Extract
The adoption of new technologies is often accompanied by a series of complex and interrelated challenges such as: (1) slow implementations, (2) resistance to change, (3) the complexity of systems, (4) lack of employee adoption, (5) high costs, and (6) cybersecurity risks. However, overcoming them opens the door to optimizing operations, automating processes, reducing costs, and obtaining a competitive advantage that will drive the sustained success of your organization.
Contents
Overcoming Challenges in the Implementation of Digital Technologies
1. Defining a Clear Vision: Key to Overcoming Slowness in the Implementation of New Technologies
2. Creating Real Consensus: Key to Overcoming Resistance to Change
3. Developing Technological Skills: Key to Overcoming System Complexity
4. Generating Healthy Incentives: Key to Overcoming Lack of Adoption by Employees
5. Reserving Necessary Resources: Key to Overcoming High Costs and Unpredictable Budgets
6. Performing Appropriate Tactics: Key to Mitigating Cyber Security Risks
Conclusion: Applying the Recipe for a Digital Transformation Success Story
Overcoming Challenges in the Implementation of Digital Technologies
Currently, The implementation of digital technologies and tools has become an unavoidable necessity for companies who seek to remain competitive in their industry. However, it is a reality that the majority of these changes in the ways organizations act require a radical change in the ways organizations think about the management, administration and operation of businesses.
To manage these transformations appropriately, we must first know and understand the “Recipe for a Digital Transformation Success Story” based on the Lippitt-Knoster model for managing complex changes, which includes the following ingredients:
Vision: Understanding what we seek to achieve with technology, have a clear and defined vision of the objectives and goals that you want to achieve through digitalization.
Consent: Lining up all members of the organization with the vision and objectives of the Transformation, create a sense of unity and shared commitment to ensure a coherent, consistent and successful implementation.
Skills: Knowing how to apply the wide variety of technologies available on the market, continually training and developing skills to adapt to new tools and technological platforms.
Incentives: Wanting to do things differently than they have always been done, encourage an innovation culture and be willing to continually change and improve.
Resources: Dedicating time, money and effort to transform the business, have the temporal, financial and human resources necessary to carry out the Digital Transformation.
Tactics: Making things happen, implementing concrete and measurable action plans to ensure that vision, consensus, skills, incentives and resources translate into tangible results.
These six ingredients are essential to carry out a true, positive and successful digital transformation. If any are missing, the change will be very difficult (or impossible) to manage because it will cause negative reactions in the teams that make the process considerably difficult...
Without vision, there will be confusion and “emergencies”.
Without consensus, there will be sabotage and power games.
Without skills, there will be anxiety.
Without incentives, there will be apathy and resignations (silent or announced).
Without resources, there will be frustration.
Without tactics, there will be paralysis.
By following the recipe step by step we can overcome common challenges in the implementation of digital technologies.
1. Defining a Clear Vision: Key to Overcoming Slowness in the Implementation of New Technologies
The creation and integration of new technologies with existing systems and processes can be a slow and complicated process, especially if you do not have a clear vision of what you want to achieve, since it causes a wave of changes and adjustments that ends up impacting the times and quality of technological development.
Before any implementation, an exhaustive evaluation of the conceptual, procedural and attitudinal aspects must be carried out that influence the performance of the organization in order to detect areas of opportunity that can be addressed with the adoption and adaptation of compatible and interoperable technologies. Some key strategies to develop this overview are:
Develop a Comprehensive Process Mapping to view the workflow.
Identify Redundancies and Inefficiencies, as well as repetitive and manual tasks, which can be automated.
Establish a SMART Strategy to achieve transformation.
Study the Market and Competition Movements to identify emerging trends that can be taken advantage of by the organization.
Define Tools and Systems to develop and/or implement.
By clearly defining what we seek to achieve, we create the foundation for successful development that will be adjusted depending on the results obtained.
2. Creating Real Consensus: Key to Overcoming Resistance to Change
Resistance to change is a natural aspect of the human being, since this involves breaking paradigms, modifying routines and learning new skills; which can make managers and/or collaborators feel uncomfortable or fearful. That is why from the beginning we must approach the implementation of new technologies in a structured, systematic and transparent way.
Preventing the natural resistance of the human being to change, from becoming a resistance directed towards the change that is sought to be achieved, requires that we raise awareness throughout the organization about the costs and benefits, as well as the potential risks, of new technology on the results of the organization, and also, encourage all collaborators to express their feelings and propose new ideas and approaches that can add to the change. Some strategies to generate consensus are:
Identify Leaders (Formal and Informal) within the organization.
Choose "Champions" that motivate and help other collaborators to adapt to new tools and technologies.
Raise Awareness About Costs, Benefits and Risks of new technology on the results of the organization.
Receive Feedback about the proposed change.
