The world around us is changing and business as we know it is changing with it. The novel virus will have a great impact on our lives and the transition to a new digital world has already begun. Digital Transformation is a concept many companies are already familiar with and others aren’t but the truth is sooner or later everyone will be part of it.
This new digital reality is here to stay and the fact that the entire planet at the moment is quarantined makes it necessary for everyone to jump on this train as fast as possible and adapt to it. Although many companies had already taken the leap towards this direction many were still hesitant until this new virus showed up, and once that happened all hesitations were gone. Digital Transformation is important today and will be important in the future too but like every investment and like every new attempt there are hidden challenges. So what are these challenges and how can we treat them?
Organizational Resistance
The first challenge an organisation will face when it decides to invest in digital transformation will be the resistance that will come from within. Although this transformation sounds exciting and the benefits will be many for both the employers and the employees, humans find it really hard to adjust to new situations and when that happens they tend to resist. People don’t like change because they are afraid of the unknown and this applies from people in higher management all the way to interns, and that is why they react. The best way to beat this resistance and face this challenge is by keeping everyone well informed. Setting up meetings regularly in order to explain the reasons why this is happening and showcase the impact it will have on their work while also stressing out the convenience it will offer them is very important if you want to beat this obstacle.
Transformational Fatigue
Digital transformation is a long going procedure that takes a lot of time and a lot of effort. Although it might sound easy transferring all your products and services to a new digital world it is not as easy as it seems. Therefore the time, resources and effort put in to this procedure can lead to transformational fatigue which in simple words means slow down all existing procedures because every company has limited capacity. The trick to overcoming this challenge and solving this problem hides in project management. It is very important that when a company undergoes such a transformation it has everything organised super-well! Extraordinary project management is definitely the key to success in this situation so companies must master it before taking any kind of action.
Ignoring Long-Term Success
When companies decide to make such an investment and undergo such a transformation they do it for one reason and of course that is profit. When you are profit driven and given the fact that you have already spent money that you are waiting to get back and expect to get back as fast as possible it is only reasonable that they forget about the long-term success and focus on the short-term. But the truth is that we cannot build businesses just focusing on the short-term but we must have vision and focus on the long-term. Therefore the way to face such a challenge is by informing management that this investment will take time to start paying its bills while also constantly reminding them of the long-term benefits that will occur.
Maintaining The Change
As we previously said people don’t like change. When something changes they constantly find excuses to go back to the old version and of course that happens until they get used to it. So another challenge companies might face during a digital transformation is maintaining that change and especially when there are many advocates of the old business model. The best way to face this problem is by standing your ground and supporting your decision making no exceptions and now stepbacks. Stand by your choice and work until you are proven right.
The necessity of digital transformation is pretty much understood by anyone smart enough to understand that there will be massive changes in our lives over the next few years and therefore we should adapt. There is no reason to fear change but instead we must embrace it and especially in this kind of situation.
