The human side of change is the most important part of a digital transformation hands down.
But what exactly is the human factor?
What are those different components?
Organizational change management and the human side of change is by far the most significant piece of any digital transformation puzzle. If you address the human factor well, you’re likely to succeed. If you don’t address it well, you’re highly likely to fail.
Oftentimes organizations don’t understand what organizational change management is or what exactly the human factor and the human component means. Throughout this blog, I will discuss what are those five factors that are most important when you’re considering the human factor of any digital transformation.
1. Relationships
Interpersonal relationships, one-on-one relationships, and group-to-group relationships are the foundations of any organizational dynamic. They’re especially critical when you’re going through change.
When you’re about to change your operations and the technologies that you use, understanding and using those relationships to make sure that you’re uncovering any of the organizational pitfalls and landmines associated with a change is very central.
Think about all the times that you’ve been in an office setting or on a call having an informal conversation with a peer or a friendly colleague. Consider the valuable nuggets of information you’ve gleaned from those casual interactions because you have a relationship with that person. Oftentimes you discover solutions or tactics that you wouldn’t have even thought to ask about.
It’s all because you have a relationship with that person and comfortable level of Communication. Oftentimes, and to be truthful, these relationships are what’s missing in the digital transformation. We end up focusing too much on being very structured and rigid that we forget about the relationship side.
This is a way to really understand what is actually happening on the front lines. This knowledge can empower you to identify what are the pros vs. cons, strengths vs. weaknesses, and any gaps/opportunities in the company culture that may put our digital transformation at risk.
Ultimately, we want to ask ourselves how can we navigate those realities to ensure that we deploy digital transformations in a manner that will optimize the human-focused strategies?
Transformation leaders need to establish open Communication and relationships between different parts of the organizations, locations, departments, workgroups, and individuals. This is one important part of any digital transformation.
2. Communication
Just as relationships are important, so is communications . We want to make sure that we have strong relationships between different parts of the Organization. Optimize all lines of communication.
Just as important, if not, more importantly, gathering information and input from the organizations, and getting feedback from the different parts is key. We want to ultimately understand what it’s like on the front lines and what’s really happening with the team we are communicating with.
When we’re going through a digital transformation, it’s easy to sit in a conference room, write on a whiteboard, and talk theoretically about what change might look like. But, until we communicate back and forth via two-way discovery, decision-makers cannot truly comprehend the impact this project has on the Organization.
It’s essential to establish things like change agent networks, communication teams, and stakeholders. Treating these initiatives almost as a marketing or advertising campaign is constantly reaching out to these stakeholders and individuals within the organization to ensure you’re keeping those relationships and lines of communication open.
Within the digital transformation strategy, you must have a very solid communication plan and framework to confirm that you’re addressing this principal human dynamic.
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