse, to be agile and disciplined.
- Utilise the complex to deliver the simple and continue to deliver results to our shareholders or stakeholders.
Sound familiar?
Digital transformation can help us all effectively juggle these opportunities and challenges. But what does digital transformation really mean? In my experience, it comes down to three key things:
- Opening your (and your organisation’s) mind to the new possibilities presented above.
- Consistently challenging past or current ways of working; and to have the courage to make a change.
- And to make clear links to the right technologies and process improvements that can support your people to be the best they possibly can. This also means they need to be doing things they’re passionate about – some of which they may not even know about yet!
At Tribe, we started our digital transformation journey early and without a real plan in place (an early adopter you could say, utilising new technologies as soon as they became available).
We had some key learnings that I think are worth sharing! Here’s my top 10:
- Start at the top. Leaders need to genuinely lead the change, and it’s no good “doing it” just because everyone else is. You must believe in the transformation and what it will deliver.
- Don’t underestimate your people. Communicate regularly and seek ways to involve everyone in new ways of working early.
- Find and grow your champions, but don’t expect them to be the whole change. Your success comes when the biggest cynic in your team becomes one of your champions!
- Run regular champion-led workshops on how to improve and enhance the way your organisation communicates. Make this process part of your common workplace practice because the transformation never ends.
- Pick and back a simplified technology stack and stick with it. Our choice was Microsoft 365, and it has paid back in spades over time, despite the fact it was shaky in its early days.
- Train and coach, and then train and coach some more, and then some more. This should never stop!
- Accept that some people won’t see the benefit of changes as everyone else does. You will lose some on your journey, however they will go on to do better things, as will you and your team.
- Focus on simplifying your technology stack - our present digital age is awash with apps and too much choice – help your people by guiding then to make wise choices and keep them focused on a plan. At Tribe, ours is called a Customer Success Map.
- If you don’t have expertise in areas, pick partners that genuinely care and can help you in your blind spots. We do!
- Finally, accept that you will make mistakes on this journey. You will hopefully learn to fail fast, and will succeed as you learn from each micro mistake.
If you’d like to pick my brain on digital transformation, simply arrange a meeting time and shout me a coffee! I am always happy to share and discuss what I’ve learnt.
