MOST Analysis

Mission Statement

The very first step in the journey of leading IT transformation in an organization is creating a plan. The first session in this 2-year program will discuss how to create a plan (in 30 days), spanning over 90 days, with the key objectives of 1) gaining a good understanding of where the organization is today; 2) envisioning how it could be transformed to improve processes, relationships, quality and delivery of technology and IT services; and 3) developing a roadmap to get from current to future state. This 90-Day Plan for leading IT transformation will include the steps that have to be taken within this 90-day duration. The first 30 days of the plan are focused on an assessment of the current state. The next phase, covering days 31 to 60, is centered on envisioning and designing the future state. Finally, the third phase, (days 61-90) is spent developing a realistic and practical Transformation Roadmap, considering people, process and technology. This 90-day plan will be the foundation of the subsequent IT transformation program, setting the objectives and defining the path that the process will take to transform IT processes and services, while also improving relationships between IT and the business. The Transformation Roadmap, created based upon the current state insights, will guide the subsequent projects and activities that need to be undertaken to reach the envisioned future state.

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Objectives

01. Theory and Communication: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
02. Review Organizational Structure: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
03. Set Mission and Goals: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
04. Plans and Timelines: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
05. Best Activities to Pursue: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
06. Competitor Assessment: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
07. Benchmark Best Practices: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. 1 Month
08. More Detailed Plans: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
09. Implement Plans: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
10. Feedback Loops: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
11. Improvements: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month
12. Document Outcomes: departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development. Time Allocated: 1 Month

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Strategies

01. Theory and Communication: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
02. Review Organizational Structure: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
03. Set Mission and Goals: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
04. Plans and Timelines: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
05. Best Activities to Pursue: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
06. Competitor Assessment: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
07. Benchmark Best Practices: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
08. More Detailed Plans: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
09. Implement Plans: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
10. Feedback Loops: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
11. Improvements: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.
12. Document Outcomes: Each individual department head to undertake departmental SWOT analysis; strategy research & development.

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Tasks

01. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Theory and Communication.
02. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Review Organizational Structure.
03. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Set Mission and Goals.
04. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Plans and Timelines.
05. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Best Activities to Pursue.
06. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Competitor Assessment.
07. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Benchmark Best Practices.
08. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze More Detailed Plans.
09. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Implement Plans.
10. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Feedback Loops.
11. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Improvements.
12. Create a task on your calendar, to be completed within the next month, to analyze Document Outcomes.

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Introduction

Change is difficult. This stands true for everyone, irrespective of whether it is in business or any other aspect of life. It is human nature to get comfortable in the current situation and any disruption in the current state is usually met with resistance. Within an organization too, change is always challenging. Over time, people develop a daily routine and established a way of working. They develop behavior patterns that are hard to change. But at the same time, change is not something we can avoid for long.

Organizations have to grow and evolve to survive the ever-increasing competition they face. They are constantly striving to reach a better position. They need to constantly improve their processes, systems and policies to ensure that they don’t lose their relevance in the industry or in the market. That means there will be change. Processes that have become an integral part of the organization, embedded in its day-to-day workings, need to be reassessed. Employees who have attained a level of comfort in their current positions need to upgrade their skills and knowledge to ensure that they continue adding value to the organization.

Although there is always resistance to change, be it from employees or the management or otherwise, everyone wants to be a part of a successful company. If the business case for a change is communicated well and shows how the transformation is going to positively impact the business as well as individual careers within the organization, the transition can be much smoother.

Driving change in an organization

Change can be carried out in small, incremental steps or it can be large scale, involving the entire organization at once. Small, incremental steps leading to change are usually effective when you do not want any major disruption in the current state of the organization. In such a case, making gradual changes over time that finally take the organization closer to the goal can be the right approach. Incremental change should, in fact, be a part of every organization’s culture. In a competitive, making small improvements just to gain a point over your competitors can prove to be very useful in the long run.

But the problem with incremental change is that it may become routine, and, like all other things, people can get used to it which makes them lose enthusiasm. Employees stop putting in effort to make an impact through small changes and that is when it loses its impact. The organization needs to find ways to make incremental change more effective in such situations through innovation and out of the box thinking.

When there is need for a massive transformation in the organization, though, trying to retain the current state and making minor changes is no longer useful. In this case, the organization needs to go for drastic measures to ensure bigger growth. Such a transformation, or revolution, is usually necessary when an organization is barely hanging on to its life and needs something big to revive it and bring it back on track. Transformation is also necessary when an organization needs to overcome its inertia, change its legacy systems and introduce new technologies and processes to get back into a more competitive position.

Overview of IT transformation

Transformation, be it digital transformation or cultural transformation, is a complete fundamental change in the way an organization functions. A transformation is usually carried out with an aim to significantly improve the organization’s performance. That is why it needs to involve everyone at every level within the organization, to the last employee who has any contribution to the organization’s success. Transformation aims to better align the organization’s goals with the changing market conditions and consumer demands.

When we talk about leading IT transformation in an organization, the term IT transformation itself can be a little misleading. IT transformation does not mean transformation in technology alone. IT transformation has to cover other areas of the business as well. In general, there are three core aspects of IT transformation – people, process and technology. When an organization is undergoing a digital transformation, there will be problems in all of these areas that will need to be detected and addressed before the IT transformation can be successfully implemented. Unless the people are receptive of the changes that IT transformation is going to bring forth, it is not possible for the organization to change. It is the people who collectively build the organization’s culture and for transformation to be fruitful, the culture has to be open to change.

Similarly, IT transformation is not complete unless the gaps in the processes are identified and filled so that the new technology can be implemented seamlessly. And lastly, the technology aspect requires you to identify old, dysfunctional or inefficient technology that is not contributing to the organization’s success as it should. Such technology will have to be replaced by more current, state of the art technology that can take the organization forward.

There are several ways this transformation can be approached, but irrespective of how you decide to bring about the change, the first and foremost step in every method is planning. Any effective transformation model starts with a definite period of planning. During this stage, all the steps to be taken in the journey towards transformation are laid out and a roadmap for the future stages is created.

One of the most widely used planning model is the 90-day plan. Under this model, all the issues are diagnosed and an action plan for implementation of the change is created within a span of 90 days.

How is IT transformation different from digital transformation?

Digital transformation makes changes to how an organization uses IT in its processes or product development/service delivery. On the other hand, IT transformation focuses on making changes to an organization’s IT function. That is, it aims to improve how the organization provides IT services. IT transformation can occur without digital transformation. Digital transformation usually involves updating or replacing the organization’s IT systems.

Best practices of IT transformation

Best practices refer to the most prudent way of doing something. It is a set of guidelines, business ethics, policies, or ideas that define the most efficient course of action in a business and its processes. Best practices are sometimes established by regulatory bodies or authorities governing the working of an industry. They may also be decided by an organization internally in order to achieve its aspired standards.

Best practices may be adopted to meet the industry standards in business or improve compliance with legal or ethical standards. Best practices that a company decides to adopt are usually determined through benchmarking. Best practices are a general framework for everyone in an organization to follow in their day-to-day work. For example, there may be workplace safety requirements documented and communicated for all employees to mandatorily adhere to. It aims to improve the safety standards in the company. Or there may be best practices listed down for each individual function in a manufacturing process to ensure standard quality in the end product.

Best practices are important in business because these practices are established after much deliberation, and trial and error. They have been found to be the most sensible approach to carry out a particular process or task, and ensure the best outcomes if implemented correctly. Best practices aim to make a process better, faster, and more cost-effective. Adopting best practices minimizes the chances of committing mistakes and results in fewer problems during a process.

Benchmarking for digital maturity of the organization

Assessing where your organization stands in terms of digital growth currently is extremely important to be able to set relevant and attainable goals. When you know what digital assets you have at hand, it becomes easier to optimize those assets and maximize their output. Assessment of the company’s digital maturity will help you create a realistic roadmap based on existing digital capability and the capabilities that need to be built.

This can be done through competitive or external benchmarking, to see how your company fares in terms of digital maturity as compared to the industry’s best. This benchmarking should focus on three factors mainly – digital growth, security, and profitability.

Benchmarking for attitude towards IT change

The attitude towards the pace of change in IT is another important factor that determines how an organization will approach and adapt to change. How do employees or management in an organization acknowledge and address the rapid pace of change in IT? Does the organization simply try to overlook IT adoption issues and continue the way it has been functioning for ages? These are some very critical questions that need to be answered.

Compare the statistics you get in your organization in response to these questions with those of some other successful IT-driven organizations to see if there is a need for a massive change in mindset and culture.

Benchmarking for attitude towards the impact and challenges of an IT transformation

Even if your organization is not yet acknowledging it, the pace at which IT is changing is very rapid. It is extremely important to realize how this change is impacting businesses and what challenges it poses for them. How your organization understands the impact and challenges of this rapid change in the IT landscape is an important criterion in your approach towards an IT transformation.

It is essential to benchmark for the challenges that you believe your company faces in this IT transformation with what other companies believe their challenges to be. This will help you find common problems that most organizations face and the approach they take to address these problems. You can decide what additional resources, training or skill development is needed in your organization to carry out IT transformation successfully.

Benchmark for the amount of time and resources spent on maintenance vs transformation

The progress of the IT transformation depends largely on how much time you can devote to innovation. There are different activities going on in an organization. Companies need to maintain and manage their existing IT applications and infrastructure as well. They need to minimize downtimes, apply upgrades to the systems, improve security, and much more. So, how much time does the organization have left for the development of new projects and driving innovation? Achieving the right mix of maintaining the current state while investing in the future is critical.

Benchmarking in this regard can bring to light some interesting insights. It is often seen that most businesses that are not able to successfully carry out IT transformation focus on one side more than the other. They either spend too much on ongoing maintenance or they focus too much on innovation at the expense of day-to-day operations.

But most of the successful organizations are able to strike a balance, dividing their time and resources between both the management of existing technologies/systems/processes as well as the adoption of new ones. Benchmarking can tell you whether your organization falls in the league of successful businesses that have a balanced approach, or whether you are in the same category as those who struggle to prioritize between maintenance and transformation.

Benchmarking and leading practices help organizations come out of their cocoons and see how their competitors or other companies are approaching IT transformation and its challenges. This perspective is very important when you are undertaking a transformation of this scale to help you achieve success at one go rather than having to learn from mistakes and going back to change your strategies and goals every time.

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How roles, powers, authorities and responsibilities intersect

There is no perfect organizational structure. The choice of structure depends on the size and type of company, the industry, the organizational culture, and many other factors.

Some organizations work better with a mechanistic approach while others benefit more from an organic set-up. During a major transformation, the advantages and disadvantages inherent in the adopted structure may surface. For example, a company that has several chains of command and siloed operations may experience communication gaps and delays that they can overcome by giving employees more autonomy to make decisions and appointing culture intermediaries/brokers.

A small company with a flat structure should ensure that group participation and sharing of work responsibilities occurs in a systematic manner and within the boundaries of the project goals. The networks of people or team members will still need to be managed and held accountable by the project manager.

As much as possible, the collaborative structures designed for transformation initiatives should avoid the common challenges that impede progress. Barriers to transformation iinclude a backlog of decisions at the top, a restricted view of the organization, unnecessary work and consumption of resources, and an inexact measurement of performance.

With growth, the structure will undergo changes, and organizations may feel tempted to pivot to traditional reporting relationships and reduce employees’ decision-making autonomy. Senior management must assess the impact to corporate and innovation culture before making drastic changes to the organizational structure.

A quick comparison of various organizational structures

Functional

Advantages

• Includes several different employee specializations.
• Its vertical structure allows employees the time to hone and master their skills.
• Simplifies financial analysis, reporting, and data management.
• Employees are clear about their and others’ roles.

Drawbacks

• Can create data and communication silos, reducing efficiency and erecting barriers to task completion.
• Can drive up costs in organizations that have a large number of products or cater to different markets, by requiring policies and rules for each.
• Formal hierarchies can hold back collaboration and innovation.

Divisional

Advantages

• Supports the quick development and launch of new products (through a products-based divisional structure).
• Allows the development of highly specialized expertise in a particular product or service
• Enables swift and accurate responses to changing consumer behaviors, market trends or developments (through a market-based divisional structure).
• A good model for rapid customization and localization of goods and services, enabling a rapid response to customer needs (geographical-based divisional structure).
• Simplified financial analysis and reporting.

Drawbacks

• Difficult to scale and may create siloes, leading to duplicated efforts among disconnected divisions.
• Meant to operate as semi-autonomous groups but higher levels of independence and freedom can have adverse impacts, from a duplication of efforts to weak collaboration and communication.
• Autonomy and decentralization can also give rise to competition, where each individual group works for itself rather with the organizational mission in mind.
• Headquarters may find it difficult to control each division.

Matrix

Advantages

• Creates a conducive environment for flexible collaboration and decision-making through multiple chains of command.
• Resources can be allocated based on division or functional requirements, offering advantages of versatility and scalability.
• Supports shared resources and direct communication across projects and divisions.
• Greater collaboration and communication boost innovation and creativity.
• Employees have expanded opportunity to develop cross-functional skills.
• Potential for greater efficiency from an optimal use of resources and less waste.

Drawbacks

• Can get complex to manage.
• Multiple reporting relationships can make it difficult to track resource usage and budgetary needs.
• Can introduce ambiguity into reporting, creating financial forecasting and analysis challenges.
• Less accuracy in tracking KPIs as productivity and efficiency is only estimated.
• Can give rise to conflict between different departments and divisions.
• Excessive administration overhead in efforts to resolve conflicts and maintain harmony through meetings.
• Increased perceived (or actual) “red tape” and bureaucracy

Holacracy

Advantages

• Teams determine roles rather than titles, empowering employees to act quickly
• Leverages individuals’ strengths, interests and capabilities to meet organizational goals
• Faster and better decision-making
• Able to adjust quickly to changing environments
• Can increase transparency and accountability within the organization.

Drawbacks

• Reduces control
• Can be difficult to scale
• Can create too much individualism, causing employees to lose sight of the big picture.
• Doing the work can be more complicated as employees struggle with prioritizing where to focus their attention among their many roles
• Criticized for focusing more on processes than people.
• Consensual, democratic decision-making is not for everyone.

Communicating the transformation vision and goals

The IT transformation vision provides a holistic picture of what the organization will look like some time into the future. It guides transformation efforts, inspiring everyone to move forward while reducing conflict by keeping everything in sync across the organization.

A good vision statement for an IT transformation initiative is one that is aligned with the overall growth strategy of the organization. When setting up the vision statement, it is important to take key stakeholders into account. This includes not just stakeholders within the company but also others who will support the vision, such as third-party vendors, customers, shareholders, and more.

The vision statement should be able to create a sense of urgency among the people involved in the transformation effort. By communicating how the vision is linked to specific goals in the company’s future, it should be able to drive everyone to act upon it right away.

A good vision statement should be realistic. People working in an organization for years can tell when the vision is unattainable because they know where the company stands. There is no point in exaggerating in this regard. A realistic, attainable vision is what the company needs because it gives people hope that change is possible.

Common mistakes to avoid when setting a vision for IT transformation

There are several common mistakes that companies make when formulating their IT transformation vision statements, which fail the purpose of the vision altogether. These mistakes are better avoided if you want your IT transformation efforts to bring results.

Firstly, the vision statement should not be just a branding or marketing tool. It is more for internal use rather than for showcasing to the outside world. Setting a vision and not working on it is the biggest mistake any organization can make. By that, we don’t mean that the vision is a binding statement, and all employees must work within its boundaries. The vision should not restrict employees or limit their ideas. Employees should have the freedom to bring forward new ideas that can improve the transformation initiative along the way. The vision should provide the guiding light that inspires people to work for improving the company’s performance.

The vision statement of the IT transformation effort should not be too complicated or vague. It is something that everyone in the organization must understand and absorb. That is why it is important that the vision is easy to comprehend for everyone, irrespective of their background or knowledge. The vision should also have sufficient clarity to provide guideposts to ensure all related project initiatives contribute to the attainment of the envisioned future state.

Often companies are unable to communicate the vision well enough beyond the few stakeholders who are involved in its formulation. Unless the vision is communicated well throughout the organization, it cannot fulfill its purpose. So, it is important that the transformation leaders ensure that each and every employee is aware of, and understands, the IT transformation vision for the company.

Lastly, the vision requires leaders to consider the organization’s status quo. One big mistake that some organizations make is that they set up the vision before assessing the current systems and processes of the organization. A vision that is formulated without this initial analysis may not be based in reality, and may be viewed as unattainable rather than inspirational. Understanding the current IT and business capabilities is extremely important when setting the IT transformation vision and goals.

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Setting achievable goals for IT transformation

Measurable objectives collectively help fulfill the goals of IT transformation in an organization. Setting clear and measurable objectives is important for three reasons:

• They create a desire in the people to work for the change by providing something to work towards
• They help in measuring the progress and success of the IT transformation initiative
• They make the initiative scalable
• They target business value drivers and increase your return on investment.

There are certain things that we need to keep in mind when setting these objectives for the IT transformation effort. Here are some of the important aspects to consider.

Transformation approach and strategies

Generally, organizational transformation can take three approaches. It can be data-driven, where the initiative’s sponsor presents a case for transformation based on data-backed reasoning. The sponsor may use an internal expert or an external consultant to analyze the company’s current IT systems and technologies with the purpose of making it more efficient.

The case for transformation is supported by (a) an analysis indicating the feasibility of the transformation, (b) a demonstration showing that the transformation has been successful in similar situations, and (c) a description of the outcomes of the transformation. The rationale behind the transformation and results from it will build consensus among people and encourage their commitment early on.

If the transformation will only impact a part of the organization, or one or more domain-specific business units, then a participative change strategy is suitable. Participative change emphasizes the full involvement of all those who will be affected by the anticipated change. Typically, it calls for not only a change of actions but also a change in the values, skills and attitudes of people. The success of a participative change strategy depends on the extent to which units or departments impacted by the transformation are involved in the targeted transition.

In a compliance-based transformation, the sponsor asserts their authority to make changes with the assumption that the department or units impacted by the change will go along with the plan. Usually, this approach does not consider resistance from affected entities to the change, which makes it less effective than other approaches. The success of a compliance-based transformation plan depends on the influence the sponsor wields, the discipline in the chain of command, organizational culture, and impact on the project sponsor from the departments or business units affected by the transformation.

Companies take a structured approach to transformation, typically following the steps outlined below:

Developing strategy

An organization embarking on transformation will have a vision of the future state they wish to achieve. The vision should align with strategic goals and have the support of all stakeholders. Strategy development is about knowing where the organization wants to be, where it is today, and how to bridge this gap. Mapping processes, systems and people that utilize IT systems to deliver products and services to customers will provide an understanding of the current state of the business.

Appointing leaders

A leadership structure to oversee transformation keeps project participants vigilant and holds them accountable. It will depend on the organization structure for digital transformation adopted (e.g., special projects team). Usually, the CEO is the transformation program sponsor. A technological transformation can be led by the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) or Chief Information Officer (CIO) or any other member of the executive board. An executive with expertise leading or who has played a key role in major change strategies can be appointed to take responsibility for executing the transformation smoothly.

Setting project scope

Clearly defining the functional areas, processes, systems and people involved in and affected by the transformation will aid the development of the implementation plan and set the scope of work after considering all these factors. Managing project scope effectively is critical to realize early milestones and create change momentum. For an organization planning a major change strategy for the first time, this understanding is even more important as they must win people’s support and effectively communicate to customers, suppliers and external stakeholders what has changed and why.

