POST COVID WORLD: TECHNOLOGY ALONE WON’T DO IT

Mid of 2019 businesses were operating as usual. While companies had been looking at the Digital Transformation for a period of time, however there was no exigency or a burning platform.

What was least expected was a natural disaster that would change the landscape completely. Covid19 threatened the very existence of traditional business models. They went obsolete overnight. Virtual activities increased significantly. The luxury of time was no more available. As a consequence, business recovery mandated extensive transformation with digital being at the center of every interaction.

Digital Transformation was no more limited to research labs and long-term plans but required tangible steps with immediate value. It was not limited by geography or industry. Everybody was impacted across the board. Staying relevant in the Post-Covid world mandated accelerated efforts towards business transformation.

The world has fundamentally changed and in ways that will forever alter how we live, work, and play. As we have watched these changes unfold, we have been paying close attention to all the ways in which Digital Transformation strategies can be employed to help minimize the economic and human impact. We have also given thought to the many ways that change strategies can be deployed moving forward to help companies and organizations navigate this pandemic in the short and long-term. Covid19 has tremendously impacted livelihood across the globe. Human costs were not limited to our health, the economic toll of Covid 19 shaped up to be profoundly bad. Economic indicators are suggesting that the traditional approach would not work anymore and failure to evolve fast means extinction.

NATURAL SELECTION

As the situation is evolving, businesses need to adapt to cope with the situation. Whether it is the interaction with the customers, supply chain or simply delivery of services, digital experience will have to be at the center of everything. Businesses that fail to step up will disappear but the ones that survive will be the ones that are agile enough to innovate and reinvent themselves.

MORE THAN JUST TECHNOLOGY

Considering that Digital Transformation is no more a luxury but rather a necessity for survival in the post Covid world, it needs to be understood that technology alone would not guarantee success and innovation. While Digital Platforms significantly reduce the innovation cycles, you will have to approach the problem holistically. Technology is simply an enabler and it is supposed to be business driven. Major shifts need to take place around how you approach your customers and how can you leverage technology to facilitate them. Digital Transformation is more about people and putting people and the connections at the forefront of any strategy. When we talk of people we are dealing with the mindset as well as the skillset, which drives the usability and the adoption rates.

WHAT IS DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION

Which leads to the question what Digital Transformation is all about? It is about building capabilities to empower workforce to work in modern ways. It is about putting human relationship at the center. Transformation has to be seen through the human prism i.e., adding value to every customer interaction and focusing on the interaction rather than the technology e.g., Uber, Netflix etc.

Simply adding new technology to old-fashioned, product-centric thinking doesn’t generate the change businesses need. It mandates asking “What is our technology really capable of, and how can we adapt our business and processes to make the most of our technology investments?”

WHAT DOES IT TAKE?

What is required of companies is an agreed upon and coherent view on this journey across all the business units and to place a premium on collaboration and governance.

IMPROVING THE ODDS OF SUCCESS

Most of us were taken by surprise by these developments triggered by Covid outbreak. Whether you were ready or not, it is a burning platform now. You have to bite the bullet and put the foundations in place.

But you are not alone in this challenge, having assisted a number of clients, we can narrow down to the following four factors could improve the odds of success:

Human Relationship

Put human relationship at the center of Transformation Strategy. Finding the right balance between digital automation and human relationships is essential. Platforms can help you with automation, but not with creativity and empathy. It is crucial to craft a more holistic human experience.

Executive Engagement & Governance

Executive engagement means carving and transformative digital vision followed by careful planning and strong governance. It has to be a top down approach, how you are going to be a different company. Nike for example collaborates with its customers, it’s not simply selling goods. It is not just meeting demand but rather driving it.

Change Management

Working on changing the skillset and mindset through change management. Transformation initiative will provide you with an opportunity to redefine the business processes. Without Change Management this whole exercise would be more of a translation effort rather than transformation without any business value and might not produce the desired results.

Metrics and KPIs

Having the right KPIs in place to garner success and keep program on track. These KPIs are derived from the company’s goals depending upon the industry along with other factors. Thus, there is no single silver bullet or universal KPIs. Agreeing upon a list of these KPIs is an exhaustive exercise and should be signed by all the different business units and stakeholders. Extra effort should be done to keep this list small to a manageable number between 8 and 12, else you might run the risk of boiling the ocean.