Digitalization processes are now taking place almost everywhere. However, not all companies consider digitalization to be a driver of organizational development. All too often, it is limited to certain areas - possibly one reason why digitalization is only making slow progress.
It makes more sense to place digital transformation in a broader context and see it as a metaprocess that encompasses and develops a company as a whole. The opportunity exists: Sooner or later, most core, management and support processes will be digitized. Instead of transforming these piecemeal or independently of each other, it would be better to develop a digital strategy for the entire organization.
But how do you design such a transformation?
In my experience, two factors are crucial to the success of an organically evolving digitalization process:
- a transparent project organization
- an iterative planning and controlling process.
The structure of the project organization and the definition of the planning and controlling processes differ from company to company. You should certainly be prepared for enormous complexity. This is another reason why it is important to keep an eye on the big picture.
In my experience, the steps that matter most when designing a digitalization process are as follows:
1. Build a transparent project organization.
A project organization that is comprehensible to everyone is the be-all and end-all of a successful digitalization process. Such a project organization is characterized by the following features:
- It involves project management with transparent responsibilities.
- There are clear processes with realistic time corridors.
- The internal structures and responsibilities are designed effectively.
When setting up a project organization, you should also think about training measures for the various roles in the process organization. This will allow you to remain flexible when selecting employees.
2. Rely on cross-functional cooperation.
In all challenging transformation processes, cooperation with relevant stakeholders is important. If you are implementing a digitalization process with the aim of advancing organizational development, it is essential. You should therefore coordinate the digitalization process with existing line functions such as Human Resources or marketing and, wherever possible, promote cross-functional cooperation.
3. Involve affected employees.
The actual and target processes should run in opposite directions: the actual processes bottom-up, the target processes top-down. In both cases, you should involve the employees concerned. This goes without saying when determining the current status. After all, those who are involved in the current processes are best placed to describe them.
But the target state should also be implemented in close consultation with the employees involved, partly for the sake of effectiveness and partly to ensure acceptance.
4. Decentralize decision-making processes.
In order to move the process-based digitalization process forward quickly, decision-making processes should be decentralized. Project organizations tend not to want to let go of the reins. This is understandable, but to ensure a smooth process, it makes more sense to distribute it among those responsible. This also means that the respective process owners have an independent process budget.
5. Strengthen collaboration in your teams.
In a comprehensive transformation in particular, team collaboration and team spirit are far more important for many process participants than in normal operations. The key to this is very well-organized workflows that prevent frustration. Meetings are essential for this. But they should be well organized and, above all, efficient. That's why you should:
- prepare an agenda in which the participants' topics are collected and prioritized,
- invite only relevant - i.e. really affected - employees,
- ensure moderation,
- establish rules for the discussion,
- define topic blocks with time slots at the beginning,
- keep to the time and
- create a short protocol in the form of keywords.
This may read like common sense. But the aspects actually have to be implemented in practice. After all, the tighter the process, the more efficient the meeting.
6. Ensure support from the PMO.
The process management office should support the ongoing work in the process organization, especially when it comes to controlling.
Conclusion: The digital transformation of an organization requires a transparent process organization and the collaboration of all those involved
In my opinion, digitalization should be understood as a metaprocess that transforms an organization as a whole. Depending on the organization, the design of such a process will be different. The devil is in the detail here too. Nevertheless, there are factors that play a role in all digital transformations. These include:
- a transparent, process organization supported by the PMO
- decentralized decision-making processes and effective workflows
- a well-functioning cooperation between the corporate functions
- a counterbalanced implementation of actual and target processes, that involves the stakeholders
You should pay particular attention to these aspects when implementing your digital strategy.