Managing the project

Everyone tasked with delivering the program must be aware of the number of workstreams the project is made up of, how progress will be measured and the reporting mechanism. The executive leading the project and/or team leader of the special projects team will have oversight, but the success of the transformation will ultimately depend on the efforts and commitment of everyone involved.

Planning resources

As mentioned previously, few organizations have the internal capability to deliver business transformation. Therefore, they engage external consultants with a strong background of advising on or leading similar transformations. These ‘interim executives’ can move the transformation forward more smoothly and in adherence to the planned timelines than if the organization were to pursue implementation with only internal resources. A mixed team of internal and external talent can provide the capabilities and perspectives needed to realize the desired outcomes from the transformation plan.

Executing the plan

The project sponsor and key participants should work within the parameters of what is possible with the acceptance that the transformation will likely take several months or even 2-3 years. They should guard against losing sight of the vision, or losing motivation, halfway through the journey. As challenges are inevitable as the transformation progresses, project stakeholders must also be prepared to flex and adapt as needed.

Implementing integrations

As new system implementations are being planned, consideration needs to be given to any needed integrations to other existing systems, (e.g. financial systems, enterprise content management systems, etc.). The planning needs to include when and if the integrations that exist in current state are needed with the new systems, and whether the integrations are needed on Day One, or whether they can be implemented after the new systems are in place. Missing critical integrations can lead to a poor user experience and loss of confidence in the Transformation team. Implementation of new systems and integrations require people to shift to new ways of working. The transformation plan should include these aspects, identifying the organizational change management, communication and training needed to settle everyone into the new systems.

Modifying the detailed plan as the demands change

The IT transformation initiative is not a project that will be completed in a matter of days. Depending on the scale of the transformation, it may take years for the effort to be completed. The transformation roadmap will be a guide throughout the process of the transformation and most of its activities and ideas will remain relevant to the project throughout its course.

But as you proceed with the transformation, your business environment as well as the available technology may change over time. This may give rise to new opportunities that you should not miss out on. In such a case, it becomes necessary to adjust or modify your digital transformation roadmap to accommodate these new opportunities. It may also sometimes be necessary to tweak your IT transformation plan to avoid certain risks or threats to the business or due to changes in budget, resource availability, or overall priorities of the business. The IT transformation plan should be a living document that is kept up to date with the realities and challenges that naturally occur in the life cycle of a large-scale project. The plan should guide the course you are on, not a fictitious representation of a non-existent perfect world.

It is nearly impossible to map out a detailed transformation plan that can be followed and executed with 100% accuracy. Course corrections will always be required at some point in time or the other. But this should not be taken as a failure of the plan.

Having a detailed roadmap also helps in making course corrections or choosing alternative courses of action, as you have a reference to compare with. Every time you need to make a change, you can always compare how close the changes are to the original plan and whether these changes will take you closer to the goals faster, or if you are making optimum use of resources as predicted in the original plan. It prevents you from going off course or spending too much time and resources on the new activities.

Having a detailed plan helps you to make adjustments in a coordinated way and minimize disruptions to the progress that has already been achieved.

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Transformation strategies

Unified Messaging

Globalization and digitization are transforming the business economy and enabling a shift to a digital knowledge economy in which knowledge takes precedence over physical labor. Knowledge today is a core business asset, and the exchange of knowledge is a key contributor to business success. The development of communication systems to aid the transfer and utilization of knowledge has become a vital part of enterprise strategy. Collaborative technologies are aiding decentralized organizational structures and remote working arrangements.

The need for digital communication tools can increase manifold during crises that disrupt in-person collaboration. The novel coronavirus pandemic has also forced enterprises to rethink their communications infrastructure. The hybrid workforce and gig economy are also reshaping corporate communication.

Unified Communications and Collaboration (UC&C) is a potential IT service offering for organizations that have been slow to adopt digital communication tools. Start-ups and smaller companies often use Slack, a free collaboration tool that becomes a paid platform as the user base increases or additional features are chosen. A Slack channel is a single place for a team to share messages and files. Users can set up workflows in Slack and customize the platform with internal integrations.

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) allows audio conferencing on-the-fly, while video chats are ideal for situations where nonverbal cues are as important as what is being said, (e.g., vendor negotiations and team meetings). Videoconferencing tools such as Microsoft Teams, Google Meet and Zoom Meetings also enable team chats and file sharing. The organization can, after a comparison of the features and pricing of various videoconferencing tools, establish one official tool for virtual collaborations.

The ubiquity of mobile phones and social networks should make the adoption of UC&C tools by end users quick and seamless. Training people on the tools is helpful for those who aren’t digitally proficient or have less experience using digital communication tools.

Strengthening cybersecurity

Cyberattacks have become increasingly sophisticated and insidious. Typically, companies detectca data breach nearly six months after the event has taken place. This includes top players such as Facebook, Equifax and Capital One. That’s a long time for a bad actor to do damage to the company, the employees and/or the customers.

Digital transformation undoubtedly brings numerous benefits for the organization. But it is not devoid of risks either. With IT transformation, a lot of important sensitive information is stored in the cloud or on digital platforms. These include customer data, financial information, crucial company information and more. With such confidential data being stored in the system, there is always a risk of falling prey to cyberattacks.

That is why, cybersecurity should be one of the top priorities in the IT transformation effort. It is important to ensure that proper cybersecurity measures are adopted, and the privacy policy of the company is strong enough to protect all the data held within the organization.

It is often seen that companies undertaking IT transformation are hesitant to hire new people to look after security and compliance. But a Chief Information Security Officer and a cybersecurity team are of utmost importance once your organization goes digital.

There are several cybersecurity best practices that organizations can adopt. You can look at other organizations that are already working in a digital-first environment or the industry standards to understand which best practices your organization can benefit from.

Here are a few simple but fundamental tips that can ensure a certain level of data security.

Change passwords frequently

Once you have transitioned to a digital platform, it is important that all employees understand the importance of a strong password. Firstly, the organization should ensure that data can be accessed only after proper authentication through passwords. The password format should be strong enough to ensure better security, such as including both upper and lower case letter, alphanumeric and special characters.

Employees should be reminded to use strong passwords as a habit. They should also be reminded to keep changing their passwords frequently, may be once a month or every three months. You can even make it mandatory by requiring a password change and/or denying access if the password hasn’t been changed in a specified timeframe.

Note: Technology cannot solve what are, in reality, human problems. This dictum applies to organizational cybersecurity. According to IBM, over 95% of cybersecurity incidents arise from human error. Organizations looking to strengthen their cybersecurity as part of IT transformation must focus on addressing their employees’ poor IT security habits. The undesirable behaviors can be identifiable by the behavioral biases employees usually exhibit while taking security-related decisions.

– Set important security settings to default on employees’ computers. Setting all computers to default security settings can ensure better compliance.
– Send employees emails about adding calendar events for system updates. Software update messages are usually deferred and inevitably get ignored. An email asking employees to add an update event to their calendar encourages early commitment and follow-through. Another option is to force the technology upgrade if the user defers the automated upgrade three times, as an example.
– Use comparison to encourage action from employees who are less diligent on matters of cybersecurity. Social proof spurs motivation to perform the desired actions. Another tactic is to poll employees on their security behaviors and compare individual scores.
– Test your employees to guard against social engineering tactics by hiring a vendor that sends phishing emails, with a “gotcha” message if they employee clicks on the suspicious link.
– Make awareness training an ongoing, feedback-driven process that incorporates feedback. Just an annual awareness training does not encourage proactive cybersecurity behaviors. Ongoing training that includes a feedback and remediation can help employees switch to better cybersecurity habits in an informed manner.

Use Virtual Private Networks (VPN) on all connections

A VPN can secure your connections, especially if you are using a public wifi network. It minimizes the risk of your network being breached. That is why it is essential to ensure that all your connections within the organization run on a VPN.

Ensure secure browsing

For added data security, it is also essential to ensure that none of your employees accidentally opens an unsecure website or clicks on unsafe links. While it is not possible to monitor each and every employee’s browsing activity, there are still ways to ensure safety. You can apply restrictions through applications such as Google Ad Blocker, Google Safe Browsing, a reliable antivirus software, anti-spyware software, firewalls and more. These kinds of applications can significantly reduce the chances of your systems getting infected by bugs and viruses.

Use two factor authentication on all your business emails

Two factor authentication (2FA) is actually important on all other platform, apart from email, as well. A 2FA makes your email and other platforms much more secure and can help prevent hacking or security breaches significantly. There are applications that can help with 2FA as well.

Integrative solutions

An efficient digital platform can only bring maximum results if it is integrative. All tools and applications that you are going to introduce through this IT transformation initiative, should be easily integrable with existing systems as well as any other tools you may have to adopt in the future.

Unless your digital platform is integrative, it loses out on a lot of critical impacts, including employee productivity, the ease of real-time tracking of workflow and timelines, and more. Not having an integrative platform also makes the system a lot more complex and increases the cost of maintenance. In fact, the best solution in this case, is having a platform with most of the features integrated within it. A comprehensive platform can give you all the benefits your organization needs without having to go to multiple tools and apps for different functions.

Integrated and interconnected systems are known to increase efficiency, improve visibility across the organization and drive growth.

Data privacy

According to Pew Research, “roughly six-in-ten U.S. adults say they do not think it is possible to go through daily life without having data collected about them by companies or the government.”

Global technology companies face the challenge of complying with tighter data privacy regulation. The EU’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) is the most comprehensive and progressive data privacy legislation in the world. It gives consumers the freedom to provide consent to services by ‘opting-in’ from the default ‘opt-out’ privacy setting. However, there is ambiguity around legal grounds for collecting data on the basis of ‘necessary processing’ and ‘legitimate interest’. As more stringent data protection laws emerge, global technology companies will have no option but to concede power to consumers regarding the usage and collection of their private data.

Large-scale data collection has a societal impact. Data-driven analysis is helpful but can have unintended consequences. It can reinforce pre-existing beliefs about a particular race or gender. To address this risk, data modelers need to consider whether they are unknowingly inserting their own prejudices. Every bias can have a subsequent consequence. Companies are tapping into alternative sources of financial data, such as social networks, which has implications around how people use social media and share information. Interdisciplinary efforts are needed to ensure that innovation and societal benefits from data sharing occur side by side.

Digital machinery

Manufacturing companies in the west are facing fierce competition from their Asia-Pacific counterparts. They’re also contending with hardware commoditization and a shift from core hardware to hardware-software-services, which their traditional model and processes cannot accommodate.

The digitization of machinery (digital machinery) has emerged as an imperative for large manufacturers. Analytics, the Internet of Things (IoT), robotics and additive manufacturing all options on the table. The considerations and activities explained below support the transformation to a digital machinery organization.

Identifying the new ecosystems that can deliver the highest value: Organizations should determine, based on their strengths, resources and strategic goals, which new ecosystems can generate the highest value. The IT transformation will support the creation of the ecosystems, which can range from creating new products/service and developing new delivery models to digitally extending products and services.

Innovating a new business architecture across four critical functions: Organizations have the opportunity to digitize in areas of sales and marketing, product, operations and services and administration. Industry 4.0 solutions, such as digital marketing, automation, artificial intelligence, automation and advanced analytics, can generate more value.

Developing the capabilities and culture that support digitization: Organizations should strengthen their IT architecture and capabilities in areas of enterprise connectivity, analytics and cybersecurity. A supportive organizational culture, firm leadership and smart partnerships will also be necessary.

Conduct a SWOT analysis before designing or choosing a digital platform

The best way to ensure that you know what features you need in the digital platform you choose is to conduct a SWOT analysis along with your team. SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis is a holistic and complete analysis of the organization that will identify what the organization lacks in its current state. It helps the transformation team look at a complete picture and understand the business needs better. Once it is clear what is helping the business and what is holding it back, it becomes easier to make decisions on choosing the right tools to use.

Resistance to change

Resistance has been widely acknowledged as one of the causes behind the failure of organizational change strategies. However, there is a positive side to resistance and tapping into how people feel about the transformation can build commitment and participation.

Resistance to transformation occurs on three dimensions: cognitive, emotional and behavioral. Cognitive resistance stems from the individual’s perceptions and beliefs surrounding the change. Signs of cognitive resistance include an unwillingness to participate in or communicate about change activities.

Emotional resistance arises as people try to balance their emotions during the transformation process. Their feelings about the change can be rooted in the organizational values and symbols. When the emotional commitment to change is low, people may not be proactive; high emotional commitment to change can lead to chaos. Behavior resistance, a combination of cognitive and emotional resistance, can manifest as rumor-mongering, agreeing to something but not acting on it, or other forms of formal or informal resistance.

Strategic change management communications address resistance to transformation through open and frequent conversations with the people affected by the change regarding the impact and benefits of the initiative. Employees may understand the need for the organization to change and improve, but they can be suspicious about the organization’s intent (especially when the company culture is negative). Change communication should be integrated into the transformation plan. It must be iterative, consider people’s feedback and alleviate their concerns at various stages of implementation.

Leveraging data analytics

Data-based decisions accelerate transformation projects. Iterative data collection, processing, and analysis are the foundations of a fact based, data-driven organization. Organizations are in fact using data analytics as a competitive tool to perform better than others and offer greater value.

Data and analytics should be made part of the transformation strategy from the very beginning and should be a key discussion point in every progress meeting. You need to decide which data that the organization owns can be used in making decisions throughout the transformation initiative. There is also data that the organization can procure from external sources, which may be valuable in filling gaps in the organization’s knowledge about its customers, markets, competition, etc.

To make better decisions on information management and streamline the process of data collection and analysis, it is important to have a Chief Data Officer (CDO) or a Chief Information Officer (CIO) who will be responsible for making this cultural shift. Many organizations do not tap the potential of data analytics because it is not a part of the traditional business model. Having a dedicated team of data analysts headed by the CDO can help change this approach.

There are few things that the data analytics team must focus on in order to build data analysis competencies in the organization.

• Collect information on how the organization, or other organizations, have benefited from data and analytics and communicate this information company-wide.
• Get involved in strategic planning discussions to ensure that data analytics is given its due and made an integral part of the transformation strategy.
• Measure and bring forward the value of the information that the company holds so that people can see data as an actual asset.
• Move beyond traditional business intelligence tools and take the help of advanced analytics technologies such as machine learning.

Data analytics can help the digital transformation effort in more than one way. Some of the key areas that data analysis helps with are –

Predicting customer behavior and demands

Data analytics is being increasingly used to understand customer behavior and predict their demands. From e-commerce to banking to entertainment, all industries rely heavily on data to forecast shifts in customer preferences and use that information to modify or improve their strategies. Advanced data analytics can help improve these predictions. There is a sea of customer information out there that must be used to support the IT transformation effort of your organization.

Optimizing business processes

Internal data in an organization can be used to improve its business processes. Structured and unstructured data collected from different units and different levels of the organization can be used to analyze how the processes are contributing to the goals. It can help identify gaps and predict failure to allow for preventive maintenance before failure occurs. Thus, it helps monitor the health of field assets in the organization as well.

Improving customer experience

Data analysis can provide information on how customers interact with other brands. It can give insights into what draws customers to a particular business. The organization can use this information to adjust and alter its internal processes as well as customer interactions to enhance the customer experience.

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Fundamental changes required in an organization for better data analytics

To make data analytics more useful and meaningful to the IT transformation effort, an organization must make some fundamental changes in its approach to information management.

Finding the right tool for integrating and exchanging data

Data integration has been a challenge for most organizations. When the organization goes digital, there will be more and more data piling up every day. Not all of this data will be easy to access or integrate. Though data integration can be done manually, in most cases, it will be a time-consuming process. So, the organization needs to decide on the right tools to use for processing and integrating data, to make it easily accessible to everyone who can use it.

Creating central data repositories

Data cannot be left scattered among individual departments and desks if you wish to utilize it effectively. All the data that an organization collects must be stored in one place centrally so that anyone on the analytics team can access this data and work on it whenever they need to. You can either modify your job flows within the organization to ensure that all the data from different locations are routed to the central repository or use automation software to extract and transfer data to the central storage without any manual work required.

Focusing on data quality and not quantity

It does not matter how much data you collect if that data is not relevant to the business or does not contribute to the business in any way. In fact, collecting too much data actually makes the job of processing and analytics more complicated. The data that the organization collects needs to be cleaned and filtered before sending it to the archives. Not all data is worth retaining. What kind of data is to be kept and what can be discarded should be made clear through some established guidelines.

Encouraging collaboration between the data science and IT teams

The IT team will be at the forefront of the digital transformation of the organization. They are the ones who will be implementing the changes and carrying out the groundwork. The data the company collects and analyzes, and the insights gained from it, are of utmost importance to the data team. To gain maximum returns from the data, it is important that the data analysts and IT people work in close collaboration. There should be no barriers to communication or silos that restrict the flow of information between these two crucial units.

Attributes of feedback mechanisms

During feedback loop analysis, businesses make a deliberate effort to figure out what clients value in the feedback mechanisms.

The following attributes are the most important and should influence the choice of mechanism:

• Speed

The communication channel chosen should be able to forward information promptly. It allows both internal as well as external clients to have sufficient time to make decisions and respond accordingly.

• Reliability

The chosen mechanism should be able to deliver communication not just once but also on subsequent occasions. Businesses should ensure that telephone and e-mail systems are reliable and available to enable communications both internal and external to the organization.

• Consistency

Whether it is customers or staff, the mechanism should be able to maintain uniformity of information that goes out. Consistency facilitates buy-in across the business through increased knowledge, making the marketing of services and products easy for everyone within the business. It also greatly reduces confusion, not just about the products and processes, but also the general operations of the business.

• Confidentiality

Confidentiality has two aspects- confidentiality of information and confidentiality of sensitive complaints.

Customer information is extremely sensitive and must not be shared or accessed by unauthorized third parties. If customer information is leaked or stolen, the company’s reputation is at risk. A business that fails to take due care may end up losing customers and/or face legal consequences. Businesses must ensure that any communication mechanism that is used to send out sensitive information is secure.

Customers may be reluctant to criticize or complain against staff when it comes to sensitive issues. They are often unaware that most businesses have a no-tolerance policy against issues like corruption and encourage customers to make complaints in such situations.

• Coverage

Coverage is an important attribute of communication channels. If businesses need to send out information that is meant for the public, they should choose a mechanism that has a wide geographical coverage, like print media or radio. Internal information can be sent through the intranet. However, if the information is only meant for the staff or a selected group of staff, businesses must use communication channels that do not compromise confidentiality.

Content of communication

While businesses need to use the right communication mechanisms, it is equally important to pay attention to the quality of information.

The quality of information can be defined in terms of:

– Clarity

Businesses must take care to target their message appropriately. They should use clear and concise language to ensure that the message is quickly understood by the target group. It may be necessary to deliver messages to different groups of customers in different ways.

– Relevance

The target group should perceive the information sent as relevant to their needs and preferences. Only then will they properly understand and remember the information.

– Adequacy

The communicated information should be comprehensive so that it fully addresses the communication requirements. Inadequate communication may be distorted and require a lot of clarification leading to a lot of wasted time.

– Realistic

The information that you deliver should seem realistic and within the business’s capacity to deliver. The confidence that clients have in a business is largely based on their previous experiences with the business, that is, whether it has lived up to its promises in the past. When promises made are not delivered, it can bring disrepute to the brand and damage the confidence that customers have in the business.

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Improving feedback loops

Every aspect of a business requires feedback loops to stay healthy. Like everything else in life, feedback loops can also be improved.

