Digital transformation: how to gain organizational recognition?

Three quarters of digital transformation plans will fall into “ Pilot purgatory ”, Why are so many projects unable to extend digital systems at the enterprise level ？

Although there are many factors , But whether the Enterprise Organization recognizes —— Whether employees welcome change and how to embrace it —— But it is often ignored . Compared with installing hardware or software , Getting real recognition is a much more complex challenge . This is what we need to find out .

According to our experience , There are four common obstacles to gaining recognition in business organizations . As IT The leader , You should ask yourself these questions ：

• How can you make it easier for employees to imagine what new normal they will face in the future , Let them adapt to these changes , Don't worry about losing your job ？
• What ways do you use to strengthen and re cultivate existing talents , Make enterprise organizations generally have data capabilities ？
• Where can you adjust your organizational structure to encourage collaboration , Not those priorities that might slow down the project ？
• You can make （ Or improve ） What processes will accelerate the pace of change , So that the enterprise can continue 、 Learn organically ？

Role change and job security

Most people are reluctant to accept change , Especially the changes that may affect the work . A recent study on job security and automation trends shows that , About a quarter of people are worried about “ AI will take their jobs away ”.

Now because people have a better understanding of the human role in the workplace , So this proportion is lower than a few years ago , But it still needs CIO and IT The leader thinks carefully , How should they deliver these changes to valuable employees .

Consider employees who typically spend a lot of time each week collecting data and writing reports . If their concerns are not addressed directly , Their subconscious reactions to the new digital tools , Must be worried that this will affect their work , Let these employees adopt modern technology , There must be incentives .

First , With the interconnection of systems and the digitalization of processes , A lot of things that used to be done manually 、 Information based tasks （ Such as data collection and reporting ）, Start to become automated , This gives them time to focus on more strategic 、、 More meaningful 、 More advanced tasks , This is not a substitute for , It's evolution . The role of employees will change from repetitive work , Shift to more analytical and problem-solving work .

Defining these new roles does not require strict 、 Top down decisions . Implement an active change management strategy , Involve all affected employees in this process as early as possible . Incorporate employee feedback into the solution and organizational design process , Let the most affected employees reshape the future of the organization , And in this process, they become change advocates and change advocates .

Rethink the problem of talent demand

Data analysis does not always require the support of data scientists . When CIO and IT When leaders find that most employees can be trained to become resident experts in the field of data analysis , They created a turning point . When employees combine new data analysis knowledge with existing knowledge about processes or equipment , They are immediately at the forefront of the digital journey .

This is for most IT Good news for leaders , Because their demand for data science and cyber security skills is soaring . Improve the skills of existing team members , For the continuous adoption and improvement of digital solutions , Is crucial , This includes long-term improvements in employee engagement and retention 、 Increased cross functional collaboration 、 The adoption of modern technology, etc .

In addition to their own technical skills , They also need to skillfully use the data they currently have available to diagnose problems and solve problems . Employees who may have been data collectors before , It is now possible to gain insight based on new data , Turn into a problem solver . Make sure your employees are ready to take advantage of these opportunities to learn and grow .

IT Effective collaboration between the team and the operations team

When the two forces in the organization are unwilling to cooperate , There will be great friction . In the case of digital transformation ,IT and OT The priorities of are often conflicting and inconsistent .

for example , In a manufacturing environment ,OT And the operations team focused on improving the productivity of the plant , That is, to produce more products at a lower cost . And on the other hand ,IT It usually focuses on maintaining the enterprise platform and reducing network security risks .

Different ways of project funding , It will also lead to different priorities .OT Teams usually focus on solving a number of problems in a plant , Sometimes they are even encouraged to compete with other factories in the same supply chain network .IT Teams may be more interested in scalable solutions , This solution can benefit all factories , But it can not provide all the funds for the project .

When these two priorities are mutually exclusive , It will hinder collaboration and delay the process of digital transformation . However , Whether it is adopted or not depends on IT and OT Effective collaboration between teams ：OT The team brings expertise in the manufacturing process and information about the source of the data ; and IT The team ensures that the enterprise platform and the necessary network infrastructure are reliable 、 Scalable and secure .

In order to make IT and OT Keep the team's goals consistent , You should consider setting up a team dedicated to digital transformation , From IT and OT Leaders of functional departments and field experts lead the team . These are operated by 、 Engineering and IT A cross functional team supported by us , You can set goals together , Work together to develop an implementation plan , And become a change advocate for the entire organization . They should have a common stakeholder executive team , Follow the progress together , Get rewards together .

Accelerate the pace of study and experiment

To remain competitive in today's digital world , Organizations must keep up with the pace of digitalization . They must learn quickly , And apply these experiences to the implementation of new functions . Create a corporate culture that promotes continuous growth and learning opportunities , For successful adoption of digital tools 、 To improve digital technology through experiments , It's all very important .

“ Learning organization ” It's Peter · Senger （Peter Senge） Put forward a concept , Core attributes include systematic problem solving 、 Experiment and knowledge transfer . Solve problems systematically , Including making assumptions 、 Test the hypothesis 、 Use data rather than assumptions as the basis for decisions . Minimum feasible product (MVP) Methods , Can be used to quickly test assumptions and generate data , Used to evaluate the effectiveness of the solution . Use the common enterprise platform , It allows you to quickly expand a... Throughout the enterprise MVP.

Digital transformation requires transformational thinking —— This is about the way we solve our employees' problems 、 Their desire to learn and acquire new skills 、 Their ability to make higher-level decisions 、 And their passion for experimentation and problem solving . But a lot of times , The organization is trapped in a box , Neglecting the key link between having the required technology and achieving operational productivity ladder changes . When IT When leaders ask people-oriented questions , They can gain insight into why the digital transformation initiative has stalled , Then make the necessary changes , Continue to promote these projects .