Driving Successful Digital Transformation Outcomes
March 20, 2024 | Written by Sree Ravela
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I’d like to share practical insights I’ve uncovered while working within the healthcare, automotive, retail, and manufacturing industries. My pragmatic approach helped produce favorable outcomes, such as increasing visibility into inventory across various distribution and service centers, shortened insurance claim processing times, improved specimen tracking, etc. While the considerations and leadership skills I’m discussing here aren’t comprehensive, they provide a solid foundation for leaders embarking on digital transformation efforts.
Defining Digital Transformation
“Digital transformation” means many things to many teams. The first step is to envision a digitally transformed organization with clear definition. Leadership alignment on scope is critical to all efforts. Some of the most popular and reliable frameworks worth considering include: MIT Sloan’s Digital Transformation framework, Forrester’s Digital Maturity model, Gartner’s Digital Business Transformation framework, and Accenture’s Digital Transformation framework.
Required skills: Ability to create a compelling vision and gain alignment
Dimmer Switch vs. Flip-Switch Approach
I see transformation as a set of transitions from the current state to the future state. Evaluate and distinguish between various initiatives and adopt a dimmer or a flip-switch approach for intended success, which explicitly means asking if the change must be made gradually vs. instantly. Some transformative efforts can quickly transition into the future state (e.g., IT network modernization), but others may need a step approach (e.g., revenue cycle modernization, which involves streamlining business flows followed by technology upgrades).
Required skills: Inclusion and collaboration with the right stakeholders
Balanced Scorecards
Keeping ultimate outcomes at the center of every conversation is crucial, even during the planning and execution phases. Simply identifying and tracking the detailed program activities isn’t sufficient. Transformation programs must track and regularly present a balanced scorecard to stakeholders. Here are the four major focus areas to get a balanced view.
Financial performance
Customer value performance benefits
Efficiency gains/process improvements
Innovation index
Required skills: Savvy in business processes and dispassionate approach to enabling outcomes
Cultural Transformation
Digital Transformation isn’t a solely technological transformation effort! The organization’s key leadership behaviors should prompt and inspire improved cultural transformation at all levels. Change Management is essential for steering stakeholders toward new approaches. After all, human emotions are more at play than anything else.
Required skills: Change Management and empathy
Keep checking executive egos.
Many of you may find this to be a controversial topic. This unspoken truth is often highly costly to businesses if left unchecked. To succeed in enabling ultimate outcomes, you should be ready to deal with human egos at various levels. Executive arrogance kills organizational productivity and progress. Promote courageous conversations with openness and ensure a safe place to dissent. The team should be able to discuss differences and align on the path forward with a unified voice. Produce a summary of benefits to help executives realize that planning will help stack rank for all initiatives for an informed decision.
Required skills: Negotiation, persuasion, and ability to create win-win scenarios for progress
Digital transformation is not merely a trend—it’s a strategic imperative that demands a multifaceted approach. It’s about balancing technology with human elements, such as culture and leadership. By defining digital transformation with precision, adopting the right pace of change, maintaining balanced scorecards, fostering cultural alignment, and navigating the complexities of executive egos, organizations can not only navigate transformation efforts but also thrive in any emerging digital landscape. When applied thoughtfully and consistently, these very considerations turn the promise of digital potential into tangible outcomes. As we continue to forge ahead in this ever-evolving digital era, remember that transformation is less about technology and more about people and processes that drive change.
I invite you to reflect on these insights, apply them within your spheres of influence, and share your transformation experiences. How have you seen digital transformation unfold in your own organization, and what lessons have you learned that resonate with these key considerations? Share your stories and insights so we can chart a path toward digital excellence that is as human as it is technological.