Here’s how:

1. Understand that feedback loops are dynamic

As the organization grows and develops, both in terms of geographic expansion and the number of customers, the nature of the feedback loops within the business change. When the business is young and small, senior management may find it easier to operate close to the operational level. However, that may not be possible when the business grows and expands. When a business grows, it is necessary to formalize communication mechanisms and introduce intermediary layers. The downside with business growth is that the information collecting and the decision-making processes become much more involved and take longer. With a bigger business, it becomes more and more difficult to obtain feedback and act upon it.

2. Delegate decision-making with care

Businesses usually suffer from two problems, first a delay in decision-making, and second, the assignment of responsibility for any task. Implementing decisions takes a collective effort. Unless there is deliberate effort to follow up on progress, implementation may or may not occur, depending upon the responsible individuals’ workload, priorities, skillset, buy-in, etc. To improve the chances for successful implementation of decisions, it is important to ensure clarity of roles and priority, and an escalation path for any concerns or issues the responsible individuals encounter.

3. Make sure there is strategic alignment within the institution

It is extremely important that the staff are aware of the key business priorities and understand their role in delivering these priorities. When a business is clearly aligned, the staff find it easier to coordinate their actions and communicate collaboratively. In such circumstances when a feedback loop shows the business is out of line, it is much easier for the staff to recognize and correct the issues at hand. Doing so also ensures there is greater consistency in the communication and implementation phases of the feedback loop.

4. Use the right technology

Unlike earlier times, operations have significantly improved due to technological advancements. Businesses that have embraced technology and have invested in the right software have improved information collection, consolidation, storage, and access. Technology has made it easier for clients to transact but also to access the information on their accounts. The increased use of the internet and smartphones is decreasing customer dependency on face-to-face contact for information.

5. Encourage your staff to provide honest feedback

A lot can be done to improve the attitude of your staff and to encourage them to use feedback mechanisms.

• A supportive business culture creates an environment for open discussion, while making sure that feedback is heard and addressed, as appropriate.

• Encourage transparent and honest communications to senior management. If your staff wishes to raise a more serious issue, they should be encouraged to present their concerns directly to senior management, with no fear of repercussions. Senior management needs to show gratitude and appreciation for staff that are willing to take the (perceived) risk of sharing their concerns openly and honestly. This will encourage other staff to do the same, should they have concerns in the future.

• Invest in Employee Relationship Marketing, which can be done by developing an employee relationship marketing strategy. The strategy should encourage and reward good ideas presented by the staff.

• Define standards to measure the performance of important feedback loops. Just like businesses have a Customer Service Charter for Customer Service, it is also important to have standards for feedback within a business. These standards should highlight how important information should be collected, how often, by who, the time within which to give feedback, and more. Such steps go a long way in curbing inefficiencies that may crop up from a lack of points of reference. It can also prevent information from getting lost or blocked at any point in the feedback loop.

• Develop and maintain Internal Directories. In larger businesses, there are internal directories available, explaining the position and telephone number of staff members. It is a simple measure, though often not performed, that makes it much easier for staff to identify who to contact as questions or problems arise.

6. Staff motivation during a crisis

If the project team does not feel motivated, the best performance cannot be expected from them. Organizations should develop staff incentive schemes that align and reward staff based on the achievement of targeted goals. The staff incentive scheme feedback loop can work swiftly. The best schemes are those that are highly transparent and directly attributable to objective achievements.

Stress the priorities that make work meaningful: Team members will ponder more deeply about their health and family, as well as assess how their work relates to these priorities. Organizations navigating transformation in unprecedented times – such as the novel coronavirus pandemic – can engage employees by framing the return to work as a fresh start, but with priorities such as inclusion or work-life balance intact.

Promote collaboration and identity-building in the workspace: Following a long period of isolation, team members may find it difficult to regain a sense of belonging once they start working in the office. Some employees may continue to work remotely. Companies can ‘reset’ bonds and increase team members’ morale by reimagining the office as a community where people come together to solve problems – whether in person or virtually. Technology can be leveraged to encourage and support collaboration, regardless of physical work location.

Build team cohesion and social connectedness: The loneliness that sets in among employees working remotely for months can weaken team identity and connections. Companies need to build communication structures that maintain or create trust, and build psychological safety that encourages employees to share their concerns openly. New performance management systems and online mental health advice are other areas of focus.

Allow some degree of autonomy and flexibility: Flexible work arrangements on an individual basis have been seen to improve innovation, performance and collaboration. As the pandemic has impacted different demographics differently, companies should have agreements with every employee based on their circumstances and needs.

Make remote leadership effective: Traditional leadership styles are quite ineffective in inspiring virtual teams. Managers and the project team lead should inform employees of the values that matter to the company, communicate a bold vision for the future, and openly discuss the company’s challenges and hopes, and express confidence in achieving goals.

7. Customer Service and the Feedback Loop

Organizations that maintain systematic methods of monitoring customer service levels already manage an important feedback mechanism. There are many tools available for monitoring customer service, including suggestion boxes, service quality questionnaires, mystery shopping, focus group discussions, and many more.

Organizations should make it easy for customers to submit complaints and ensure confidentiality. A simple way to do so is to introduce a customer telephone hotline and an email address to improve the feedback loop. Customer comments, suggestions, and complaints could be reviewed directly by a marketing manager. Management should allow the marketing manager to have the authority to ensure that the customers’ suggestions are acted upon, when appropriate.

Collecting customers’ comments at a central point makes it much easier to identify whether comments were a one-time event or were symptomatic of a wider issue. To make it easier for customers to make complaints, businesses should be careful to identify staff clearly, especially in situations where many different employees serve customers.

Feedback loops must be an integral part of any business that strives for high productivity and efficiency. Getting feedback as early as possible and acting on it the right way can spell success for a business. Speaking your mind in front of everyone may seem uncomfortable. However, it can be a crucial step for businesses that want their teams to be more productive, improve their performance, and have fully collaborative and coordinated deliverables.

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Rethink stretch goals

Intelligent goal-setting matters immensely in a high-pressure IT transformation initiative. As stretch goals are ambitious and inspire the best in people, they can motivate and encourage innovation. That said, being overly aggressive and unrealistic only leads to disappointment. Here are some tips to help you plan stretch goals effectively.

Think about whether the goal is achievable: When people sense that there is no realistic path to the goal, they are unlikely to work harder or smarter in achieving it. If anything, unattainable stretch goals deplete people’s energy and have a demoralizing effect.

Envision expectations around the stretch goal: It may not be possible to picture every step leading to the goal. However, you should be able to work out the talent and resource requirements of a realizable stretch goal. This alignment can help set the right expectations among project team members.

As part of the improvement efforts, organizations should reflect on how to recognize small successes along the way. This helps to keep momentum and motivation alive.

Rethinking performance reviews

In challenging times, such as an extended public health crisis, employees face the pressure to quickly adapt to different ways of working. The right feedback and coaching can help employees deal with change and avoid too much stress. However, studies show that many employees lack clarity about their performance and what managers expect from them. This should prompt the project team leader and/or transformational director and/or project sponsor to think carefully about the performance review for the project team.

– Effective performance reviews are forward-looking rather than backward-looking. Focus the conversation on how team members can improve performance or achieve a better work-life balance, indicating that you want to help them do well.

– Questions that simply ask how the team member is doing serves nothing beyond a social function. Instead, directly inquire about the biggest problems they are currently facing, and how you (as leader) can help to remove roadblocks or improve the situation.

– The team leader, or any senior expert brought in to advise the team, should listen first and if appropriate, offer inputs on challenges that they may have experienced and overcome. They should connect employees to people who can address their pain-points. Team members will welcome efforts on your part to help them deal with key challenges.

– The sources causing frustration for team members may also be the reason for the team leader’s dissatisfaction with their performance. So, conversations should always be concluded by discussing a few pertinent performance issues. Focus on the result or impact that needs improvement, and ask open-ended questions about what the team thinks (or feels) about what happened or what went wrong, what needs to be done to improve performance, what are the inhibitors or blockers to performance, what can the leader do to help, etc.

Digital copies of documents recording the IT transformation

The IT transformation project is formalized in digital documents for sharing and record-keeping. Organizations invest in project management tools and documentation software to facilitate easy collaboration, editing and reporting.

A variety of information will be created during the program and organized into relevant documents. For example, some documents will explain the plan of action to meet targeted outcomes. For efficiency and productivity improvements, process digitization (via automation), employee enablement (via collaboration and remote working tools) or faster data analysis (via business intelligence tools) are possible solutions. These documents can be used to market the transformation program with company executives, giving credit to the team for the great progress, improvements in productivity, etc. using metrics whenever possible.

Scope document

IT transformation is usually an expensive undertaking that requires careful resource planning. Project priorities are determined and planned in advance to direct focus on what matters most. Stepping outside the boundaries of the project can make it challenging to control project costs within the approved budget, and the project may get out of hand. As scope creep is a risk, team members must be aware of what constitutes extraneous work from the project’s viewpoint. These aspects are expressed in the scope document, and are as follows:

Objectives: IT transformation is planned with clear objectives. Objectives make goals specific, measurable and time-bound. They inform team members about what the project wants to achieve and what needs to get done.

Outcomes: Outcomes are the benefits gained from accomplishing a goal. The outcomes linked to the goal of automating a business process are greater efficiency and better job satisfaction from not having to do monotonous repetitive tasks.

Deliverables: The title and description of each deliverable provide the details team members need to execute the tasks assigned to them. Anything included within the scope of the project will reflect in the deliverables.

Exclusions: Any items excluded from the scope of deliverables must be explicitly stated. They represent the extraneous work that must not be performed. Exclusions and inclusions must be stated in simple terms to be absolutely clear and not give rise to any doubts or confusion. Team members must be encouraged to ask questions and get the clarifications they need to align completely with the project goals, objectives and deliverables.

Documenting outcomes

Why should the project team document outcomes?

• To articulate key points of the project
• To validate the need for action and key transformation-enabling activities
• To reflect on possibilities and risks
• To communicate project mission and goals
• To archive data for future use

Types of outcomes

Process indicators are action steps indicating the quality of how the problem was solved or opportunity realized. They are needed to understand how the funding decision was made, and the quality of the decision. Virtually all IT transformation initiatives target process improvement and define the process indicators applicable to the project.

Intermediate outcomes can be partial results of the project, important steps or milestones. The project team lead should determine why intermediate outcomes need to be documented. In other words, state reasons for including partial results, important steps and/or milestones in the documentation.

Long-term outcomes address the original problem or opportunity. They can be measured only after the expected results of the transformation become observable. Long-term outcomes are closely intertwined with strategic goals such as improved competitiveness, greater revenue or business growth.

In the event that goals are not met, avoid generalizations as a substitute for evidence. Put any evidence that exists in a positive light, and communicate unachieved objectives as an ongoing problem, a still-outstanding opportunity or as a risk to sustainability.

For example: We were able to create the software application within the time that our big-ticket clients were asking for. However, we did not add the number of visual cues that may have perhaps made the application more engaging or visually-appealing. Based on feedback from clients, we will incorporate the necessary changes in order to improve their experience engaging with the app. Here are some options that we’ve determined: [insert options].

Documenting a process improvement versus an impact assessment

An impact is a result of long-term behavior and policy change. It can be seen in service levels improvements, profitable products and improved cost efficiency. In relation to future transformation plans, impact assessment can result in improved planning and implementation, which can help optimize project budget, time and efforts, while also yielding higher quality efforts.

Documenting impact involves monitoring and learning. It is an on-going process extending beyond the project timeline. The impact from a current program can be felt in the future or set the company up for success in some way. Early documentation serves as a historical lesson for what the company did right, such as pursuing IT transformation in a timely manner and taking a certain approach to project planning and execution.

Documenting process improvements is one of the key activities of the IT transformation plan. It is a commentary on how those enhancements have brought about the desired results, subject to the KPIs or OKRs for the individual processes in question. In general, process documentation covers a range of activities, including key points discussed in meeting, interviews of key stakeholders, and any events that supported or hindered progress in the project.

Develop a clear documentation plan at the start of the program

Planning how to go about documenting the program improves focus, defines roles and responsibilities, and helps make process documentation useful and systematic. After all, the quality of the information gathered depends on a clear understanding of the transformation plan, an understanding of the stakeholders involved, cooperative relationships between stakeholders that aid the collection and observation of information, and time for reflecting and critically processing this information.

Planning program documentation

– What is the purpose of documentation? Be specific and make reasons explicit. Progress reports and risk registers are needed for communicating status updates to all project participants, formal monitoring, internal learning and updating board members.

– Which tools are needed to document the project? The type and features of tools to capture information, analyze findings and disseminate information must be known to make an appropriate selection.

– Who will document the project? Will a single documentation specialist take responsibility for all documentation, or will he/she work jointly with another similarly experienced team member?

– What are the key activities in project documentation? Broadly speaking, information will be gathered, analyzed and disseminated. Between project commencement and closure, the documentation effort may involve many other time- and effort-intensive activities, such as performing change requests, creating the same document in different formats for sharing with clients or board members, updates to documents or even a change in resource allocation if a team member exits the project.

Process characteristics

– A structured, focused way of capturing the transformation
– Requires time, skills and resources
– Includes a wide range of activities
– Not a standalone activity; supported by teams
– A team responsibility
– Requires harmony between documentation specialist and other team members

Organizations that develop a 90-day plan that recognizes risks, opportunities and the business reality, and puts checks and balances in place to steer efforts in the right direction, will be off to a great start. They can then confidently execute the plan and organize efforts in the right areas.

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Executive Summary

Technology underpins virtually all business strategies. It isn’t just a business necessity but also a game-changer. Rapid technology innovations and developments have disrupted all industries, created new players that are challenging large, entrenched companies, and proved invaluable in dealing with unforeseen shocks to global businesses, (such as 2020’s novel coronavirus pandemic). Leading market research company Forrester predicts that 2021 will be the year companies that were lagging on the technology front – that’s about 85% – will play catch-up with technology leaders (the remaining 15%) by prioritizing technology changes in every part of their business.

Companies have come to accept that unless they transform through technology, they cannot succeed – or survive. Technology transformation is not just about implementing technologies that deliver business value. Neither is it a one-time program that organizations can execute and expect benefits to keep coming. Adopting new technology, improving the organization’s delivery of IT services, and other technology-related changes across the organization require engaging people, adapting processes and aiming for continual improvements. Successful IT transformation is a sum of many factors, which are considered during the planning stage.

Beginning with the 90-day plan

The first 90 days are crucial, allowing organizations to reflect internally, determine priority areas and build the transformation roadmap. While an IT transformation doesn’t have to include digitization strategies, it offers organizations the opportunity to examine their digital maturity.

What makes the 90-day plan an effective tool in IT transformation?

There are certain critical success factors that are differentiating elements between organizations with successful transformation efforts and those that failed in their efforts. The four primary factors that contribute to a successful transformation in any organization are found to be the following.

Holistic

The first and most important factor that decides if an organization will succeed or fail in its attempt to carry out a company-wide IT transformation is whether all aspects of the business have been covered. Successful companies have always analyzed each and every aspect of their business when considering a transformation. No business function, irrespective of how big or small it is, has been neglected or overlooked. That is the first thing successful IT transformation needs – a holistic approach to the change that is desired.

Minimum disruption

Companies that have carried out transformation successfully are known to manage their operations efficiently so that no ongoing work is stalled or slowed down. The transformation planning and execution is carried out in parallell with the regular, day-to-day functions minimizing the down time and disruptions caused by the transformation efforts.

Integrating different functions

Successful transformation processes are also found to integrate the various business process and functions so that they do not work as separate streams but contribute together towards the common goals. This also helps in sharing of knowledge across boundaries and breaking down the silos that are formed as a result of segmentation within the organization.

Complete commitment at all levels

Organizations that have succeeded in carrying out transformation effectively have the complete commitment of their employees at all levels. Everyone is invested in the effort and understands the need for change. But most importantly, they have complete buy-in at the executive level. For successful transformation, the top level must be fully involved in the effort. Without buy-in at the top, transformation may not even be possible, as making decisions and getting approvals becomes a major challenge.

The 90-day plan for IT transformation covers all of these keys to success. It embraces all the critical success factors that are necessary for making the IT transformation effort successful.

The 90-day plan is inclusive, involving people from all levels of the organization and from different functional areas. This helps give a wide and holistic perspective of the organization and the underlying issues.

The 90-day plan also requires buy-in from all the key people and leaders within the organization, creating a solid support system for the transformation effort. Involving people from all levels and departments, reduces the resistance to change that the transformation leader would otherwise have to face.

As more people are actively involved, they understand the purpose of the IT transformation and realize how it is going to impact their personal growth in the organization as well. Including all the people in the transformation effort also breaks down many barriers to communication and information flow that previously existed. Skills and know-how will travel across borders in the organization and create more experienced change managers and leaders, who can take on more such roles in the future.

The different phases of the 90-day plan are discussed in Theory and Communication portion of the manual.

Examining whether the organizational structure is conducive to change

An organizational structure is a system that defines the hierarchy within an organization. It identifies each job, each function and the reporting function within the organization. Based on this information, a structure is formed to show how the organization operates.

An organizational chart is a broad visual representation of the organizational structure, indicating the following:

• The organization’s major departments or positions
• The way different positions are grouped into specific units
• Reporting relationships from the higher to the lower levels
• Official communication channels

The chain of command is the line of authority linking employees with organizational positions at the highest levels through managerial positions at each successive layer in between. Most organizations have a defined chain of command, a concept that derives from the classical management viewpoint of unity of command and scalar principle.

Unity of command states that an employee should have only one boss or supervisor. It is a feature of the organizational structure of many companies, barring those that have a matrixed structure, as discussed further.

The scalar principle states that a clear line of authority should extend from the individual holding the ultimate authority at the top to every individual in the organization. That means every individual must be able to identify their boss and trace the line of authority across the organization to the position residing at the highest level.

Organizational structure and IT transformation

IT transformation can be let down by an unsupportive organizational structure. The main obstacle for the failure or poor progress of digital transformation is unprepared organization (Gupta, 2018). Rigidity, silo structure, poor communication and bulk of formalization and rules can slow down the entire organization (De Smet & Gagnon, 2018).

When designing an organizational structure that supports IT transformation, leaders should consider the following issues (Schreckling & Steiger, 2017):

• Are digital initiatives established in separate units or are they integrated into the entire organization?
• How do organizational units coordinate on digital initiatives?
• What new roles must be created in the organization to work effectively with the new technologies?
• What is the training required to enable employees to use the new technologies in their processes and activities?
• How to set up performance measurement systems, key performance indicators, compensation plans and incentives to improve digital transformation?

Building blocks of organizational structure

A company’s structure is made up of four elements or building blocks: centralization, formalization, hierarchical levels and departmentalization.

Centralization is the extent to which decision-making authority is concentrated at the higher levels of the organization. In a centralized organization, managers and CEOs make many of the important decisions. In a decentralized organization, problem-solving and decision-making happens at the lower levels by employees.

Formalization is the extent to which organizational rules, job descriptions and policies are articulated and codified. Its goal is to control employee behaviors, making them more predictable. On the positive side, employees can regulate their behaviors to the expected standards by referring to their company’s handbook and procedure manual. The disadvantage of strictly adhering to prescribed behavior is that it can stifle creative thinking and innovation. Excessive formalization has also been shown to adversely affect employee motivation and job satisfaction.

Formalizing rules and guidelines is helpful in service industries, where customer-facing teams must handle customer complaints in an appropriate way. That said, manuals and handbooks don’t always have all the answers. Moreover, employees are bound by strict rules and have little flexibility to frame other acceptable, perhaps even better, responses.

