Avoiding common digital change and transformation project mistakes

Lack of planning incorporating all parts of the business

Digital Transformation requires detailed, organisation-wide planning for it to be fully successful.

“A common mistake is that change management and business change activities are often either an after-thought or very last minute,” says Taryn Nixon, Digital Transformation Consultant at Minttulip Limited. “More often than not this can incur additional costs if these details were not originally factored in.”

A clear roadmap is needed in order to guide the way forward, defining the relevant requirements, opportunities and outcomes. “IT can struggle to understand what exactly it is that change management does, why they are on the project and what benefit will come from these activities,” notes Taryn. The strategy, its goals and benefits need to be clearly communicated to all parties and it needs to be flexible enough to meet new challenges as they arise. 

Not getting employee buy-in

“One of the biggest misunderstandings within digital transformation projects is that organisations think or believe that they have enough time to get things done,” she says. “All too often, it’s too late and the people side of transformation isn’t factored in until the last minute. Often a transformation projects are likened to an IT rollout of new software, and the people side of the change is only understood after the software is deployed – with issues including a lack of knowledge of how to use it and a lack of communication and the training requirements needed, and so on.”

For change to be effective the workforce needs to be convinced of its importance and its necessity. If staff are not on board or are disengaged then the process will be far harder and far more likely to fail. Ensure that there is regular communication, leaders to listen to feedback and concerns, and provide ongoing support before, during and, most importantly, after the project has been implemented (including training where needed).

Not working together

Within the framework of transformation projects there should be scope for managers to be empowered to test new ideas. This will boast employee buy in and also promote the opportunities that transformation projects can offer. 

Businesses should accept that some initiatives will fail and that, as long as they can learn from this, then nothing has been lost. 

Just as important is the fact that the team must work together as a cohesive whole. “[Project managers and change managers] sit beside one another and each stream should support each function,” comments Taryn. “What can happen is that one tries to overpower the other. The result is a potential disconnect between the IT function and the people side of the transformation, which can create a feeling of swimming upstream when trying to complete a piece of work.” 

Digital transformation is by no means simple and disruption presents an existential threat to companies in all sectors. If incumbents are able to embrace customer-centricity and innovative working practices, however, then they’re well placed to beat new competitors.