Making sure your relationships are ready to take on a change is as important as the change you seek.
In 2005, Professor Robert Kaplan and Dr. David Norton published an HBR article on the need for an Office of Strategy Management (OSM). This developed earlier ideas that had been put forward to improve strategy within organizations. Indeed, improving strategy is an ongoing concern for all organizations. Sudden unexpected phenomena in recent years have further emphasized a need to think strategically, rather than hope for the best.
As a result of these ideas, corporates adopted the concept and translated their strategy into deliverables using Project Management Offices (PMO’s). As industries are moving at a faster pace due to technology and digitalization, using more agile delivery processes, there should be another path beyond strategy and project management. This should not exclude these functions as they serve a great purpose and are tested methodologies.
All industries have foreseen that digitalization is a necessity, so for the purpose of this blog, we will assume that the process of digitalization is what we are focusing on.
For any process, we need to rethink the foundations. Sales and account management are as important to the process of digitalization, as are other departments. Digitalization is not JUST for the IT department nor is it an add on process for other departments.
We are aware that organizations that adopt technology will not suddenly improve and succeed in all areas as a result of technology, as digitalization at times can fail. Therefore, we need to look beyond technology and assess how to get things right.
1. Define the context
Prior to any digitalization process a discovery session will provide clients and digitalization experts with a focus. All the processes that need digitalization can be identified and agreed upon. An organization may have a whole list of its problems and processes that need to be digitalized but relying on experts to identify what should come first and what can wait will ensure that the right processes are tackled in the best order.
Discovery is about discussing what is needed and agreeing on realistic expectations with all stakeholders.
The clarity from the beginning of a digitalization journey goes a long way to ensure success.
2. Relationships
Relationships are at the core of reducing the gap between initial agreements, scope and delivery. This would include both internal and external stakeholders. In order to grow faster and smoother, all the stakeholders should be on the same page.
The C Suite alone cannot push through changes and assume that they will be embraced at all levels of the hierarchy.
3. Communication
At times and in my personal experience there are huge communication gaps between sales and delivery teams. Strategy and employee working methods also face gaps. Strategy is almost kept a secret like some holy grail and employees are not aware of details of what to work on and what not to work on. With every tool available, if we all are going in different directions, we will fail to get to the destination. Due to fear of a strategy being taken by competitors, often there is a lack of transparency and no one really knows what is going on.
Targets, KPIs and so on exist but are not communicated well. Strategy must be communicated all through the organizational hierarchy. This allows everyone in an organization to contribute in their own areas to meet the targets of the company.
4. Planning is the soul of delivery
In these agile times, any organization that seeks to implement or advise others on digitalization has to be in sync right from the beginning of any process. So from the point of where a sales-person goes out to pitch the products/services, an internal alignment is also required, not to oversell or undersell solutions. Once agreements and plans are locked with the client, synchronization is again needed with delivery teams on what was formally and informally agreed with clients.
Prior to a kick off meeting with the client, an internal kick off meeting should be held to align all delivery and support teams. This exercise can be seen as time and energy consuming, but this would actually help all the teams construct a comprehensive and detailed plan for delivering without any major hiccups during the delivery process.
5. Implementation
Once the team starts to work on their daily tasks, practices like the Daily Sync-up meetings, Weekly Status Emails and Minutes of Meeting (MoM) are to be followed religiously until the project comes to an end. Keeping transparency on day-to-day tasks with clients gives them transparency and confidence on the on-going project.
6. The last mile is the most critical one
Closing any project is the most complex part, and is avoided most of the time. Teams are tired by the time they reach the end of the project, and hence can lose grip on the delivery quality. To ensure a smooth project closure and hand-over to other internal and/or external; teams, a checklist has to be formed right from the beginning of the project. It\’s vital to know what was required at the beginning of a project and if the requirements were met. Project managers, along with their counterparts from Sales, should make sure that all the boxes in the checklist are checked.
7. Always communicate good and bad news
Successful projects require transparent communication.
Never hide any bad news. However, before breaking such news, a solution should be in place and agreed internally. Win-win options should always be offered to clients, to gain confidence for future business.
Product and services enhancements should then be initiated by Sales teams, based on smooth delivery, as part of our new agile lives.
Final Thoughts
The process of digital transformation will ensure easier and more efficient processes overall. The teams that have to initiate, deliver and execute transformation are not robots and often their lack of synchronization is the obstacle that causes transformation to fail. If digital transformation fails, it\’s good to examine why and re-start your journey or tweak it, so you can realize the benefits and iron out the challenges.