Organizations operate at different hierarchical levels. In a tall structure, there are many levels of management between frontline employees and top-level leaders. A flat structure is characterized by fewer layers. The span of control, the number of employees that report to a manager, is smaller for the tall structure. Higher-ups oversee fewer people below them, which allows them more opportunities for supervising and controlling employees. Managers in companies with a flat structure have a wider span of control. Consequently, they’re unable to supervise employees closely. Employees enjoy greater levels of freedom and action, which may have a positive influence on job satisfaction. Drawbacks include the need for employees to be self-reliant and a greater ambiguity around roles.

Departmentalization, the process of grouping activities into different departments, can be based on function, or the division may be related to the company’s products, services, customers or geographical location.

Big organizations may favor departmentalization based on product or service line as it allows functional managers to supervise work groups in each division. Geographic departmentalization is generally adopted when marketing and operations activities are widely dispersed, or customer needs and tastes vary according to geographical locations. When the organization’s customers can be grouped into several categories based on distinct needs, a preference for departmentalization according to customer groups can be seen.

A functional structure comprises separate departments for marketing, finance, human resources, manufacturing and so on. A divisional structure creates separate units that handle a unique product, service, type of client, and each has different departments based on specific functions, essentially replicating roles in the functional model. This is discussed in detail further on.

Depending on how the four structures are arranged, two configurations of organizational structures can be noted: mechanistic and organic.

A mechanistic configuration is characterized by high levels of formalization and centralization. An organization with this configuration is rigid and resists change, which can make IT transformation or any major overhaul difficult. The structure can also prove to be an impediment to innovation, while reducing individual autonomy and self-determination. Big efficiency gains are possible with the mechanistic configuration, making it suitable when the organization is aiming to boost efficiency and lower costs.

An organic configuration, commonly seen in small companies and start-ups, decentralizes decision-making and does not formalize job roles and descriptions to the degree of the mechanistic structure. Communication is open and fluid. Employees have the flexibility to shift between roles that match their expertise or where they’re required based on organizational needs. They are self-reliant and accountable for their own actions. An organic structure is associated with innovation, entrepreneurial behavior, and higher levels of job satisfaction.

Types of organizational structures

There are different types of organizational structures, each with their advantages and disadvantages.

A functional organizational structure is based on creating groups based on skill and function. For example, a technology company may have an IT department that supports the organization’s technology needs, and a marketing department that markets the company’s products to its target audience. Each department is led by a director who reports to an executive at a higher level in the organizational hierarchy. Apple Inc. has a functional structure organized around functions such as design, product marketing, operations, software engineering, hardware engineering and hardware technologies.

Structuring an organization based on specific functions is disadvantageous from the perspective of inter-departmental collaboration. Employees in each function tend to view the company from the lens of their specific job function and fail to understand the full extent of the contributions of other departments. This can prove problematic when teams from different departments must work together in achieving IT transformation.

A company with a divisional organizational structure has different divisions that control their own resources and budget. Each division operates as a separate company and is led by one or two executives who report to the CEO or upper-level management of the parent company. As decision-making occurs at the divisional level, it can be quicker and smoother than filtering its way through at the top levels. On the flip side, this structure creates barriers between employees working in the same function in different divisions. McDonald’s Corporation has a divisional structure, where each division handles a specific operational area. The elements of its organizational structure include global hierarchy (CEO controls all business areas globally), performance-based divisions and function-based groups (corporate operations have human resources and supply chain sustainability groups).

A matrix organizational structure is a combination of the divisional and functional structures. The advantage of this hybrid model is that it allows specialized staff and equipment to be shared as required and avoids the duplication of functions as seen in divisional structure. Functional departments develop and solidify functional expertise, while cross-functional project groups broaden perspectives and enable knowledge transfer. The downside to the matrix structure is that employees report to two or more bosses, which can lead to confusions and conflict. If the company doesn’t set priorities effectively, employees may be unclear about their role and feel that they’re simply being shifted from one project to another. Caterpillar Inc, Nike, Phillips, Starbucks and Texas Instruments follow a matrix organizational structure.

For better collaboration and faster innovation, companies may adopt a flatter structure that still retains a hierarchy. Employees can suggest new ideas and upon approval, form teams to move forward with the idea. Adobe, Google and LinkedIn follow such a flatarchy structure. They have internal innovation incubators where employees can develop their ideas to create new products or services. Employees are grouped and regrouped to develop their ideas with greater autonomy and lesser bureaucracy.

A holacratic organizational structure is characterized by distributed decision-making and little hierarchy. Employees have the flexibility to move between roles and teams, and everyone gets the opportunity to work on what they do best. It is apt for start-ups and small companies, and unsuitable for organizations with thousands of employees. Some aspects of a holacracy can be utilized by a large organization to ease rigidity and give employees flexibility to try different roles.

Holacracy gained attention for its potential to speed up decision-making but it isn’t without faults. Disagreements on the levels of interdependence and inter-relationships in this set-up can lead to delayed decision-making. David Allen Company, Zappos and Valve Corporation use holacracy. At video game software maker Valve Corporation, employees have the flexibility to work on any product they want, but they must also take ownership of that product and responsibility for any mistakes they make.

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Goals for IT transformation

The 90-day plan for the IT transformation of an organization provides a framework for the implementation of the transformation. To create this framework, you must first know what the organization aims to get out of this transformation effort. That is why setting the mission and the goals for the transformation project is extremely crucial at this stage.

One of the main reasons why the implementation of digital transformation in an organization is not successful is that there is a rift between the overall vision that the transformation leaders have and the actual plan. The transformation plan is usually outcome-oriented and based on the organization’s capabilities. The vision, on the other hand, may sometimes be over-ambitious. As a result, the plan that is created is unable to help achieve the big picture vision that the organization has for the IT transformation initiative.

This rift is usually caused because of one critical missing link – the lack of realistic measurable goals. During the 90-day planning phase, goal setting is one of the key activities that the transformation leaders need to undertake in consultation with the teams. It is essential to have a set of measurable, and achievable, objectives for the transformation. These measurable objectives help to turn the transformation strategy into a series of actionable steps that can help achieve the overall vision.

Why is it important to focus on the organization’s capabilities?

Recognizing the need for transformation is in itself a big step towards change. But an even bigger challenge lies ahead when you are trying to set the objectives for the transformation. That is deciding what to change and how to change. Transformation leaders often struggle with deciding which aspects of the business need to change the most and how to weigh their options. This is crucial because these are the things that will determine the objectives of the transformation initiative.

Transformation leaders need to consciously focus on the right targets for change rather than trying to change everything at once. They have to break the business down into smaller functions and decide which ones are in dire need of change. This is what makes a good transformation strategy for the long run.

To make this decision easier, it is important to remember that business capabilities have a very crucial role to play here. It is useless to set big goals for the digital transformation initiative if the organization cannot provide what it needs for those changes to be implemented. Focusing on the organization’s capabilities can help identify all the tools and support that are available to achieve the outcomes and overall vision that you seek. It can also help find out what is missing and how these gaps in capabilities can be filled. A holistic view of the organization is necessary to ensure that the transformation effort adds value and is not a half-baked attempt.

What is the purpose and importance of a vision in IT transformation?

Creating a big picture or a vision for the IT transformation initiative is usually the job of the leadership. In fact, one important skill that sets good leadership apart from average ones is their ability to inspire their employees to work collectively towards a common goal, or a vision. Employees develop inertia working with legacy systems and following the same processes and policies for years. To bring them out of their inertia and urge them to adapt to change, pick up new skills and move on to newer technology, the leadership must give them something to strive toward.

These lofty ambitions that the leadership sets give them the promise of a better future for the organization and their own growth. This drive is crucial to make employees ready for the transformation and minimize resistance. Poor leadership usually struggles to bring people together and channel or focus their energy toward a common goal.

The organization’s vision plays an important role in bringing everyone together under the leadership’s supervision. The vision describes what the organization hopes to be like in the future. A well-defined vision clearly translates the organization’s ambitions and is representative of its commitment to perform better.

What is the purpose of a mission statement in IT transformation?

While the vision statement of the IT transformation initiative describes what the organization aims to become in the future, the mission statement explains why the transformation is necessary and what is its role in the company’s growth.

A well-formed mission statement helps answer some fundamental questions about the IT transformation effort, such as “what is the need for transformation?” or “how the transformation will help the company perform better?”

Like the vision statement, the mission statement of the IT transformation initiative should also be formed in consultation with key stakeholders of the company, including employees, customers, suppliers, and others. Involving everyone in the setting up of the mission statement will help them understand why they should support the transformation and how this digital transformation will help the business.

One good example of an organization’s mission statement is Google’s mission statement. Google’s mission statement is “to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful”. This clearly states how the company is adding value for its consumers and how it hopes to impact society. An IT transformation’s mission statement will be no different.

Let us consider a simple example of a digital transformation mission statement. An IT transformation initiative’s mission could be “to drive productivity, innovation, and growth in a global market with ever-increasing competition”. This is just an example of how the mission statement can look. Depending on your organization’s needs and goals, the statement can change.

To give you a general idea, the mission of digital transformation would usually be:

• To make new technology easily accessible at all levels in the organization
• To make the implementation of new technology scalable and reliable
• To support the various business functions and improve productivity
• To reduce the amount of repetitive and non-value adding tasks and utilizing the human resource better
• To help people develop new skills and adopt new technology faster
• To gain a competitive edge by adopting the latest, best-in-class technologies
• To optimize the business processes and improve competencies
• To provide better service to customers
• To improve collaboration within the organization and across departments

These are just some quick ideas but there’s much more that digital transformation can do. The mission statement of the IT transformation should not focus on the monetary gains that the transformation can bring. It should rather focus on how the transformation can impact the lives of the people associated with the company, be it employees, customers, or society as a whole. It should convey how the transformation will improve people’s experiences.

A strong mission statement is extremely important to drive home business case for the IT transformation and just like the vision statement, it should be communicated and propagated across the entire organization at all levels.

What will it involve and how long will it take?

The plan will contain specific points on how the expected outcomes are to be achieved. A new model for purchasing IT services can include the creation of a service catalog and cost transparency. The IT service to be made available to each department will be uploaded in an online service catalog. The costs, features and value will be mentioned for each service. Relevant decision-makers will be empowered to make decisions on short-term purchases and long-term investments.

For an organization-wide IT plan, the cost of deploying the underlying technologies will be spread across services and customers. The amount associated with each service or customer groups can be correctly associated, ensuring cost transparency.

Changing how IT is delivered across the organization will involve various aspects, including infrastructure, governance and service level agreements. SLAs can be formalized to indicate the measurable level of features and quality that each IT service will be expected to deliver. Some IT services may require upgrades to the current infrastructure or potentially outsourcing infrastructure services (e.g. infrastructure as a service, IaaS). An external vendor who can best meet the need for infrastructure modernization may be identified. The plan will also present ideas on creating a governance model and accountability to ensure a continual flow of information that allows informed decision-making about future investments.

Examples of IT modernization

IT modernization can occur in different ways. It can involve replacing the organization’s current enterprise resource planning (ERP) system with a new one that aligns better to strategic goals. Maybe the company is confident that moving from on-premise ERP systems – which are preferred for stringent regulatory and compliant environments – to a hybrid system can provide the benefits of on-premise and cloud solutions.

If the goal is legacy system modernization, Gartner suggests considering six drivers: business fit, business value, agility, cost, complexity and risk. Modernization options include deploying application components to a different infrastructure without modifying its code, features or functions; migrating to a new runtime platform and making minimal changes to the code; or altering the code and shifting it to a new application architecture to leverage new and better capabilities.

Capital One, for example, began exploring a move to the cloud as early as 2013, and in 2016, struck a deal with Amazon Web Services to migrate their obsolete applications to the cloud. Deutsche Bank announced a USD$1.1 billion program to pare down their 45 different operating systems to four by 2020. Goldman Sachs launched fintech subsidiary Marcus in 2016 to make consumer loans but has since expanded into new products and services.

When is IT transformation successful?

Businesses that fail to transform may lose their competitiveness or even fail to exist in the long run

Change is impelled by many factors, including:

– Technological advancements, which create opportunities to improve the business and increase value for the customer.
– Poising the company as an attractive acquisition target to gain access to capital, capabilities, systems, social capital and so on.
– Prospects of fast growth in a promising or sunshine industry, which can be achieved by improving products/services, or launching new offerings.

Change is compelled by external forces and internal requirements, including:

– High operational or technology maintenance costs
– Weak business growth or declining revenue
– Rising customer expectations
– A change in political climate

The success of IT transformation depends on certain factors:

Right timing

Many organizations put off transformation until their feet are held to the fire as a result of weak revenue, customer dissatisfaction or new, aggressive competitors. Change then becomes a priority, and perhaps more stressful as the board will want to see results from it quickly. Determining what must be done takes time, so it is helpful to proactively recognize when change is needed and plan for it before the damage has occurred.

Integrated approach

As discussed previously, an effective integration of people, processes, systems and data is necessary to change organizational design and make the necessary system integrations in complex operational environments. Looking at all parts as a whole can be helpful to make big strides and avoid unnecessary work or micromanagement.

Planning bandwidth

As the transformation will occur alongside regular operations, allocating the bandwidth needed to execute strategies while simultaneously running the business requires careful consideration. If the required human resources are unable to split their focus between core operational tasks and change-related tasks, additional capacity can be brought in. These interim executives must have the expertise and soft skills to empower and lead teams.

An understanding of internal capabilities

Does leadership have all the skills needed for the transformation? More and more, hiring strategies are including transformation skills to judge executives’ capability to lead change. If an assessment reveals gaps in capabilities that could potentially affect the success of the transformation, then hiring for the requisite skills is an option.

A clear vision

One of the crucial aspects of organizational transformation is generating consensus among all stakeholders on the strategy and mission of the change strategy. Setting a clear vision and planning strategic change communication in advance can help limit resistance and unite everyone around the big picture.

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Focusing on the Most Important Activities

IT transformation in an organization requires focusing on all aspects of the business. No department or process can be left out of the transformation effort. But when you are undertaking a transformation initiative on such a large scale, it is easy to get overwhelmed and lose sight of the priorities. There are several tasks that need to be completed for carrying out the transformation successfully. All of these tasks have to be undertaken, but there may be exceptions and planning of these activities is equally essential.

Digital tools that organizations can consider include:

Project management tools

A good project management tool can help employees be more productive and improve collaboration among teams. It reduces the pressure on the project manager as a lot of the trivial tasks can be managed through the platform itself. Data and files are accessible to everyone with permission and so sharing of information becomes seamless. Project management tools can significantly reduce the time required to complete a project.

Time tracking tools

Time tracking tools can help keep track of deadlines. They can help measure every team member’s performance with respect to the time they take to complete assigned tasks. If you are using a project management tool, though, a time tracking tool may be unnecessary as the same functionalities are usually available in most of the good project management tools.

Customer relationship management tools

A customer relationship management tool or CRM tool is absolutely essential for most businesses. Since customer experience is such an important aspect of the digital transformation initiative, using a CRM tool can be the best bet here. The CRM tools can help store customer data, lead information, identify sales opportunities, manage service issues, and even help with marketing campaigns. With a CRM tool, information on customer interaction is accessible to anyone who needs it within the organization to improve service quality and customer experience.

Social media management tool

Social media is an important marketing and publicity channel today. Having a digital solution to manage social media marketing campaigns is essential for most companies. These tools can help automate posting on social media as well as recommend best practices and keep track of trends to improve the marketing campaigns.

These are just some examples of essential tools that every organization may need. There are many other options to explore and this is best done during the planning stage itself.

When a large-scale IT change strategy is on the cards, there is a tendency to leave out a critical success driver from consideration – assessing the skills and mindsets needed to drive the transformation. Organizations that perform this assessment are six times more likely to meet their goals from the transformation initiative. The assessment is discussed below:

Using a three-step process to evaluate skillsets for the change strategy

1. The organization should consult experienced change leaders and functional experts to identify the skills most important to continuous technology transformation that generates value but is also in short supply.
2. The next step is evaluating the current skillset using benchmarking, performance assessment and observational assessment. A review of the employee value proposition against competitors’ is also a part of the process.
3. Finally, the organization should prioritize the acquisition of the requisite skills. The gap can be plugged by upskilling existing talent, recruiting new talent or outsourcing the work to expert talent.
Gaining an understanding of the prevailing employee mindset

The organization has the opportunity to understand the underlying mindsets and subconscious in different ways. One is via interviews with teams. Qualitative data analysis is another option.

Once the root causes of these mindsets are identified, the next step is determining how to reframe the beliefs and options that can help employees make better behavioral choices. After listing the prioritized mindset shifts and corresponding behaviors, the organization should identify the skillsets required to bring about a change in the mindsets.

Assessing the competition

Competitor assessment is an essential step for building a successful brand. Insights gained from a competitor assessment can help businesses identify strengths and weaknesses that relate to brand awareness, brand health, content strategy, community management, and so much more.

There are many benefits of competitor assessment, including:

1. Developing your unique selling proposition

Besides helping to outperform competitors, competitor assessment can also help businesses identify the unique value propositions of their products. Businesses can understand what makes their product or products different from that of the competitors, which can positively influence future marketing decisions.

You can do this by comparing products, services, integrations, and pretty much anything else that your business can leverage over your competitors.

2. Improving your products and services

As your business grows, so do your customer’s needs and expectations. How do you anticipate these needs? One way to do this is to analyze your own customer reviews and that of your competition. The feedback you gather from the reviews can help you tap into the market gaps and anticipate your customer’s needs and expectations. It can also give you valuable insight into your competitor’s pending improvements.

Competitor assessment can help businesses learn what’s missing in the competitor’s products through client reviews. Adding those features to one’s products can help businesses grab a larger market share. You can also create an entirely new product category by identifying the gaps between what your competitors offer and what the customers need.

Competitor assessment can also be a useful tool to identify market segments that your competitors do not serve.

3. Establish a benchmark

Competitor assessment analyzes historical data to understand how customers view your business and that of your competitors. It can help set a benchmark proving a better understanding of your business’ growth and scale. By understanding your brand’s past and present, you can identify areas where improvements can be made for increased ROI.

4. Identify areas of opportunities

Competitor assessment can help identify what the competitors are doing that’s working in their favor. Such information can be vital for staying relevant and ensuring that the products and marketing campaigns are outdoing industry standards.

Competitor assessment can also be a valuable tool to help identify areas of opportunities in the marketplace. It can help identify where the competitors are falling short and test out new, unique marketing strategies that have not been taken advantage of.

5. Identify gaps in Hiring and R&D

By understanding who the competition is hiring, you get insight into what upcoming trends your competitors are anticipating. You also get an idea of their work culture, brand values, and other important aspects that determine customers’ brand loyalty.

A good place to start would be job sites, press releases, and various job review sites available on the internet.

6. Discover potential threats

Competitor assessment is dynamic in nature and allows you to update and chart challenges that your competitors may be facing in the current market. An understanding of these challenges can help you anticipate potential threats, market changes and be better prepared to tackle them.

What to include in your competitor assessment framework?

Competitor assessment should include the following factors:

1. Business and company metrics

i) Company overview

Competitor assessment should include basic information about the competitors, including details about the CEO and other key people, the number of employees, and company locations. You can start by looking up the competitor’s website for such information. The company’s LinkedIn profile can also prove quite helpful in this regard.

A look into the competitor’s job openings can also provide valuable insight into who they are hiring, and which teams are being expanded. It can also help businesses figure out what steps the competitors are taking product and marketing-wise. Knowing about the job openings can provide a lot of information about where the competition is going with their business.

Looking into your competitor’s websites and social media profiles can also give you an understanding of their corporate culture.

ii) Funding

Businesses that are planning to raise capital themselves can benefit a lot from knowing when, how much, and from whom their competitors have received their funding. It can be an excellent way of figuring out how much funding you can expect to get.

