5 Good Tips to Prepare Your Company for Digital Transformation
5 Good Tips to Prepare Your Company for Digital Transformation. The starting point of digital transformation is to simplify processes.
The main challenge companies face is changing existing habits. Where to start?
In this article, you will find some useful hints to prepare your company and start leveraging technology to compete more in your target market.
Navigate by topics covered:
Start with data
Identify barriers to change
Involve your employees and customers
Streamline processes
Manage your documents online
Start with data
Digital transformation is a journey that requires planning, preparation, and commitment from every professional and team.
An organization must decide what it wants to achieve before embarking on the path to digital transformation.
You need to take some time to analyze your company and determine the areas of work where you need to take action.
The first step is to collect and analyze the data you already have.
Analyze data from different sources, such as customer satisfaction surveys, sales data, and industry trends. This will help identify problems or opportunities within the company that need attention, before implementing any new technology.
Then look at what information would be useful to have but is not yet available.
These are probably the areas where digital transformation could lead to great benefits for your company.
All of this information should be used as a starting point for developing the strategy for the digital transformation plan.
Identify barriers to change
Many companies want to move from a manual, traditional business to a digital one, or at least improve their existing digital capabilities. However, when it comes to changing their business model, many companies are not prepared. The shift to digital technologies is going to impact products and services, marketing and distribution channels, business processes, supply chains, and new partners in the marketplace.
One of the main reasons companies do not make changes is a lack of understanding of the need for change. They do not understand their current state and how they compare with other companies in their industry.
This issue is compounded by budget problems, lack of employee training programs, or employee involvement in the company’s culture and values.
Obstacles to change must be identified and work to eliminate them.
A necessary step is to assess how prepared your company is for digital transformation.
If your company is not yet ready, don’t worry!
There is no reason why you can’t start taking small steps to become more digital.
An ever-valid suggestion is to start one department at a time and see how your strategy and technology work, before introducing changes company wide.
Involve your employees and customers.
Employees and customers can help shape your digital strategy by sharing their ideas and concerns about the impact technology might have on them.
Ask them about their daily workflows, what tools they use, and what they would like to see in the future.
Digital transformation is about more than technology. It is about changing the way we operate and relate to the public, and how we communicate.
You need to involve everyone in this process, from senior managers to front line workers and customers, so that everyone understands it is happening so that they don’t feel left out or confused about how to do their jobs.
Simplify processes.
Before starting to adopt new technologies, it is important to streamline existing processes and define roles.
This means asking who has a particular task, what they do, how they do it, and why. Once these answers are obtained, it will be easier to decide the best way to automate manual or repetitive tasks and increase business efficiency.
For example, instead of having employees manually enter data into multiple systems, it is useful to use software that integrates with other platforms. This will save time, and effort, and reduce errors.
Manage documents online
Digital document management is one of the most important aspects to consider when preparing your company for digital transformation.
Make sure all documents are created electronically. Not digitized, after completely paper-based management.
All documents: from contracts to purchase orders, from invoices to internal reports.
What about the signature? You can choose an electronic or digital signature solution, as needed.
From any device, at any time.
Choose the right software for your company’s needs, for the type of documents you need to manage, and for the legal validity and data security you need.