Technology is always advancing. But during the pandemic, we hit the collective fast-forward button on innovation—with capabilities in cloud, AI, machine learning, and analytics swiftly accelerating toward a future many originally thought was farther away. And we can’t go backwards now.
So, as business leaders adapt to today’s market conditions, they must ask themselves where digital transformation initiatives fit into their plans. They must evolve, or they will be left in the dust.
This doesn’t mean, even with next-generation technology, that transformation is easy. A recent BCG study found that only 35% of companies actually achieve their digital transformation initiatives. The most common reason for a failure to launch is not technology, but a lack of overall employee buy-in and adoption.
If you want to take your tech transformation to the next level, you have to start by making it more human.
Plot a people-first plan
The most important ingredient of any successful technology implementation is this: internal and external business alignment. You must start with a well-documented set of tangible business outcomes, and every single person involved in the project must be able to answer, “Why are we doing this?”
The people you put on the project are so important. The tech is integral, obviously, but if there’s a lack of buy-in or understanding, you’ll essentially be left holding a hunk of metal you can’t drive.
If only a fraction of your frontline employees are visibly engaged in transformation initiatives, you’ll be destined to fail. It can’t be all about c-suite directives. Staffing well and cultivating winning resources are the best ways to counter pitfalls in this area.
More so, you must give your employees the time and space to succeed. Don’t allow an “illusion of staffing” to occur, where you divide your team between tactical, day-to-day operations and the overall transformation initiative. You must have your best people dedicated to your evolution full time.
In short, they must know why they’re doing it, and they must be given time to do so. Next up is determining how they will go about it.
Set up structure and strategize change
Clear governance and strong change management are also vital pieces of the puzzle. We’re not talking about drafting draconian rules and regulations; we’re talking about creating boundaries that enable quick and effective decision making.
This is necessary because the balance you’re trying to strike is tricky. On one hand, decisions must be made apace to avoid impeding overall progress. On the other, they must be made in a “sticky” way so that you can avoid the stop-and-go of changing decisions. This is the only way to ensure consistent, sustained progress.
Put simply, good governance and change management means accountability, clarity and decisiveness at every stage of the process.
That’s why organization and planning are also musts. Your expected business outcomes must be determined and documented so that you can develop strategies to ensure change is communicated, orchestrated and adopted organization-wide.
Living Out Long-Term Optimization
When your company goes live on a new business management solution in the cloud, that doesn’t mean your work is done. In fact, one of the most common mistakes businesses make is treating the project as if it’s over once implementation is complete. This ending, rather, is still just the beginning of the overall journey.
Ask yourself: How will your solution continue to be supported after go-live? What mechanisms have been put in place to communicate what’s next for your organization’s goals? Are your support teams well-staffed and receiving the knowledge they need? Can you transition some team members into run roles focused on system optimization activities?
These are all questions business leaders must be able to answer. They must maintain a sense of wide-scale thinking—and remain forward-looking along the way. Because this isn’t just about getting everyone up to speed today. It’s about setting the stage for the digital future of tomorrow.
Passing Down Power
Approximately 85% of decisions made during a transformation project should be made by empowered business process owners. Not CEOs. Not executives. True change agents—and drivers of change—come from within the business. They are the only way to overcome inevitable speed bumps and challenges.
Because this process is not about laying down edicts or pushing buttons. It’s about humans making change. That’s what we must always remember, through every stage of the process.
Lloyd Adams is President of SAP North America.