Also, venture capitalists refrain from investing in multiple companies in the same category for fear of cannibalizing their investment. When you look through your competitor’s funding history, look for a VC whose name is missing from the list. You can approach that VC with an offer of investing in your company, thus, acquiring the necessary capital required for your business.

iii) Revenue and customers

Businesses should pay special attention to the number of customers and revenue of the competitors. However, finding this information may be easier said than done. Keeping an eye on the competitor’s interviews and conference presentations may help figure out this information. Another way to estimate the revenue information is to look at the number of employees the competitor has.

2. Product

i) Product features

Understanding the competitor’s products and their key features can help understand the core of the competitor’s business.

ii) Pricing

Understanding the competitor’s pricing structure can also help businesses make informed sales and marketing decisions. By understanding the pricing structure, businesses may keep their pricing competitive to attract more customers.

Understanding the competitor’s pricing structure may sometimes help you uncover a market segment that is not fully served by your competitor’s plans.

iii) Perks

Understanding if the competitors offer any perks or complementary products can also help businesses design their marketing strategies accordingly. Offering a free trial or providing access to free tools can help acquire more customers and create better customer engagement.

3. Customers and awareness

A very big step in assessing the competition is looking at what their customers have to say about them. Businesses should look at:

i) Share of voice

Measuring the market share of each competitor may not be possible. However, one could look at the Share of Voice, that is, the volume of mentions the competitors get on social media and the internet compared to each other.

ii) Sentiment

Looking at the volume of mentions is not enough. Businesses must also look at the sentiment behind these mentions to get the true picture behind the level of awareness the competitor has.

iii) Key topics

Understanding the key topics behind your competitor’s mentions can provide insight into the competitor’s business. Knowing what customers love and hate about their products can help businesses improve their products and marketing campaigns.

iv) Geography

When looking at competitor’s mentions on the internet and social media, it is also important to look at the geography of these mentions. Businesses can, thus, understand the markets that their competitor is focusing on the most and maybe find a market that is not yet saturated.

4. Marketing

i) Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Two of the most important things to look out for in the competition from an SEO perspective, are their keywords and backlinks. Keywords give a solid idea about the search terms that bring them traffic and sales, and backlinks show the authoritative websites that may be relevant to your business too.

ii) Social media

Analyzing how the competitors are doing on social media can provide valuable insight that can help you design better and improved digital marketing campaigns. Knowing the number of followers they have, and the kind of engagement their social media posts get, can help you design better marketing strategies.

iii) Advertising

Understanding the competitor’s ad strategy can also be a great way to ensure that you create effective ad campaigns.

iv) Influencers and other partners

Exploring the partnerships your competitors have, the influencers that endorse their products, and the media platforms they work on, can help craft better marketing strategies.

v) Content marketing

Businesses should understand if content is part of the competitor’s strategy. If it is, then it may be prudent to analyze their blogs and other social media posts to understand the level of customer engagement.

vi) Customer acquisition

If the competitors have an affiliate program or a referral strategy, your business may want to implement the same to acquire more customers. Similarly, you may also be able to identify other unique ways that the competition acquires customers, then evaluate whether it is feasible for your business.

vii) Sales

Analyzing the sales strategy of the competitors can help your business improve yours. Identifying the weaknesses in their sales strategy may help you improve yours, and you may also implement their best practices.

viii) Customer service

Good customer service is extremely important to the success of any business. Hence, when doing a competitor assessment, it is important to understand the level of customer service the competition offers, and on which channels they provide support. Customer service is an area where new or small businesses can capitalize on to earn more customers.

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Leveraging Best Practices

The organization must be aware of the standards of digital technology in its industry and know where it stands with respect to these standards. The easiest way to know where an organization stands is by comparing its processes and systems with the industry’s best. This is where benchmarking comes into use.

What is benchmarking?

Benchmarking is a process of continuously comparing the business processes and systems of an organization to the best practices within the industry and those of other industries as well. This comparison is usually done based on certain performance metrics such as quality, cost, or time.

Benchmarking in an IT transformation initiative helps an enterprise identify the gaps and faults in the transformation strategy or its implementation. Organizations can benchmark their digital transformation practices, comparing them with those of other organizations that show best-in-class capabilities within the industry or across industries. The more mature an organization is, the more it needs to look beyond its parent industry to find innovative companies for benchmarking.

The first step in benchmarking is identification of the goals and understanding the desired capabilities that the organization wants to achieve. Once these are known, the organization can then assess how far they have been able to deliver these capabilities or goals in comparison with the industry’s best.

Different benchmarking methods

There are different approaches to benchmarking as well. It is not always necessary that the comparison with best practices has to be done with another organization or another industry. Depending on the scale and requirement, benchmarking may be done, internally or it may be done for one particular function instead of a company-wide comparison.

The benchmarking approach can be classified into six basic types:

• Internal benchmarking
• External benchmarking
• Competitive benchmarking
• Functional benchmarking
• Performance benchmarking
• Strategic benchmarking

It is important to understand when and how each of these types of benchmarking approaches can be employed.

Internal benchmarking

Benchmarking may be done within the organization itself. In every organization, there are some processes that are being carried out more efficiently than others. Internal benchmarking helps you compare your processes and tasks to the best practices within your organization itself. In internal benchmarking, you compare the performance metrics of two comparable processes or tasks. Their KPIs are assessed and compared to see where the process under scrutiny stands with respect to the benchmarking process.

Internal benchmarking is particularly effective when you are trying to bring all your processes and systems up to the same standards as your best practices within the company. It helps in bringing uniformity in the system across the organization and establishes consistency of performance. Internal benchmarking ensures that all departments are running at their best possible capacity and at par with the organizational standards.

Internal benchmarking, in fact, starts as soon as you set certain standards of performance for your business. This level of performance is the benchmark to which the company aims to adhere.

External benchmarking

External benchmarking, as the name suggests, is the process of comparing the process of an organization to the best practices of a competitor or other organizations. External benchmarking may not always be as straightforward and simple as internal benchmarking. It requires access to industry data or the data of a particular company, which may not be easily available. The organization you are using as the benchmark must agree to share the data with you.

For most of the important projects and processes in an organization, external benchmarking is more useful. External benchmarking gives you an idea of where your company stands in the wider market or in comparison to other enterprises. It can help identify some crucial areas of weakness that need to be addressed in order to meet the industry standards.

Competitive benchmarking

In competitive benchmarking, you focus on comparing your systems and processes only to those of your competitors. Comparing the metrics with those of competitors helps visualize where the organization stands in the competition and what needs to be improved to gain an advantage over the others.

Competitive benchmarking can tell you exactly what a competitor is doing right that is bringing them success or why customers prefer their business over others.

Functional benchmarking

Functional benchmarking compares a particular business function across a number of organizations in the same or similar industries. In this type of benchmarking, you do not compare all the business processes throughout the organization but focus on a single function and try to improve it to meet industry standards.

Performance benchmarking

This type of benchmarking is related to the business’ performance. The metrics and KPIs associated with business performance are continuously compared over time to see how they have changed from the past outcomes to the current state. Performance benchmarking can reveal if the company’s performance has improved over time or if there is stagnation in its growth.

Performance benchmarking is focused on improving the key business functions in your organization over time as benchmarks are continuously raised.

Strategic benchmarking

Strategic benchmarking focuses on comparing the strategies used by different organizations. In this approach, you compare your business strategy, or say transformation strategy, with those of other organizations that have been successful in their attempts. It tells you what kind of strategies successful companies have applied, and how close or how far your strategies are from theirs.

It helps you to learn what works to achieve success. This kind of benchmarking is particularly useful for new ventures, start-ups, or even for established businesses trying to make a transformation.

Working out the details

Every business transformation process needs a detailed and comprehensive plan of action. The detailed plan that you create will be the digital transformation roadmap that will help you drive change more effectively and in a more coordinated manner. No matter how small a company is or whether it is a multi-national organization, the importance of a detailed roadmap is all the same in the case of an IT transformation initiative.

Having a detailed plan for your digital transformation initiative ensures that you reach your goals sooner without having to go back and forth too many times incurring extra costs and wasting resources. It is also extremely essential to give you a competitive advantage in this rapidly changing digital landscape as a faster, more effective transformation means faster delivery of value to the customer. Every single day an organization has to wait before successfully implementing its digital transformation effort, it falls behind the competition. A detailed plan or roadmap can reduce the number of hurdles in the way to digital transformation.

Some important aspects to focus on when creating a detailed transformation plan

We cannot emphasize enough that IT transformation is not just about technology changes in an organization. It covers a number of other areas of business which should be taken into consideration when creating the detailed transformation plan.

• Looking at digital transformation as an integrated and connected effort

The first important factor to consider when making your detailed digital transformation plan is that the digital transformation effort is a connected effort covering a number of important business areas. Some of the common business areas that the transformation plan should include are:

Business functions

The IT transformation is going to impact several different business functions including operations, marketing, customer service, human resources, finance, administration, and more. The detailed transformation plan should cover all such critical business functions.

Business processes

Business processes are made up of one or more connected business operations or activities that together lead to a specific business goal. IT transformation focuses on business process optimization and automation through the use of automation technologies and tools. The detailed business plan must, therefore, pay attention to business process management as another important area impacted by digital transformation.

Business ecosystem

The ecosystem of a business involves all the people and stakeholders associated with it as well as other factors affecting it such as market conditions, regulatory changes, etc. It is inevitable that the business ecosystem will be impacted by digital transformation. Because the business ecosystem is highly dynamic, it must be monitored regularly to identify any impacts to transformation efforts. The detailed plan must take this into account.

Business model

Shifting to a digital or IT-driven environment may change how the business functions considerably. It might change the market approach, the value proposition of the business, the way the business views profit, its impact on the customers, and much more. The business model is a very crucial aspect of the IT transformation effort and the transformation plan has to concentrate on it in order to understand how it may change and how to make that change for the better.

Asset management

Digital transformation deals with all kinds of business assets, but it is the less tangible or even intangible assets that are of greater importance in this initiative. These are assets such as customer experience or customer data or market information. These assets are at the heart of a digital transformation process and they need to be treated as real and valuable assets in the detailed transformation plan.

Organizational culture

Organizational culture plays an important role in IT transformation. The detailed business plan must evaluate the current culture and define how to make the organizational culture more customer-centric and agile. It should also put forth ways of breaking down silos and encouraging collaboration. It should define the role of the leadership and suggest cultural changes that can make the organization more proactive and future-proof.

Approach towards the people involved

The digital transformation process involves several people working in close collaboration with the transformation team. From employees to partners to the customers, everyone is in some way associated with the transformation process. The changing behaviors and demands of all the stakeholders must be taken into consideration in the detailed plan. The transformation plan should look at the human side of this initiative as well. Important changes like enhanced customer experience, employee satisfaction, or improved partner relationships are not always brought about by technology changes alone. The detailed plan should suggest ways to improve these dynamics through human interactions too. A separate organizational change management plan may be desirable to ensure a proper focus on changing culture, behaviors and attitudes.

This list is not exhaustive. There are more such factors, specific to individual businesses, that an integrated digital transformation approach should take into account. These factors also need to be included in the detailed transformation plan.

• Understanding disruption and its causes

The term ‘disruption’ is quite commonly used whenever we talk about digital transformation. But an organization first needs to understand what disruption actually means and the detailed plan must take into consideration the factors that may cause disruption.

Disruption, in the context of digital transformation, means that an organization’s way of working or its ecosystem is challenged by new innovations in technology. They are challenged by new-age organizations that have mastered new digital skillsets and have come up with innovative business models and solutions that are likely to cause a shift in consumer behavior and expectations. Such disruption requires the organization to rethink and change its strategies and existing business model to stay competitive.

However, it is also important to understand that it is not always advancement in technology that causes disruption. There can be other factors inducing it too, that call for a digital transformation. The detailed plan must elaborate on which areas the organization should focus on to devise an effective strategy for change.
Some of the main causes of disruption include:

Innovations in technology

It is undeniable that technology-induced disruption is the most common disruption that organizations witness today. Technology is evolving faster than ever. But more than the technology itself, it is how that technology is being used by customers, competitors, partners, etc. that drives the need for a digital transformation. Many new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, blockchain and others have tremendous potential to cause disruption. But the effect is far more magnified when such technologies are combined to power new applications that can bring revolutionary changes.

Customer expectations and behavior

Customer behavior is constantly changing over the years. Quite often, technology may be an enabler or driver for shifts in customer expectations (generally increasing!). A great online shopping experience with Amazon raises consumer expectations for all other retail sites as well as business interactions. In other instances, technology is not the main driver. Customers expecting better interaction with a business across more than one channel is a demand that goes beyond the age of the internet. This has led many organizations to explore new ways of communicating with customers, which has driven IT transformations across industries. Digital transformation may, therefore, be an attempt to meet customer demands and stay ahead of the competition.

Inventions and innovations in various fields

Disruption may also be induced by innovations and inventions in other areas, apart from technology. There are new discoveries and inventions every day in the fields of science, business, environmental studies, etc. Some of these innovations may require organizations to reconsider their methods or ways of working. This gives rise to the need for new technology in an organization.

For instance, the growing concern over global warming is leading organizations to think of greener ways of operating. This is driving many businesses to shift from a paper-based system to a fully digital platform, thus reducing the consumption of paper. This is just one small example, but there are many such instances where innovation, discoveries, and inventions in various fields have driven an IT transformation in companies.

Changes in the business ecosystem

Every organization is part of a larger ecosystem that is controlled by many factors. The ecosystem can shift or change with changes in the economy, changes in demands from customers or partners, collaborations, changes in regulations, societal changes, geopolitical changes, and much more. A change in the business ecosystem may also be a cause of disruption and drive an IT transformation in an organization.

For example, the recent COVID-19 pandemic drove many businesses to adopt a digital-first approach to keep the businesses running as usual. Due to lockdowns around the world, people were required to work remotely from their homes.

Companies that did not have any remote working capabilities earlier had to quickly introduce new collaboration tools and shift to digital platforms. This a digital transformation induced by a change in the ecosystem.

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Executing the plan

Although the detailed transformation plan gives you a roadmap to follow, in practice there may be a number of challenges that cannot be predicted during the planning stage. The key to successful implementation lies in overcoming these challenges.

Implementation of the plan includes everything, from the successful integration of the chosen digital tools to bringing about changes in the organizational culture to adding more value to the processes. You will need to build capabilities to carry out implementation successfully. You will also need to identify implementation methods that ensure fast and efficient action.

Assess the user readiness and level of technology adoption in the organization

Before you can begin with the IT transformation, you must ensure that the organization is prepared to take on the task. Both the business and its people must be ready for the challenge ahead. One of the primary reasons why organizations fail in their digital transformation efforts is because they do not pay much attention to user readiness. Unless the people who will be using the new technology and tools are ready to support the change, it cannot have a positive outcome.

There can be various levels of technology adoption in the organization. Some departments may be using more advanced tools and applications than others. For them, it would be easier to adapt to the changes brought about by digital transformation since they are quite used to handling new technology. Some others may be far behind and technology adoption in these departments may require longer than usual. There may be individual differences too. Some people may be quick learners and can pick up new technology skills faster. They may not even require formal training but can learn on the job. Some others may struggle with learning technology and may need more handholding.

The organization has to do a gap analysis at the beginning of the transformation project to determine these differences and decide on measures to improve preparedness. The people in the organization who are at a more advanced level in terms of technology adoption can be chosen as the change enablers. They can help with the groundwork of transformation. They can also encourage late adopters of digital technology to learn and adapt to the change faster. Support mechanics like these will help mitigate the risks before you proceed with digital transformation and increase the ease of adoption.

Integrating feedback

Setting up a feedback mechanism enables the project team to refine the IT transformation plan. Studying feedback loops is extremely important for improving communication within an organization.

You can use feedback loop analysis to:

• Map out the existing communication channels within an organization.

It is important to understand what communication channels are already being used in the organization, their reason for use, and the frequency with which they are used. The feedback loop analysis helps management understand how and where to improve information flow both internally and externally.

• Gauge the strengths and weaknesses of these feedback loops.

It may not be possible for a business to manage every feedback loop. It is, thus, extremely important for management to understand which feedback loops are the most effective. It helps them determine which feedback mechanisms to invest in as a priority, and which of them need to be actively managed.

• Understand the major sources and uses of information.

Feedback loop analysis helps management understand which feedback mechanisms are the most appropriate in a particular situation. For instance, which is the best way to improve product knowledge among staff or to determine customer opinions on existing products.

• Inform clients’ expectations for service delivery.

If an organization is to compete effectively, operations should be designed in a way to satisfy all stakeholders. You can greatly improve delivery mechanisms by understanding clients’ expectations and preferences. Also, by analyzing the types of inquiries that clients have, an organization can build customer service around these issues.

• To develop new products.

Customer feedback is frequently used in product design. Businesses invest in customer-based research to develop a product concept and test it. The product is then further refined into a prototype before it is pilot-tested. Poor feedback at this stage can lead to poor product design, which may fail to meet industry standards and not move beyond the pilot stage.

• Create an effective communications strategy.

Feedback loop analysis plays a vital role in helping businesses understand the strengths and weaknesses of their internal and external communications. An effective communications strategy can only be built if businesses understand the positives and negatives of their existing communication structure.

Managing Risks

Risk management is one of the most effective tools leveraged by project managers to improve the likelihood of project success. Project risk analysis and management is a continuous process that may be started at any point in the life-cycle of a project. It should be continued till the costs of using it are greater than the potential benefits to be gained. As time progresses, the benefits of project risk analysis and management diminish. Hence, it is highly recommended that it be used in the early stages of any project.

There are five points in a project that could particularly benefit from project risk analysis and management.

– Feasibility study

This is perhaps the most flexible stage in a project. Changes can be quickly incorporated, which can reduce the risks, and that too at a low cost. It can also help businesses decide between various implementation options for the project.

– Sanction

The organization can use it to assess the risk exposure associated with the project and take the necessary steps to manage the risks. Quantitative analysis may help the business understand the chances of achieving the project objectives in terms of cost, time, and performance.

– Tendering

The contractor can use project risk analysis and management to ensure that all major risks have been identified. It can help him check his risk exposure or set his risk contingency.

– Post tender

The business can use it to ensure that all risks have been identified by the contractor and to evaluate the likelihood of the project objectives being achieved.

– At intervals during implementation

Project risk analysis and management increase the likelihood of project completion to cost and timescale if all risks are identified and appropriately managed as they occur. Project risk analysis and management is recommended when there are specific project targets to be met. It is also recommended for when there is a new, unexpected development in a project. It should also be done during all points of change in the lifecycle of a project.

Documenting the program

As IT transformation is a long-term effort and has several steps, documentation should be developed in a structured and focused way. Overall, the project documentation process comprises three activities: creating the documents; sharing, reviewing and approving the documents; saving and archiving the documents. They can be further broken down into steps that follow a logical order:

• Identify the need for transformation and operational assumptions behind the program.
• Capture information related to the need for transformation and operational assumptions.
• Organize information in such a way that stakeholders can reflect and learn about the process.
• Analyze information by examining common themes, trends and patterns.
• Place findings in the context of the project.
• Share information in a format and at a pace that is useful and comprehensible.
• Use the findings to improve the approach, strategy and adjust assumptions about IT transformation.

Key tasks

– Decide what to track and document
– Test assumption
– State the need for transformation/theory of change explicitly
– Define resources for process documentation roles
– Set expectations for documentation specialist/team
– Plan for participation and joint reflection

Documentation maintenance is an ongoing process. The administrator has the responsibility of ensuring that information is organized properly, removing duplicate content, and correcting file and folder names to follow the right naming conventions.

