Digital transformation - Part 2 of 2: How you can start your digital transformation

We have previously explained what digital transformation means. In this final part we give tips on how to get started with a digital transformation. If you missed the first part you can find it here.

Preparing by creating the right conditions

As you may have read in part 1 of this article series, a digital transformation requires a number of changes. If you are going to change something at its core you face challenges you may never have faced before. If the changes are structural, it’s not something you solve in a week or a month, and it can be difficult to know where to even begin. But really it’s about preparing and creating the right conditions.

We could compare it a little to running a marathon. If you’ve never trained before it feels almost unattainable where you stand today. You therefore know that you have a steep uphill climb ahead of you, but you still want to challenge yourself and think that it can’t be completely impossible if you just practice.

You start training intensively, trying different running techniques and equipment. You enlist the help of a running coach and join a training group to get expert tips and support. Of course you make the occasional beginner’s mistake and sometimes overtrain. At one point you consult a naprapath when the pain in your knees becomes unbearable, but you keep your goal in sight and don’t give up. From time to time you also take a rest day to recover.

When D‑day finally arrives you stand on the starting line – maybe a little scared but excited. You have done all the preparatory work you possibly can and you feel strong. The starting gun goes and you set off. You may get a few blisters and tired muscles along the way, but with all the training, sweat and tears behind you (and a hell of a lot of determination) you eventually make it to the finish. If you’re lucky you cross the line first and the feeling is indescribable – you dared to take a chance and challenge yourself, and you succeeded!

In the same way you prepare for a marathon if you have never trained before, you need to think about a digital transformation. You must prepare by making sure the right conditions are in place. You have to dare to fail and be prepared to get lactic acid in your muscles, but at the same time realise that it will pass if you keep moving forward. You may need help along the way, and that is completely ok. The aim is not for a single individual to carry the whole burden of a digital transformation. Just as you get help from a running coach or a training group to complete the race, the whole company must change the way it thinks, acts and works together. It is the company as a whole that can create the change needed to carry out a digital transformation, and that requires good leadership. Sometimes you may also need to bring in external experts to guide you, and that can be what actually helps you succeed all the way to the end

Even if you didn’t reach the finish line in your first marathon, you could still have taken away valuable lessons from the journey. Maybe you pushed yourself too hard at the start or had the wrong kind of shoes? By evaluating and learning we can develop and do better next time. You must first learn to walk in order to be able to run. You must then be able to run one kilometre at a time before you can run a full marathon. In the same way that you plan to run a marathon, you need to think long-term and set milestones for a digital transformation process. At the same time we must be open to failing along the way but have the strength to keep moving forward.

How to start your digital transformation

How do you prepare and create the right conditions for a digital transformation? When you're about to undertake a major shift and change things at the core, there are many things you may need to consider. Here we list a few points that can help along the way:

1. Set a strategy

To begin with, a shared understanding of what the change should achieve is needed. Designing a strategy for a digital transformation is therefore a good place to start

• Start by asking yourselves questions such as why and for whom you should transform. Does your product/service need to become more digital or user-friendly? Do you need to change the corporate culture and create new work processes? Who are your customers and what are their needs? Are there other stakeholders you need to consider?
• When you know which direction the change should take you, you can consider what you need to transform and how you can create a digital culture, ways of working and processes. What should you do more or less of? What are the opportunities and what threats exist, and what is required to maximise/minimise these? Which work processes must you develop to get where you want to be? Do we need to train staff or recruit new competences?
• Once you have a strategy and a plan ready, it's about knowing how to start. Since people are generally afraid of change, you can divide the change work into smaller steps. The organisation then has time to get used to it and larger changes can become easier to implement. Starting where you think you will get the most effect with the smallest possible change is one way to go. When a first change has been implemented and evaluated, you then move on to the next and continue like that

2. Get top management on board

Digitalisation drives all kinds of development, which increases the importance of the digital strategy. Through a digital transformation, technology spreads into all parts of the organisation. The digital strategy thus becomes an important part of your business strategy and therefore even more important to work on. To be able to implement and decide on organisational changes that can cost both time and money, it is necessary to have management on board, and your digital transformation will therefore largely be about strategic leadership.

3. Engage the entire organisation

When carrying out a digital transformation, it is important to engage the entire organisation and create understanding for the work ahead. Even though one person can initiate digital projects, neither should nor can a single individual drive the whole development.

All employees, departments and business areas have an important role in the work. But also be aware that all types of change can create uncertainty and insecurity in us humans. Especially if it affects one's everyday life and work. Engage and communicate with employees so that everyone can relate to the transition and see its benefits. Consider whether you need to train staff to be able to carry out the required changes. Also ensure that the organisation uses the technology that can help support the business and employees during the work process.

4. Work customer-driven and focus on the user experience

Do you know how well you meet your customers' digital needs and expectations? For someone to want to use your product or service, you must start from your users and find a solution to their problem. You must understand their needs and internal drivers.

Your customers' digital behaviour often spans multiple channels. The customer journey can also differ between users and target groups. Maybe it starts offline and ends online? Or perhaps it starts on social media, goes via a comparison site and then ends on your website? Our digital behaviour differs from our analogue behaviour. Online we are more flexible and our patience is often poorer. If we don't find what we're looking for quickly, we move on to the next product/service. Users are also picky and compare companies, services/products and websites, choosing the one that best meets their individual needs. Part of your digital change journey is therefore to involve your customers and users in the development process. Start working more customer-driven and focus on the user experience and you'll be well on your way.

5. Have a permissive and experimental corporate culture

For a new smaller player to succeed in entering a competitive market, they must dare to think differently and dare to fail — here larger companies and organisations have much to learn. To develop and promote innovation, it is important to have a permissive and experimental corporate culture. Corporate culture is therefore central and often the key to succeeding with change work.

Dare to fail and see it as an opportunity to learn. Give people the opportunity to work in new ways and learn agile working methods that can make you more nimble. Draw inspiration from industries that already work agile to a large extent, for example from digital agencies or the startup sector.

Getting the thinking process started when you are going to change ingrained patterns is not always easy. A useful method to awaken your creativity and innovation power is Design Thinking

6. Pause and learn

Sometimes you have to dare to take risks to succeed, and stumbling over the odd stone along the way is part of that. But if you keep running forward without pausing now and then, you're likely to repeat the same mistakes time and again. At Limetta we regularly hold retrospectives where we evaluate and reflect on what we do well and what we can do better in each project. The evaluations are ideally carried out both during and after the project. In our quick guide to retrospectives you can learn more about how they work and how you can include evaluation in your digital projects

7. Get help from experts

When you keep going in old ruts, it can be hard to see what is needed to break established patterns. For example, you can enlist experts to get started and to sort out which measures you should take and what will have the greatest effect. Having an external party review things and propose improvements can sometimes make it easier to kick off a digital transformation

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