Answer Questions and Address Concerns directly.
Provide Resources and Support Materials that facilitate the transition.
To maintain organizational consensus and alignment, it is necessary to maintain continuous communication about progress, successes and mistakes when putting change into practice in a transparent way.
3. Developing Technological Skills: Key to Overcoming System Complexity
One of the most significant challenges when implementing new digital technologies is their rapid evolution that requires specialized skills that may be scarce within an organization. The systems, often complicated and unintuitive for beginners, can result in low productivity and frustration among users.
That is why you must ensure that users receive the necessary training to use new technologies effectively. Providing supporting resources such as guides, tutorials, and technical assistance are essential to moving from development to deployment. Also, when in the system evaluation and selection process, you must first choose:
Only Choose Tools That Integrate Well with existing systems.
Prioritize User Experience (UX) con interfaces Simple user interfaces (UI) and functionalities that do not require extensive knowledge of the system.
Try Before You Buy to evaluate whether the solution is easy to use and fits the needs of the organization.
Collect Comments and Opinions about the ease of use and usefulness of the tools.
4. Generating Healthy Incentives: Key to Overcoming Lack of Adoption by Employees
Certainly the adoption of digital tools finds its greatest challenge in complete and true adoption by the team. Many times the implementation of new technologies is developed in parallel to normal operation, thus two systems are fed (the old and the new, the manual and the automatic, or the physical and the digital) in order to ensure the integrity of the information while all the functionalities of the new systems are developed. .
The problem often arises when you have to “let go” of the old system and only use the new system since the team may have fears and insecurities about its correct functioning, especially if the development phase was mired in problems. This must be addressed with a gradual integration strategy that includes:
A Phased Implementation that allows continuous adjustments and improvements without interrupting daily operations.
Perform Pilot Tests to evaluate the effectiveness of new technology before large-scale implementation, as well as analyze and resolve problems that may affect the organization's performance.
Form Multidisciplinary Teams to ensure that all perspectives are considered and implementation is smoother.
In turn, active participation throughout the process must be recognized and rewarded to keep team spirit high and encourage their active involvement in business transformation and enriching a culture of innovation.
5. Reserving Necessary Resources: Key to Overcoming High Costs and Unpredictable Budgets
Implementing digital technologies often involves significant investment in hardware, software, infrastructure and training. For micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), these costs can be prohibitive and difficult to predict. To manage costs, companies must opt for scalable solutions that fit the organization's changing budgets and needs.
Additionally, return on investment (ROI) should be carefully evaluated and technology implementations with the greatest potential impact on the business should be prioritized. organization performance; To alleviate the financial burden, companies can:
Take Advantage of Subscription Payment Models only for the services that will be used.
Investigate Government Subsidies and Aid for the digitalization of companies.
Establish Long-Term Relationships with Suppliers in which the company plays the role of validation (also known as “test subject”) of the system to obtain better prices and conditions.
6. Performing Appropriate Tactics: Key to Mitigating Cyber Security Risks
A reality that is often omitted is that the adoption of new technologies increases the attack surface and can expose companies to cyber threats such as ransomware, phishing and data breaches. Thus, one of the most common information leak gaps are cloud tools that allow us to collaborate simultaneously and fluidly.
Companies must develop and implement a comprehensive cybersecurity strategy that includes:
Implementing Basic Security Measures such as firewalls, antivirus software and data encryption.
Training Everyone on Good Safety Practices how to identify phishing emails, create strong passwords, and handle sensitive information appropriately.
Conducting Periodic Security Audits to identify and correct vulnerabilities in systems.
Conclusion: Applying the Recipe for a Digital Transformation Success Story
By…
Defining a Clear Vision, sharing why Digital Transformation is necessary and how it will be carried out.
Creating Real Consensus, involving people from across the organization to gather feedback and align their views with the strategy.
Developing Technological Skills, identifying areas of opportunity, providing the necessary training and improving internal skills or attracting external ones with the right skills.
Generating Healthy Incentives, understanding what motivates people and creating the appropriate mechanisms for intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
Reserving Necessary Resources, obtaining the necessary tools, technologies and other resources.
Performing Appropriate Tactics, developing a high-level roadmap and detailed action plan that outlines the priorities, order, and steps to safely make the change.
…organizations can successfully navigate the digital era and ensure their long-term growth and competitiveness.
You want to know more? Visit our Blog: https://www.consultoriatacs.com/en/blog
Ready to transform your company? Write us at: contacto@consultoriatacs.com
Contact us today and find out how we can grow your business together!
About Pablo Tellaeche (Author):
Owner and main consultant of TACs Consultores, Lecturer and University Professor; seeks to bring a true and positive Culture Lean and Digital Transformation to any company with which you have the pleasure of collaborating.
Comments