As a cross-functional endeavor, the IT transformation project will bring together ideas, expertise and feedback from different departments. To make the most of existing and available capabilities, the organization needs a solid 90-day plan setting out goals, roadmap, internal assessments, activities, feedback and documentation. The course manual 90-day plan provides actionable advice that organizations can use as they create a streamlined plan and set it in motion.

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Curriculum

Leading IT Transformation – Workshop 1 – 90-day Plan

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

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Distance Learning

Introduction

Welcome to Appleton Greene and thank you for enrolling on the Leading IT Transformation corporate training program. You will be learning through our unique facilitation via distance-learning method, which will enable you to practically implement everything that you learn academically. The methods and materials used in your program have been designed and developed to ensure that you derive the maximum benefits and enjoyment possible. We hope that you find the program challenging and fun to do. However, if you have never been a distance-learner before, you may be experiencing some trepidation at the task before you. So we will get you started by giving you some basic information and guidance on how you can make the best use of the modules, how you should manage the materials and what you should be doing as you work through them. This guide is designed to point you in the right direction and help you to become an effective distance-learner. Take a few hours or so to study this guide and your guide to tutorial support for students, while making notes, before you start to study in earnest.

Study environment

You will need to locate a quiet and private place to study, preferably a room where you can easily be isolated from external disturbances or distractions. Make sure the room is well-lit and incorporates a relaxed, pleasant feel. If you can spoil yourself within your study environment, you will have much more of a chance to ensure that you are always in the right frame of mind when you do devote time to study. For example, a nice fire, the ability to play soft soothing background music, soft but effective lighting, perhaps a nice view if possible and a good size desk with a comfortable chair. Make sure that your family know when you are studying and understand your study rules. Your study environment is very important. The ideal situation, if at all possible, is to have a separate study, which can be devoted to you. If this is not possible then you will need to pay a lot more attention to developing and managing your study schedule, because it will affect other people as well as yourself. The better your study environment, the more productive you will be.

Study tools & rules

Try and make sure that your study tools are sufficient and in good working order. You will need to have access to a computer, scanner and printer, with access to the internet. You will need a very comfortable chair, which supports your lower back, and you will need a good filing system. It can be very frustrating if you are spending valuable study time trying to fix study tools that are unreliable, or unsuitable for the task. Make sure that your study tools are up to date. You will also need to consider some study rules. Some of these rules will apply to you and will be intended to help you to be more disciplined about when and how you study. This distance-learning guide will help you and after you have read it you can put some thought into what your study rules should be. You will also need to negotiate some study rules for your family, friends or anyone who lives with you. They too will need to be disciplined in order to ensure that they can support you while you study. It is important to ensure that your family and friends are an integral part of your study team. Having their support and encouragement can prove to be a crucial contribution to your successful completion of the program. Involve them in as much as you can.

Successful distance-learning

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes or workshops, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. But unlike traditional internal training courses, it is the student’s responsibility, with a distance-learning program, to ensure that they manage their own study contribution. This requires strong self-discipline and self-motivation skills and there must be a clear will to succeed. Those students who are used to managing themselves, are good at managing others and who enjoy working in isolation, are more likely to be good distance-learners. It is also important to be aware of the main reasons why you are studying and of the main objectives that you are hoping to achieve as a result. You will need to remind yourself of these objectives at times when you need to motivate yourself. Never lose sight of your long-term goals and your short-term objectives. There is nobody available here to pamper you, or to look after you, or to spoon-feed you with information, so you will need to find ways to encourage and appreciate yourself while you are studying. Make sure that you chart your study progress, so that you can be sure of your achievements and re-evaluate your goals and objectives regularly.

Self-assessment

Appleton Greene training programs are in all cases post-graduate programs. Consequently, you should already have obtained a business-related degree and be an experienced learner. You should therefore already be aware of your study strengths and weaknesses. For example, which time of the day are you at your most productive? Are you a lark or an owl? What study methods do you respond to the most? Are you a consistent learner? How do you discipline yourself? How do you ensure that you enjoy yourself while studying? It is important to understand yourself as a learner and so some self-assessment early on will be necessary if you are to apply yourself correctly. Perform a SWOT analysis on yourself as a student. List your internal strengths and weaknesses as a student and your external opportunities and threats. This will help you later on when you are creating a study plan. You can then incorporate features within your study plan that can ensure that you are playing to your strengths, while compensating for your weaknesses. You can also ensure that you make the most of your opportunities, while avoiding the potential threats to your success.

Accepting responsibility as a student

Training programs invariably require a significant investment, both in terms of what they cost and in the time that you need to contribute to study and the responsibility for successful completion of training programs rests entirely with the student. This is never more apparent than when a student is learning via distance-learning. Accepting responsibility as a student is an important step towards ensuring that you can successfully complete your training program. It is easy to instantly blame other people or factors when things go wrong. But the fact of the matter is that if a failure is your failure, then you have the power to do something about it, it is entirely in your own hands. If it is always someone else’s failure, then you are powerless to do anything about it. All students study in entirely different ways, this is because we are all individuals and what is right for one student, is not necessarily right for another. In order to succeed, you will have to accept personal responsibility for finding a way to plan, implement and manage a personal study plan that works for you. If you do not succeed, you only have yourself to blame.

Planning

By far the most critical contribution to stress, is the feeling of not being in control. In the absence of planning we tend to be reactive and can stumble from pillar to post in the hope that things will turn out fine in the end. Invariably they don’t! In order to be in control, we need to have firm ideas about how and when we want to do things. We also need to consider as many possible eventualities as we can, so that we are prepared for them when they happen. Prescriptive Change, is far easier to manage and control, than Emergent Change. The same is true with distance-learning. It is much easier and much more enjoyable, if you feel that you are in control and that things are going to plan. Even when things do go wrong, you are prepared for them and can act accordingly without any unnecessary stress. It is important therefore that you do take time to plan your studies properly.

Management

Once you have developed a clear study plan, it is of equal importance to ensure that you manage the implementation of it. Most of us usually enjoy planning, but it is usually during implementation when things go wrong. Targets are not met and we do not understand why. Sometimes we do not even know if targets are being met. It is not enough for us to conclude that the study plan just failed. If it is failing, you will need to understand what you can do about it. Similarly if your study plan is succeeding, it is still important to understand why, so that you can improve upon your success. You therefore need to have guidelines for self-assessment so that you can be consistent with performance improvement throughout the program. If you manage things correctly, then your performance should constantly improve throughout the program.

Study objectives & tasks

The first place to start is developing your program objectives. These should feature your reasons for undertaking the training program in order of priority. Keep them succinct and to the point in order to avoid confusion. Do not just write the first things that come into your head because they are likely to be too similar to each other. Make a list of possible departmental headings, such as: Customer Service; E-business; Finance; Globalization; Human Resources; Technology; Legal; Management; Marketing and Production. Then brainstorm for ideas by listing as many things that you want to achieve under each heading and later re-arrange these things in order of priority. Finally, select the top item from each department heading and choose these as your program objectives. Try and restrict yourself to five because it will enable you to focus clearly. It is likely that the other things that you listed will be achieved if each of the top objectives are achieved. If this does not prove to be the case, then simply work through the process again.

Study forecast

As a guide, the Appleton Greene Leading IT Transformation corporate training program should take 24-36 months to complete, depending upon your availability and current commitments. The reason why there is such a variance in time estimates is because every student is an individual, with differing productivity levels and different commitments. These differentiations are then exaggerated by the fact that this is a distance-learning program, which incorporates the practical integration of academic theory as an as a part of the training program. Consequently, all of the project studies are real, which means that important decisions and compromises need to be made. You will want to get things right and will need to be patient with your expectations in order to ensure that they are. We would always recommend that you are prudent with your own task and time forecasts, but you still need to develop them and have a clear indication of what are realistic expectations in your case. With reference to your time planning: consider the time that you can realistically dedicate towards study with the program every week; calculate how long it should take you to complete the program, using the guidelines featured here; then break the program down into logical modules and allocate a suitable proportion of time to each of them, these will be your milestones; you can create a time plan by using a spreadsheet on your computer, or a personal organizer such as MS Outlook, you could also use a financial forecasting software; break your time forecasts down into manageable chunks of time, the more specific you can be, the more productive and accurate your time management will be; finally, use formulas where possible to do your time calculations for you, because this will help later on when your forecasts need to change in line with actual performance. With reference to your task planning: refer to your list of tasks that need to be undertaken in order to achieve your program objectives; with reference to your time plan, calculate when each task should be implemented; remember that you are not estimating when your objectives will be achieved, but when you will need to focus upon implementing the corresponding tasks; you also need to ensure that each task is implemented in conjunction with the associated training modules which are relevant; then break each single task down into a list of specific to do’s, say approximately ten to do’s for each task and enter these into your study plan; once again you could use MS Outlook to incorporate both your time and task planning and this could constitute your study plan; you could also use a project management software like MS Project. You should now have a clear and realistic forecast detailing when you can expect to be able to do something about undertaking the tasks to achieve your program objectives.

Performance management

It is one thing to develop your study forecast, it is quite another to monitor your progress. Ultimately it is less important whether you achieve your original study forecast and more important that you update it so that it constantly remains realistic in line with your performance. As you begin to work through the program, you will begin to have more of an idea about your own personal performance and productivity levels as a distance-learner. Once you have completed your first study module, you should re-evaluate your study forecast for both time and tasks, so that they reflect your actual performance level achieved. In order to achieve this you must first time yourself while training by using an alarm clock. Set the alarm for hourly intervals and make a note of how far you have come within that time. You can then make a note of your actual performance on your study plan and then compare your performance against your forecast. Then consider the reasons that have contributed towards your performance level, whether they are positive or negative and make a considered adjustment to your future forecasts as a result. Given time, you should start achieving your forecasts regularly.

With reference to time management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual time taken in your study plan; consider your successes with time-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; consider your failures with time-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future time planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to time planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your time expectations. You need to be consistent with your time management, otherwise you will never complete your studies. This will either be because you are not contributing enough time to your studies, or you will become less efficient with the time that you do allocate to your studies. Remember, if you are not in control of your studies, they can just become yet another cause of stress for you.

With reference to your task management: time yourself while you are studying and make a note of the actual tasks that you have undertaken in your study plan; consider your successes with task-efficiency and the reasons for the success in each case; take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; consider your failures with task-efficiency and the reasons for the failures in each case and take this into consideration when reviewing future task planning; re-evaluate your study forecast in relation to task planning for the remainder of your training program to ensure that you continue to be realistic about your task expectations. You need to be consistent with your task management, otherwise you will never know whether you are achieving your program objectives or not.

Keeping in touch

You will have access to qualified and experienced professors and tutors who are responsible for providing tutorial support for your particular training program. So don’t be shy about letting them know how you are getting on. We keep electronic records of all tutorial support emails so that professors and tutors can review previous correspondence before considering an individual response. It also means that there is a record of all communications between you and your professors and tutors and this helps to avoid any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation. If you have a problem relating to the program, share it with them via email. It is likely that they have come across the same problem before and are usually able to make helpful suggestions and steer you in the right direction. To learn more about when and how to use tutorial support, please refer to the Tutorial Support section of this student information guide. This will help you to ensure that you are making the most of tutorial support that is available to you and will ultimately contribute towards your success and enjoyment with your training program.

Work colleagues and family

You should certainly discuss your program study progress with your colleagues, friends and your family. Appleton Greene training programs are very practical. They require you to seek information from other people, to plan, develop and implement processes with other people and to achieve feedback from other people in relation to viability and productivity. You will therefore have plenty of opportunities to test your ideas and enlist the views of others. People tend to be sympathetic towards distance-learners, so don’t bottle it all up in yourself. Get out there and share it! It is also likely that your family and colleagues are going to benefit from your labors with the program, so they are likely to be much more interested in being involved than you might think. Be bold about delegating work to those who might benefit themselves. This is a great way to achieve understanding and commitment from people who you may later rely upon for process implementation. Share your experiences with your friends and family.

Making it relevant

The key to successful learning is to make it relevant to your own individual circumstances. At all times you should be trying to make bridges between the content of the program and your own situation. Whether you achieve this through quiet reflection or through interactive discussion with your colleagues, client partners or your family, remember that it is the most important and rewarding aspect of translating your studies into real self-improvement. You should be clear about how you want the program to benefit you. This involves setting clear study objectives in relation to the content of the course in terms of understanding, concepts, completing research or reviewing activities and relating the content of the modules to your own situation. Your objectives may understandably change as you work through the program, in which case you should enter the revised objectives on your study plan so that you have a permanent reminder of what you are trying to achieve, when and why.

Distance-learning check-list

Prepare your study environment, your study tools and rules.
Undertake detailed self-assessment in terms of your ability as a learner.
Create a format for your study plan.
Consider your study objectives and tasks.
Create a study forecast.
Assess your study performance.
Re-evaluate your study forecast.
Be consistent when managing your study plan.
Use your Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) for tutorial support.
Make sure you keep in touch with those around you.

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Tutorial Support

Programs

Appleton Greene uses standard and bespoke corporate training programs as vessels to transfer business process improvement knowledge into the heart of our clients’ organizations. Each individual program focuses upon the implementation of a specific business process, which enables clients to easily quantify their return on investment. There are hundreds of established Appleton Greene corporate training products now available to clients within customer services, e-business, finance, globalization, human resources, information technology, legal, management, marketing and production. It does not matter whether a client’s employees are located within one office, or an unlimited number of international offices, we can still bring them together to learn and implement specific business processes collectively. Our approach to global localization enables us to provide clients with a truly international service with that all important personal touch. Appleton Greene corporate training programs can be provided virtually or locally and they are all unique in that they individually focus upon a specific business function. They are implemented over a sustainable period of time and professional support is consistently provided by qualified learning providers and specialist consultants.

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Support available

You will have a designated Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and an Accredited Consultant and we encourage you to communicate with them as much as possible. In all cases tutorial support is provided online because we can then keep a record of all communications to ensure that tutorial support remains consistent. You would also be forwarding your work to the tutorial support unit for evaluation and assessment. You will receive individual feedback on all of the work that you undertake on a one-to-one basis, together with specific recommendations for anything that may need to be changed in order to achieve a pass with merit or a pass with distinction and you then have as many opportunities as you may need to re-submit project studies until they meet with the required standard. Consequently the only reason that you should really fail (CLP) is if you do not do the work. It makes no difference to us whether a student takes 24 months or 36 months to complete the program, what matters is that in all cases the same quality standard will have been achieved.

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Support Process

Please forward all of your future emails to the designated (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit email address that has been provided and please do not duplicate or copy your emails to other AGC email accounts as this will just cause unnecessary administration. Please note that emails are always answered as quickly as possible but you will need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general tutorial support emails during busy periods, because emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. You will also need to allow a period of up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Please therefore kindly allow for this within your time planning. All communications are managed online via email because it enables tutorial service support managers to review other communications which have been received before responding and it ensures that there is a copy of all communications retained on file for future reference. All communications will be stored within your personal (CLP) study file here at Appleton Greene throughout your designated study period. If you need any assistance or clarification at any time, please do not hesitate to contact us by forwarding an email and remember that we are here to help. If you have any questions, please list and number your questions succinctly and you can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each and every query.

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Time Management

It takes approximately 2 Years to complete the Leading IT Transformation corporate training program, incorporating 24 x 6-hour monthly workshops. Each student will also need to contribute approximately 4 hours per week over 2 Years of their personal time. Students can study from home or work at their own pace and are responsible for managing their own study plan. There are no formal examinations and students are evaluated and assessed based upon their project study submissions, together with the quality of their internal analysis and supporting documents. They can contribute more time towards study when they have the time to do so and can contribute less time when they are busy. All students tend to be in full time employment while studying and the Leading IT Transformation program is purposely designed to accommodate this, so there is plenty of flexibility in terms of time management. It makes no difference to us at Appleton Greene, whether individuals take 24-36 months to complete this program. What matters is that in all cases the same standard of quality will have been achieved with the standard and bespoke programs that have been developed.

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Distance Learning Guide

The distance learning guide should be your first port of call when starting your training program. It will help you when you are planning how and when to study, how to create the right environment and how to establish the right frame of mind. If you can lay the foundations properly during the planning stage, then it will contribute to your enjoyment and productivity while training later. The guide helps to change your lifestyle in order to accommodate time for study and to cultivate good study habits. It helps you to chart your progress so that you can measure your performance and achieve your goals. It explains the tools that you will need for study and how to make them work. It also explains how to translate academic theory into practical reality. Spend some time now working through your distance learning guide and make sure that you have firm foundations in place so that you can make the most of your distance learning program. There is no requirement for you to attend training workshops or classes at Appleton Greene offices. The entire program is undertaken online, program course manuals and project studies are administered via the Appleton Greene web site and via email, so you are able to study at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office as long as you have a computer and access to the internet.

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How To Study

The how to study guide provides students with a clear understanding of the Appleton Greene facilitation via distance learning training methods and enables students to obtain a clear overview of the training program content. It enables students to understand the step-by-step training methods used by Appleton Greene and how course manuals are integrated with project studies. It explains the research and development that is required and the need to provide evidence and references to support your statements. It also enables students to understand precisely what will be required of them in order to achieve a pass with merit and a pass with distinction for individual project studies and provides useful guidance on how to be innovative and creative when developing your Unique Program Proposition (UPP).

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Tutorial Support

Tutorial support for the Appleton Greene Leading IT Transformation corporate training program is provided online either through the Appleton Greene Client Support Portal (CSP), or via email. All tutorial support requests are facilitated by a designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). They are responsible for deciding which professor or tutor is the most appropriate option relating to the support required and then the tutorial support request is forwarded onto them. Once the professor or tutor has completed the tutorial support request and answered any questions that have been asked, this communication is then returned to the student via email by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM). This enables all tutorial support, between students, professors and tutors, to be facilitated by the designated Program Administration Manager (PAM) efficiently and securely through the email account. You will therefore need to allow a period of up to 20 business days for responses to general support queries and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because all tutorial support requests are answered strictly within the order in which they are received. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Consequently you need to put some thought into the management of your tutorial support procedure in order to ensure that your study plan is feasible and to obtain the maximum possible benefit from tutorial support during your period of study. Please retain copies of your tutorial support emails for future reference. Please ensure that ALL of your tutorial support emails are set out using the format as suggested within your guide to tutorial support. Your tutorial support emails need to be referenced clearly to the specific part of the course manual or project study which you are working on at any given time. You also need to list and number any questions that you would like to ask, up to a maximum of five questions within each tutorial support email. Remember the more specific you can be with your questions the more specific your answers will be too and this will help you to avoid any unnecessary misunderstanding, misinterpretation, or duplication. The guide to tutorial support is intended to help you to understand how and when to use support in order to ensure that you get the most out of your training program. Appleton Greene training programs are designed to enable you to do things for yourself. They provide you with a structure or a framework and we use tutorial support to facilitate students while they practically implement what they learn. In other words, we are enabling students to do things for themselves. The benefits of distance learning via facilitation are considerable and are much more sustainable in the long-term than traditional short-term knowledge sharing programs. Consequently you should learn how and when to use tutorial support so that you can maximize the benefits from your learning experience with Appleton Greene. This guide describes the purpose of each training function and how to use them and how to use tutorial support in relation to each aspect of the training program. It also provides useful tips and guidance with regard to best practice.

