We have worked with Fonteva to co-develop the below article
Digital Transformation is not the process of buying a product and your needs are solved. The words ‘transformation’ itself suggests a process of significant and noticeable change throughout your organisation. Any organisational change needs the correct strategy and contingency plan in place or risks time delays, changing costs and rising stress levels. Going into a process without a plan means a lack of understanding about what the business needs; this could result in purchasing a solution that will not be of any real benefit to the organisational goals. Avoid making these costly errors by ensuring your needs are reflected throughout your digital transformation.
Here are 5 considerations to accelerate your digital transformation journey
1. Lay the right foundations for change
Understanding your business requirements, working across the business and having the correct board-level sponsorship will ensure that you have the right foundations in place to drive digital change. Successful transformation is about change which is ultimately about how you manage people.
2. Identify your goals
When it comes to planning out your digital strategy, you need a clear understanding of what you have in place today and what needs to change to reach your organisational goals and business requirements. Creating a digital strategy can highlight some quick wins along the way that can make a significant difference to your organisation.
3. Make informed decisions
Before you embark on your digital transformation journey you need to have a clear idea of your business objectives and requirements, only then can you make informed decisions for your organisation. It is key to have the right, senior stakeholders from across the organisation in place to ensure that your plan has leadership and support from the very top from day one and who are actively championing the change.
4. Agree what success looks like with stakeholders
In terms of the functionality, consider the processes it needs to support and how it will help you manage your data- not just now but for the future. It is also key to identify, what staff and members want the new system to help them achieve. The system should be intuitive and encourage adoption, including being easy to read, accessible and easy to work. When choosing a supplier, you need to consider not just the initial support but the ongoing help provided. Make sure to get the full picture of the cost including the initial set up costs, license fees and any ongoing support needed.
5. Know when to start your transformation
The time to start your transformation is right now, your members are becoming more and more digital-savvy and will continue to do so, they expect more from you and want to do more online. Never have you had the ability to know so much about your members and use this to drive better engagement and organisational change.