6 ways to jump-start your digital transformation

With technology becoming ever more present in our daily lives, most companies are aware of the need to think differently about how they’re doing business. Yet according to our recent Digital IQ report, Canadian companies may be lagging behind.

I’d expected to see more happening in Canada in terms of digital transformation. According to Digital IQ, when Canadian organizations think of “digital,” 30% tend to focus more on customer-facing activities (double the global rate) rather than seeing it as a company-wide transformation involving all their people, processes and operations. With this narrow definition of digital, executives should start thinking more broadly about how they can evolve their entire enterprise.

And a higher Digital IQ has its benefits. Analysis of the global results found that top-performing companies (ones with greater revenue and profit growth over the past three years) tend to also have more comprehensive digital strategies.

Canadian organizations don’t seem to feel the same sense of urgency as their global counterparts. There’s a risk that Canadian companies will be left behind if they don’t have a more holistic view and strategy. It’s important to consider the following when developing your digital strategy:

1. Have a fully aligned strategy

A digital strategy isn’t a stand-alone entity. It should be fully aligned with your organization’s corporate, information technology (IT) and brand strategies. How can you use technology to achieve and enhance your objectives? And how does IT need to transform to deliver technology solutions in the digital enterprise?

2. Think beyond customer-facing activities

Digital is a mindset. Consider how employees use technology in your operations. Think about all the activities, processes and capabilities you need as an organization to be active and nimble and take advantage of disruption.

3. Focus on execution

Don’t be limited by where you start. Instead, identify your strengths and build on them to accelerate your strategy’s activation. Many digital transformations fail because of a lack of understanding of what it takes to implement them.

4. Start small and scale quickly

To be flexible and adapt quickly to change, launch small digital pilots, projects or prototypes you can roll out in a matter of weeks. Use these quick wins—along with a no-regrets attitude—to verify hypotheses and collect information that will feed back into your overall strategic plan. A key aspect of innovation is creating minimum viable products—new products or services that have just enough features to be brought to market quickly—to help you identify risky assumptions, test them and pivot accordingly. Embrace this world of imperfection and constant iteration.

5. Co-create

Everyone looks at a problem differently, so involve people from all levels of your organization. These multiple perspectives can help you fuel a culture of innovation and align your digital strategy with your business objectives. Then test your new approaches with the people—staff and customers—who are going to be affected by them.

When digital transformations fail, it’s often due to a lack of understanding of how change impacts employees. Co-creation helps identify these challenges and builds advocates.

6. Trust your people

Companies are often reluctant to make radical changes because they fear employee resistance. But many executives are surprised at how willing and eager their employees are to take an active role in digital transformation—and at the contributions they can make.

Canadian companies can’t afford to be complacent. Globally, executives are broadening their view of what digital transformation is to take full advantage of its potential. Making the digital shift isn’t just about technology. It’s about changing how you do business and figuring out what type of organization you’re going to be.