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Tutorial Support Tips

Students are often unsure about how and when to use tutorial support with Appleton Greene. This Tip List will help you to understand more about how to achieve the most from using tutorial support. Refer to it regularly to ensure that you are continuing to use the service properly. Tutorial support is critical to the success of your training experience, but it is important to understand when and how to use it in order to maximize the benefit that you receive. It is no coincidence that those students who succeed are those that learn how to be positive, proactive and productive when using tutorial support.

Be positive and friendly with your tutorial support emails

Remember that if you forward an email to the tutorial support unit, you are dealing with real people. “Do unto others as you would expect others to do unto you”. If you are positive, complimentary and generally friendly in your emails, you will generate a similar response in return. This will be more enjoyable, productive and rewarding for you in the long-term.

Think about the impression that you want to create

Every time that you communicate, you create an impression, which can be either positive or negative, so put some thought into the impression that you want to create. Remember that copies of all tutorial support emails are stored electronically and tutors will always refer to prior correspondence before responding to any current emails. Over a period of time, a general opinion will be arrived at in relation to your character, attitude and ability. Try to manage your own frustrations, mood swings and temperament professionally, without involving the tutorial support team. Demonstrating frustration or a lack of patience is a weakness and will be interpreted as such. The good thing about communicating in writing, is that you will have the time to consider your content carefully, you can review it and proof-read it before sending your email to Appleton Greene and this should help you to communicate more professionally, consistently and to avoid any unnecessary knee-jerk reactions to individual situations as and when they may arise. Please also remember that the CLP Tutorial Support Unit will not just be responsible for evaluating and assessing the quality of your work, they will also be responsible for providing recommendations to other learning providers and to client contacts within the Appleton Greene global client network, so do be in control of your own emotions and try to create a good impression.

Remember that quality is preferred to quantity

Please remember that when you send an email to the tutorial support team, you are not using Twitter or Text Messaging. Try not to forward an email every time that you have a thought. This will not prove to be productive either for you or for the tutorial support team. Take time to prepare your communications properly, as if you were writing a professional letter to a business colleague and make a list of queries that you are likely to have and then incorporate them within one email, say once every month, so that the tutorial support team can understand more about context, application and your methodology for study. Get yourself into a consistent routine with your tutorial support requests and use the tutorial support template provided with ALL of your emails. The (CLP) Tutorial Support Unit will not spoon-feed you with information. They need to be able to evaluate and assess your tutorial support requests carefully and professionally.

Be specific about your questions in order to receive specific answers

Try not to write essays by thinking as you are writing tutorial support emails. The tutorial support unit can be unclear about what in fact you are asking, or what you are looking to achieve. Be specific about asking questions that you want answers to. Number your questions. You will then receive specific answers to each and every question. This is the main purpose of tutorial support via email.

Keep a record of your tutorial support emails

It is important that you keep a record of all tutorial support emails that are forwarded to you. You can then refer to them when necessary and it avoids any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Individual training workshops or telephone support

Please be advised that Appleton Greene does not provide separate or individual tutorial support meetings, workshops, or provide telephone support for individual students. Appleton Greene is an equal opportunities learning and service provider and we are therefore understandably bound to treat all students equally. We cannot therefore broker special financial or study arrangements with individual students regardless of the circumstances. All tutorial support is provided online and this enables Appleton Greene to keep a record of all communications between students, professors and tutors on file for future reference, in accordance with our quality management procedure and your terms and conditions of enrolment. All tutorial support is provided online via email because it enables us to have time to consider support content carefully, it ensures that you receive a considered and detailed response to your queries. You can number questions that you would like to ask, which relate to things that you do not understand or where clarification may be required. You can then be sure of receiving specific answers to each individual query. You will also then have a record of these communications and of all tutorial support, which has been provided to you. This makes tutorial support administration more productive by avoiding any unnecessary duplication, misunderstanding, or misinterpretation.

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Tutorial Support Email Format

You should use this tutorial support format if you need to request clarification or assistance while studying with your training program. Please note that ALL of your tutorial support request emails should use the same format. You should therefore set up a standard email template, which you can then use as and when you need to. Emails that are forwarded to Appleton Greene, which do not use the following format, may be rejected and returned to you by the (CLP) Program Administration Manager. A detailed response will then be forwarded to you via email usually within 20 business days of receipt for general support queries and 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies. This does not include weekends or public holidays. Your tutorial support request, together with the corresponding TSU reply, will then be saved and stored within your electronic TSU file at Appleton Greene for future reference.

Subject line of your email

Please insert: Appleton Greene (CLP) Tutorial Support Request: (Your Full Name) (Date), within the subject line of your email.

Main body of your email

Please insert:
1. Appleton Greene Certified Learning Provider (CLP) Tutorial Support Request
2. Your Full Name
3. Date of TS request
4. Preferred email address
5. Backup email address
6. Course manual page name or number (reference)
7. Project study page name or number (reference)

Subject of enquiry
Please insert a maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)
Briefly outline the subject matter of your inquiry, or what your questions relate to.

Question 1

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 3

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 4

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Question 5

Maximum of 50 words (please be succinct)

Please note that a maximum of 5 questions is permitted with each individual tutorial support request email.

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Procedure

* List the questions that you want to ask first, then re-arrange them in order of priority. Make sure that you reference them, where necessary, to the course manuals or project studies.
* Make sure that you are specific about your questions and number them. Try to plan the content within your emails to make sure that it is relevant.
* Make sure that your tutorial support emails are set out correctly, using the Tutorial Support Email Format provided here.
* Save a copy of your email and incorporate the date sent after the subject title. Keep your tutorial support emails within the same file and in date order for easy reference.
* Allow up to 20 business days for a response to general tutorial support emails and up to 30 business days for the evaluation and assessment of project studies, because detailed individual responses will be made in all cases and tutorial support emails are answered strictly within the order in which they are received.
* Emails can and do get lost. So if you have not received a reply within the appropriate time, forward another copy or a reminder to the tutorial support unit to be sure that it has been received but do not forward reminders unless the appropriate time has elapsed.
* When you receive a reply, save it immediately featuring the date of receipt after the subject heading for easy reference. In most cases the tutorial support unit replies to your questions individually, so you will have a record of the questions that you asked as well as the answers offered. With project studies however, separate emails are usually forwarded by the tutorial support unit, so do keep a record of your own original emails as well.
* Remember to be positive and friendly in your emails. You are dealing with real people who will respond to the same things that you respond to.
* Try not to repeat questions that have already been asked in previous emails. If this happens the tutorial support unit will probably just refer you to the appropriate answers that have already been provided within previous emails.
* If you lose your tutorial support email records you can write to Appleton Greene to receive a copy of your tutorial support file, but a separate administration charge may be levied for this service.

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How To Study

Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can help you to plan a task list for getting started so that you can be clear about your direction and your priorities in relation to your training program. It is also a good way to introduce yourself to the tutorial support team.

Planning your study environment

Your study conditions are of great importance and will have a direct effect on how much you enjoy your training program. Consider how much space you will have, whether it is comfortable and private and whether you are likely to be disturbed. The study tools and facilities at your disposal are also important to the success of your distance-learning experience. Your tutorial support unit can help with useful tips and guidance, regardless of your starting position. It is important to get this right before you start working on your training program.

Planning your program objectives

It is important that you have a clear list of study objectives, in order of priority, before you start working on your training program. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance here to ensure that your study objectives have been afforded due consideration and priority.

Planning how and when to study

Distance-learners are freed from the necessity of attending regular classes, since they can study in their own way, at their own pace and for their own purposes. This approach is designed to let you study efficiently away from the traditional classroom environment. It is important however, that you plan how and when to study, so that you are making the most of your natural attributes, strengths and opportunities. Your tutorial support unit can offer assistance and useful tips to ensure that you are playing to your strengths.

Planning your study tasks

You should have a clear understanding of the study tasks that you should be undertaking and the priority associated with each task. These tasks should also be integrated with your program objectives. The distance learning guide and the guide to tutorial support for students should help you here, but if you need any clarification or assistance, please contact your tutorial support unit.

Planning your time

You will need to allocate specific times during your calendar when you intend to study if you are to have a realistic chance of completing your program on time. You are responsible for planning and managing your own study time, so it is important that you are successful with this. Your tutorial support unit can help you with this if your time plan is not working.

Keeping in touch

Consistency is the key here. If you communicate too frequently in short bursts, or too infrequently with no pattern, then your management ability with your studies will be questioned, both by you and by your tutorial support unit. It is obvious when a student is in control and when one is not and this will depend how able you are at sticking with your study plan. Inconsistency invariably leads to in-completion.

Charting your progress

Your tutorial support team can help you to chart your own study progress. Refer to your distance learning guide for further details.

Making it work

To succeed, all that you will need to do is apply yourself to undertaking your training program and interpreting it correctly. Success or failure lies in your hands and your hands alone, so be sure that you have a strategy for making it work. Your Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and Accredited Consultant can guide you through the process of program planning, development and implementation.

Reading methods

Interpretation is often unique to the individual but it can be improved and even quantified by implementing consistent interpretation methods. Interpretation can be affected by outside interference such as family members, TV, or the Internet, or simply by other thoughts which are demanding priority in our minds. One thing that can improve our productivity is using recognized reading methods. This helps us to focus and to be more structured when reading information for reasons of importance, rather than relaxation.

Speed reading

When reading through course manuals for the first time, subconsciously set your reading speed to be just fast enough that you cannot dwell on individual words or tables. With practice, you should be able to read an A4 sheet of paper in one minute. You will not achieve much in the way of a detailed understanding, but your brain will retain a useful overview. This overview will be important later on and will enable you to keep individual issues in perspective with a more generic picture because speed reading appeals to the memory part of the brain. Do not worry about what you do or do not remember at this stage.

Content reading

Once you have speed read everything, you can then start work in earnest. You now need to read a particular section of your course manual thoroughly, by making detailed notes while you read. This process is called Content Reading and it will help to consolidate your understanding and interpretation of the information that has been provided.

Making structured notes on the course manuals

When you are content reading, you should be making detailed notes, which are both structured and informative. Make these notes in a MS Word document on your computer, because you can then amend and update these as and when you deem it to be necessary. List your notes under three headings: 1. Interpretation – 2. Questions – 3. Tasks. The purpose of the 1st section is to clarify your interpretation by writing it down. The purpose of the 2nd section is to list any questions that the issue raises for you. The purpose of the 3rd section is to list any tasks that you should undertake as a result. Anyone who has graduated with a business-related degree should already be familiar with this process.

Organizing structured notes separately

You should then transfer your notes to a separate study notebook, preferably one that enables easy referencing, such as a MS Word Document, a MS Excel Spreadsheet, a MS Access Database, or a personal organizer on your cell phone. Transferring your notes allows you to have the opportunity of cross-checking and verifying them, which assists considerably with understanding and interpretation. You will also find that the better you are at doing this, the more chance you will have of ensuring that you achieve your study objectives.

Question your understanding

Do challenge your understanding. Explain things to yourself in your own words by writing things down.

Clarifying your understanding

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your understanding.

Question your interpretation

Do challenge your interpretation. Qualify your interpretation by writing it down.

Clarifying your interpretation

If you are at all unsure, forward an email to your tutorial support unit and they will help to clarify your interpretation.

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Qualification Requirements

The student will need to successfully complete the project study and all of the exercises relating to the Leading IT Transformation corporate training program, achieving a pass with merit or distinction in each case, in order to qualify as an Accredited Leading IT Transformation Specialist (ALITTS). All monthly workshops need to be tried and tested within your company. These project studies can be completed in your own time and at your own pace and in the comfort of your own home or office. There are no formal examinations, assessment is based upon the successful completion of the project studies. They are called project studies because, unlike case studies, these projects are not theoretical, they incorporate real program processes that need to be properly researched and developed. The project studies assist us in measuring your understanding and interpretation of the training program and enable us to assess qualification merits. All of the project studies are based entirely upon the content within the training program and they enable you to integrate what you have learnt into your corporate training practice.

Leading IT Transformation – Grading Contribution

Project Study – Grading Contribution

Customer Service – 10%
E-business – 10%
Finance – 5%
Globalization – 10%
Human Resources – 10%
Information Technology – 15%
Legal – 05%
Management – 5%
Marketing – 10%
Production/Operations – 10%
Organizational Change Management/Communications – 05%
Planning – 05%
TOTAL GRADING – 100%

Qualification grades

A mark of 90% = Pass with Distinction.
A mark of 75% = Pass with Merit.
A mark of less than 75% = Fail.
If you fail to achieve a mark of 75% with a project study, you will receive detailed feedback from the Certified Learning Provider (CLP) and/or Accredited Consultant, together with a list of tasks which you will need to complete, in order to ensure that your project study meets with the minimum quality standard that is required by Appleton Greene. You can then re-submit your project study for further evaluation and assessment. Indeed you can re-submit as many drafts of your project studies as you need to, until such a time as they eventually meet with the required standard by Appleton Greene, so you need not worry about this, it is all part of the learning process.

When marking project studies, Appleton Greene is looking for sufficient evidence of the following:

Pass with merit

A satisfactory level of program understanding
A satisfactory level of program interpretation
A satisfactory level of project study content presentation
A satisfactory level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
A satisfactory level of the practical integration of academic theory

Pass with distinction

An exceptional level of program understanding
An exceptional level of program interpretation
An exceptional level of project study content presentation
An exceptional level of Unique Program Proposition (UPP) quality
An exceptional level of the practical integration of academic theory

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Preliminary Analysis

Digital transformation is a priority for organizations. As explained in the ‘Introduction’ section of this program, digital transformation involves making major changes to the organization’s use of information technology (IT) in its business processes, and/or the products or services. Therefore, a digital change strategy can activate an IT transformation. A supportive IT infrastructure provides an efficient and strategic business foundation, and powers digital initiatives.

Survey and research findings in the area of IT transformation

Areas of focus

Research on the implementation of IT transformation reveals that organizations focus on strategy, technology, processes and people. On the strategy side, they define 30, 60, 90 day-plans, the tools and technologies to go from the current state to the future state, and consider organizational structure, processes and prevailing corporate culture to set realistic goals.

Organizational structure

Studies indicate that decentralization speeds up decisions, empowers employees and accords greater levels of procedural fairness to them. Centralized companies place a bigger demand on the mental and physical capabilities of CEOs and high-level managers. Studies show that in a stable organizational environment, centralization may increase the efficiency of operations. However, there are many real-world examples of companies facing negative consequences of centralization.

To cite an example, in the 80s, Caterpillar Inc. made all pricing decisions at its headquarters in Peoria, Illinois. If a subsidiary in a different continent wanted to offer a discount on a product, they would need to check with the head office, which didn’t always have the correct or timely information. Consequently, the company reorganized completely to resolve the problem.

Organizations should determine the levels at which different issues must be resolved, striking a balance between centralization and decentralization. When there is a need to respond immediately to opportunities and threats, the operating unit situated close to the problem/event can be accountable for executing the proper decisions. Common rules for certain tasks across all operating units contribute to predictable and stable operations.

There is a consensus that old organizational structures marked by rigidity, centralized decision-making and strong internal and external boundaries can be impediments to quick transformation. A flattened structure, decentralized decision-making, greater collaboration and coordination, knowledge sharing between departments, and horizontal communication are seen to be more effective in practice.

Technologies and tools

Unified communication and collaboration (UC&C), a combination of enterprise communication tools accessible on a single interface and integrated in a single management system, provides a means to disseminate information, inform decisions and connect people digitally. Studies by prestigious industry research groups such as Gartner point to the growing importance of UC&C systems in increasing productivity, improving business processes, speeding up development cycles and enhancing service levels. UC&C provides the infrastructure necessary to meet the needs of the digitally connected enterprise.

Employees who perform tedious technical jobs or whose daily work involves cumbersome manual tasks tend to feel demoralized and burn out quickly. Robotic Process Automation (RPA), the technology that allows ‘bots’ to be configured to emulate the actions of human in an organizational environment, is considered a ‘low-hanging fruit’ in digital transformation. This is because bots are cost-effective and easily implementable. It is seen that companies often begin their automation journey with RPA for structured processes, and gradually adopt mature automation solutions for strategic process automation.

Organizations can consider purchasing RPA software running on a physical or virtual machine to delegate low-order tasks to bots from employees, boosting engagement and reducing the error rate of repetitive tasks. They will also be benefitting from better efficiency and reduced waste.

Employee engagement

People are a key component of any organizational transformation. Therefore, the transformation should be connected to the day-to-day experiences of teams, and organizational structures and decision-making processes need to be adapted to the transformation mandate. According to McKinsey, 70% of digital transformations fail, most often due to resistance from employees.

The success of the IT transformation effort lies in how fast the people in the organization can embrace the change and adopt the new technologies. That is why, before starting with anything else, it is important to start with the people. It is extremely important to bring people out of their cocoons and introduce them to the changes that are going to be implemented before-hand.

Orientation and training of all employees who will be dealing with the new digital technologies is a must to ensure that everyone in on the same page. Briefing of the IT teams is also essential to make sure that implementation and deployment of the new technologies is done successfully.

Not just training, but measurement of progress is equally important. The transformation team has to decide on relevant user impact and user adoption metrics to see how successfully people have adopted the new tools. The ROI must also be measured to gauge the success of the transformation. Feedback from employees must be taken to understand how they interact with the new technology and where improvements can be made. It is important to ensure that the technology adopted is user-friendly and making things easier for the employees rather than overburdening them.

Communicate frequently with people in the transformation effort. They may be ready for the big transformation, but the job does not end there when it comes to interacting with and supporting the employees. Communicating must be a continuous process throughout the entire transformation process. It is extremely important to communicate with people within the organization frequently. From the very beginning of the transformation effort, communicating clearly with the employees is the key to successful user adoption and overall digital transformation.

The organization’s leaders and the transformation leaders should make every effort to communicate the goals and the progress of the transformation effort. They may use traditional communication channels like team meetings, or they may use digital channels such as email newsletters, intranet articles or for this purpose. The leaders should also be able to foster a sense of urgency for people to adopt changes faster. Clear communication can be a very useful tool in this regard.

Communication should focus on certain key aspects. For example, setting clear targets for the organization’s KPIs so that employees know what is expected of them. There should also be clear communication regarding the timeline for implementing the changes under the digital transformation plan. Employees should be frequently reminded of deadlines and expected dates of rolling out of a new tool so that they can be prepared, plan time to familiarize themselves with the new features and attend any training offered. Any changes in the transformation plan should also be communicated to all the people involved. Employees should be aware of the key initiatives being implemented under the digital transformation effort.

Apart from these, employees should also be updated on the new products and services that are being added to the organization’s portfolio as part of the digital transformation. The changes in the way they work and collaborate, both internally and with external partners, should also be very clearly communicated.

Using digital modes of communication in these regards is often found to be more effective than traditional methods like in-person meetings.

Strategic planning or road mapping cannot be left to a few members at the executive level if you want the plan to be realistic and achievable. The detailed plan needs inputs from all levels of the organization. Buy-in from the top management is certainly important, but people from the levels below should also be included to get a more detailed and accurate picture.

Apart from members of the C-suite, the planning team should have leaders and managers from IT, human resources, administration, and other key departments that will be contributing to the transformation. In addition to internal members, the views from people outside the organization, such as impacted IT suppliers, partners, customers, etc., are also required even if they are not directly involved in the planning.

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Capable change leaders

Organizations contemplating an IT Transformation should assess their change leadership experience. If they lack these skills internally, they take this into consideration at the time of executive hiring and succession planning. Those who already have the desired capabilities can help in the hiring process to select executives with relevant experience implementing transformation strategies, in order to improve the change leadership capabilities of the organization. Alternatively, external consultants can be hired to bring change leadership expertise to support the Transformation team. Change leadership should not be delegated to an external party though. This is a skill that all Transformation leaders need. Any external consultants hired to support organizational change management should also be charged with mentoring the executives on their roles in leading change.

Strategy plays a major role in successful transformation of any kind. The transformation leaders should have an innate ability to build fail-proof digital transformation strategies that are sure to bring success when executed well.

A good digital transformation strategy

Experts agree that a good transformation strategy includes three crucial elements:

• Diagnosis
• A meaningful plan of action
• A well-thought-out guiding policy

All three of these factors must work together in a good digital transformation strategy.

Diagnosis

Proper diagnosis is essential to make sure that the strategy is realistic and aligned with the organizational needs. Without diagnosis, it is difficult to determine what to include in the strategy and what not to. It might result in a lot of back and forth, requiring several modifications in the strategy as you proceed with the transformation, resulting in increased costs and increased resource requirements. To avoid this, diagnosis must be an integral part and the first step in effective strategy building.

Plan of action

The plan of action is equally important. It must be a meaningful, coherent plan that leads to the goals set for the transformation. Without a comprehensive plan of action, the transformation team may be wasting a lot of time and effort trying to execute the strategy effectively. It is important to define the steps to be taken and the activities involved in the transformation initiative, at the time of strategy building itself.

Guiding policy

A guiding policy is essential to give the transformation team and other employees a direction. Guiding policies make sure that everyone sticks to the plan and works towards achieving the strategic objectives. A guiding policy will set out the rules to follow and make the journey easier by defining what can be done and what cannot.

A strategy that incorporates all of these factors can make the transformation much more streamlined and help ensure success in the IT transformation effort.

Fast with minimum disruption

By building several cross-functional teams for analyzing the processes and functions throughout the company in parallell, the 90-day plan makes the transformation diagnosis and plannng effort fast as well as cost-effective. Ideally (required for large organizations), the rapid response team members will be freed up full time, shifting their highest priority work to others (i.e. coworkers or contracted staff augmentation) and putting low priority work on hold. For small organizations with a smaller transformation effort, work on the diagnosis may need to be on a part-time basis, shifting high priority work around within the unit to minimize disruption to ongoing work. (It is expected that lower priority work will be delayed or stopped.) By involving people who are working hands-on in the processes, the organization gains valuable insights, without hiring external experts.

It also accelerates the process of problem solving and implementation of transformation as the people who are directly working on a process can better understand the problems they face as well as the solutions they suggest. There is very little scope for miscommunication or mistakes. There is a sense of ownership and accountability among the employees when they are directly working on the transformation. All of this can accelerate the transformation process.

Transformation roadmap

The digital transformation of an organization is more than just about investing in new technology and upgrading existing systems. An organization that wants to undergo a digital transformation cannot afford to just wait for changes and react to them. They need to take a proactive approach, anticipating changes that may impact them in the future and driving innovation to prepare themselves for that said future.

That is why a high level transformation roadmap and subsequent more detailed plan is so important to organizations. Without a high level map to guide the direction and a detailed plan for the upcoming 3-6 months, it is highly likely that an organization will be left directionless in its efforts to bring about a digital transformation. Not only will it end up consuming more time and resources than it should have, but it will also be in darkness regarding the effectiveness of the transformation. Without a roadmap, it is hard to say whether the organization is moving in the right direction.

IT transformation is usually a massive change for an organization. It can seem like a daunting effort if the tasks are not put in order. A high-level roadmap and subsequent detailed plan can help break down the IT transformation initiative into a series of smaller tasks that are more manageable. It reduces the load on the transformation team and helps with the efficient allocation of resources and budget to add more value for the company.

IT transformation is not just a digital transformation of the organization but is also a change in organizational culture, structure, processes, and policies. All these aspects are interlinked. So, when you are trying to change one, it may affect the other. Or if you are changing one without first addressing the other, the change may not be possible.

For instance, if you need to reshuffle the manpower in a department because you are aiming to automate certain tasks in it, you cannot restaff the department without first testing the automation tools. Or if you are hoping to introduce a new CRM tool and eliminate the traditional customer relationship management methods, you cannot get at it without first training the employees on the utility of the CRM tool.

That is to say, you need to know the order in which tasks need to be carried out in the transformation process. That is what a detailed plan can help you with. It can iron out the details and help your company prioritize the activities under the transformation process based on their urgency and their correlation to other activities.

The IT transformation roadmap will be unique for each organization depending on what the company’s goals are, how they manage projects, who makes investment decisions, and so on. The specifics of the detailed plan will depend on all these factors. But the overall framework of an IT transformation roadmap is more or less the same for most businesses. Every transformation roadmap must have some core elements in common.

A clear vision of where the company aspires to go

A transformation roadmap must define where the company wants to go with its transformation efforts. Every organization has different reasons for undertaking an IT transformation. The roadmap should tell what the transformation means to the company and how much of a transformation are they trying to achieve. For very large organizations, the IT Transformation may be scoped to one division or one company in the corporation. For small companies, it may include every department in the company. Defining the scope for the transformation is critical to ensure executive and staff expectations are set accordingly. For the purposes of this course, the scope is assumed to be the whole company. The same concepts apply if your transformation efforts are focused on one particular division.

The transformation leadership has already set some goals and an overall vision for the IT transformation initiative. Including this vision, and elaborating on it in the roadmap is very important for securing buy-in from all the stakeholders in the organization. A clearly laid out vision considering all key stakeholders of the organization, (including employees, external partners, and customers), ensures that everyone’s efforts are aligned and directed to achieve these common goals.

The strategy for arriving at the desired future state

The next important element of the detailed transformation plan is the strategy adopted for change. A detailed strategy for transformation is an absolute necessity and a detailed roadmap is meaningless without this strategy. The transformation strategy in the detailed plan should define how much time the organization hopes to devote to the IT transformation process. It should explain whether the transformation will be carried throughout the organization in one big revolutionary effort or in small steps, changing one thing at a time.

The strategy will also tell whether all the goals defined in the beginning are the final goals for the transformation or does the organization plan to identify more opportunities for change as they move forward. It will also highlight the key areas to focus on for the success of the transformation initiative. Having a complete strategy in the detailed transformation plan tells the stakeholders that the IT transformation initiative is a serious effort and not just a half-baked attempt to change things. The detailed strategy is, in fact, the heart and soul of the transformation roadmap.

The key activities to undertake during the transformation process

The whole purpose of having a transformation roadmap is to define the activities that the organization must undertake in the transformation effort. So, it is obviously important to include the key activities in the detailed plan. Every task does not need to be mapped in advance because there are many activities that will arise along the way. But the major activities should be mapped out in the detailed plan. These are the big steps that need to be taken to support the transformation.

The key activities will differ from one organization to another. These activities could be in technology upgrades, organizational restructuring, changes in business processes, or changes in supplier relations, to name a few. The idea here is to create a critical path for the transformation process that is cost-effective and helps attain the desired goals in the shortest period of time.

The major milestones of the transformation process

Every transformation project has some milestones in its path. Every time one of these milestones is achieved, it is an accomplishment for the organization and particularly for the people involved in the process. Setting milestones in the journey towards the final goals can, therefore, help motivate people. The milestones can help set expectations regarding when people will be able to see some results from their efforts. Because unless people see some kind of change, they are not easily convinced that the transformation is working as it should. So instead of waiting for the end of the process, defining these intermediate goals makes it easier for people to visualize the impact of the transformation.

These milestones are smaller target states that organizations should achieve before it reaches the goals set for the transformation initiative. So, they can act as a reference to tell whether the transformation process is on the right course. They can be an effective way to measure the progress of the transformation process as well.

The initial Roadmap may be quite high level, defining by quarter by year what is expected to be delivered, for example. This works well for communicating with executives and employees and keeping everyone grounded to the overall plan. However, more detailed plans are needed before beginning execution of the roadmap. Using an agile approach, it is common to create very detailed plans for the upcoming 3 months, and fairly detailed plans for the subsequent 3 months. Time periods after that may be flushed out a bit more as details become clear or may be left at the high level to accommodate adjustments to the roadmap as more is learned through the iterative development. As the detailed plan is executed, more detailed plans are developed to ensure the team always has the next 3-6 months of detailed plans to guide their activities. The detailed plan can also allow for a period of rest after achieving a few milestones to prevent fatigue from all the activities going on.

While the detailed plan describes everything that needs to be done in the next 3-6 months in full detail, with lesser detail in subsequent periods, it is not a binding mandate. Adjustments to the plan are expected, especially 4 months or more out. This should not be seen as a violation of a rule in any case. The transformation teams should have the liberty to make necessary changes to the plan whenever the need arises. Sometimes deviations from the planned path are the right decision to help ensure the future vision (or something even better) is delivered with quality in a reasonable timeframe. The roadmap is intended to be a guidebook for everyone to follow and helps the organization move closer to its goals.

There are many ways of ensuring that the activities undertaken are aligned with what is described in the high-level roadmap. Some of the indications that should guide the decisions made during the transformation are listed below.

How the activities align with the plan

It is important to assess from time to time how closely the activities being undertaken align with the roadmap. Most activities will usually be on track and so a simple yes or no answer does not suffice, as the answer in most cases would be yes without giving you a very clear picture. It is rather important to assess to what degree the activities are aligned to the plan. It can be either measured on a scale from 1 to 10 or in terms of high, medium, and low alignment or any other suitable measurement that tells your roughly how close the activity is to the detailed plan.

Even if an activity that was not previously included in the plan is being taken up during the transformation process, it is first necessary to check its alignment with the roadmap. This is important to ensure that the activity does not throw the process off track or demand a major detour. It is also important to identify any activities in the detailed plan that are no longer needed, as a result of a change or higher priority addition. The plan should accurately reflect what has been completed as well as upcoming milestones. The next month should have more detail than 3 months out, which will have more detail than 12 months out.

How an activity contributes to the goals

The second important indication to ensure whether an activity is aligned with the plan is by assessing how the activity contributes to the transformation goals. Each activity that is chosen should have some impact on the transformation, taking it one step closer to the goal. In this assessment, you need to see how far the activity can take you in the right direction and what is the cost involved in undertaking this activity.

There may be two or more proposed activities that can take you closer to the goal, but no two activities will usually have the same costs and same benefits. So, a cost vs benefits analysis can be done at this stage to decide on the most suitable option, without wandering away too far from the plan.

How efficiently are resources being used

Resources are a very important aspect of the success of an IT transformation process. If you are achieving the transformation goals but spending much more resources than originally planned, the initiative cannot be called a success. Most organizations work with limited resources, be it in terms of manpower, time, or money. The same available resources are being used to run their daily operations as well as the transformation effort.

That is why, when activities are being chosen under the digital transformation effort, it is important to assess how much resources each activity demands. Projects and tasks that give the maximum ROI are usually preferred. It may also sometimes be necessary to bundle some activities that are correlated and combine them into a single project working on the same limited resources or even forego certain benefits that an alternative activity or project may deliver, in order to optimize the use of resources.

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Project risk analysis and management

Managers, team leaders and transformational directors emphasize the importance of effective project management and sound risk management in keeping the program on track. The benefits derived from using project risk analysis and management are encapsulated below:

– It provides a better understanding of the project, which helps formulate more realistic plans in terms of cost and timeframe.
– It provides a better understanding of the risks involved and their possible impact. By understanding the risks, it is possible to take measures to minimize the risks or allocate the risk to the party best able to handle them.
– It can also help a business understand how risks in a project can lead to the use of a more suitable type of contract.
– It provides an independent view of the risks, which justifies decisions and enables more effective and efficient management of the risks.
– With knowledge of the risks in a project, businesses can evaluate the contingency plans and may, in the long term, prevent businesses from accepting financially unsound projects.

The 90-day plan takes into account all the different business functions and analyses the problems that need to be addressed in all of these areas. It takes a holistic approach to IT transformation where technology is not the only concern. It considers the changes in people and processes that are needed to aid the transformation. The 90-day plan discusses what changes in the organizational structure, culture, strategy, processes and costs may be required to carry out the IT transformation successfully.

In case of large organizations, the change may have to be implemented not just across a single enterprise but across geographic boundaries as well. The 90-day plan emphasizes the importance of taking such factors into account.

Why transformations fail

Transformations often fail when they are too lengthy, as the initial momentum is lost over time. The 90-day plan ensures the planning and implementation of the transformation is fast and hence, effective.

Generally, the most common reason why digital transformation in an organization fails is because there is a gap between what the company aspires to achieve and the reality that governs whether they will be able to achieve. This gap between aspirations and reality of an organization has to be bridged in the very beginning if you wish to carry out transformation effectively.

There could be many factors that create this gap between the company’s ambitions and its capabilities. Firstly, not having a holistic view of what IT transformation could mean for the business is a primary factor. The change leaders need to understand how the digital transformation is going to impact every area of the business.

Then there is often a lack of clarity on the way digital transformation works, its evolving economics and its implications. Companies need to be clear about the competitive advantage that digital transformation can give them, without being over-ambitious. It is important to remember that it will require an investment on your part as well and this has to be kept in mind when setting the goals for the transformation effort.

Organizations also often tend to underestimate the scale of transformation required to make a significant impact with new digital tools. The momentum and scale of the IT transformation must be correctly gauged if the transformation is to be successful. For large organizations, it may be wise to scope the initial transformation efforts to a critical business area or division, and those that interact with it, rather than trying to transform the entire organization concurrently.

The 90-day plan takes care of all of these factors, reducing the gap between aspirations of the company and its current capability. Without taking this step before you start implementing the change, it is possible that the goals set for the transformation project will be small, short-sighted and not impactful enough.

Five important areas to implement best practices in the IT transformation process

According to McKinsey & Company, one of the leading management consulting companies of the world, there are five major areas where it is essential to implement best practices to increase IT efficiency. These five business areas are:

• Cost management
• Demand for IT
• Controls and incentives
• Process
• Sourcing

Concentrating on these five capabilities has helped many successful companies optimize their IT expenditures and divert funds to productive digital initiatives that address their day-to-day IT requirements. It has helped them focus on their primary IT concerns such as cybersecurity, compliance, regulations, and system maintenance. They have also been able to develop innovative projects to enhance customer experience and support new business functions.

An IT transformation roadmap is a long-term strategic plan that focuses on the implementation of new technologies, shifting to new digital media channels, and introducing smart, digital ways of working in an organization. The transformation roadmap lays out the high-level projects and activities to be taken for carrying out the transformation effectively. It also defines the resources that will be needed for the transformation as well as the roles and responsibilities of the people involved in the effort.

The IT transformation roadmap, in other words, must be a complete high level guide that coordinates the entire transformation effort, and also prepares the organization for future changes.

IT transformation in a fast-changing environment

If the organization’s external environment changes so rapidly as to demand a faster pace of change or if a short-term digital transformation is being planned, executives leading the program can agree on certain tactics.

– Pay attention to the wildly important goals. A wildly important goal (WIG) is a critical objective that cannot be met unless it receives special attention. Select one WIG based on what the organization wants to significantly improve. Define the WIG in terms of the current state, desired future state, and by when the transformation should happen. Identify a start line, finish line and deadline to psychologically prepare for the work that comes with the WIG.

– Work on the lead measures. Success is dependent on lagging and leading measures. It is impossible to track the performance driving lag measures such as profit, quality and customer satisfaction. However, the organization can devote efforts towards lead measures that track activities driving a lag measure and are influenced directly by the team.

– Use a compelling scoreboard. Project team members will perform best when they are emotionally engaged and can see whether they are winning or losing. A compelling scoreboard should be developed by the team and easily understood by everyone.

– Create a cadence of accountability. Implement a rhythm of regular and frequent team meetings that focus on the WIG. Plan weekly or daily 15-minute meetings where team members hold each other accountable for advancing the scoreboard. Every member should state whether or not they met last week’s commitment and moved the scoreboard as well as the one or two things they will commit to that week.

Improving productivity and keeping it consistently high during the first 90 days

The project team can gain an early lead on important tasks without feeling overworked, while also having enough time to make corrections more frequently and flexibly.

– Select three focus areas. Three is an ideal number as team members will not feel overwhelmed by project objectives while also managing their daily tasks. This will help prevent half-done work, allow resources to be used productively and build early momentum in the team for quarterly goals.
– Define the criteria of success. Decide what success looks like for each focus area. This way team members will be able visualize the success they seek after 90 days. Stating realistic criteria will allow them to measure their own performance and make necessary changes to their workday.
– Plan steps of action. Break each focus areas into 5-7 action steps and milestones. Make the plan detailed enough to follow a roadmap but avoid getting buried under too many specifics. Decide which steps the team leader should take ownership of and those that the team can handle.

Flexible and relevant

Another important key to success with the detailed transformation plan is that it should not be a rigid, one-time plan that has no scope for changes. A good plan should be dynamic, flexible, and adaptive. Certain situations may demand slight alterations or adjustments to the plan. The plan should be made keeping such expected, and unexpected, changes in mind.

In fact, planning should not be a one-time activity but a continuous process. The detailed plan must be reviewed and updated weekly, with upcoming major milestones reviewed at least semi-annually (preferably quarterly) to ensure that it accounts for the changes in the business environment that may have occurred during that period. The planning teams should sit together for discussions frequently to share information on the state of the market and industry, new innovations in technology, major initiatives undertaken by competitors that might overshadow their transformation efforts, and so on. This makes it easier to verify if their plan needs to be refreshed or can continue as it is.

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Course Manuals 1-12

Course Manual 1: Theory and Communication

There are two approaches that can be taken for addressing issues during the IT transformation efforts of an organization – reactive and proactive. The reactive method is one where you identify the existing issues and fix or patch them up to improve the system. This is not the approach we should aim for, but it can still protect the organization from further damage and fix things before it is too late. This will only be effective if there are regular and frequent audits and checks to detect problems as soon as they appear so that they can be promptly addressed.

The second approach is the proactive approach that involves planning to avoid issues and creating a robust strategy to carry out IT transformation in the organization smoothly.

The 90-day plan focuses on having a proactive approach to problem solving for the successful implementation of IT transformation. The 90-day plan in any IT transformation model starts with diagnosis. By the end of this 90-day duration, the organization should be able to identify the root causes of all the problems detected and build a detailed roadmap for the implementation of the transformation.

The 90-day plan helps you estimate how much you can spend on the IT transformation process, both in terms of finances and resources. It helps distribute resources and funding on different transformation initiatives based on their importance and priority. This planning phase gives ample time to the transformation leaders to iron out the details of the IT transformation and gauge the impact of digital transformation on the organization. The 90-day plan allows organizations time to align the digital strategy with the overall business strategy.

The 90-day plan can be divided into three stages. Phase 1 deals with diagnosis of the current state, where existing problems are identified which may become opportunities to be addressed through the transformation or may need to be managed, to prevent them from becoming a roadblock in the way of transformation. Phase 2 involves visualizing the future and setting goals for the transformation initiative which address the challenges of the current state as well as incorporate new capabilities to advance the business, improve customer service, reduce costs, etc. Lastly, Phase 3 is the stage where a high-level roadmap of the entire transformation process is created, which will later be refined into a detailed blueprint as each phase approaches.

Note: Of course, we are not looking for perfection in any aspect of the 90-day plan or its execution. We want to identify the major issues and opportunities in the current state, so that we can address them and move the organization forward as we design the future state. The roadmap will provide a concrete high-level plan to help us get from current to future state. We expect adjustments along the way, and that is perfectly fine. We want to move the organization forward rapidly by accepting imperfect information, knowing that we will have further opportunity to refine our plans as more information becomes available. Leaders and staff will need to internalize this concept, which could be new to them. There are no penalties for adjusting the roadmap as we go along. It is expected and anticipated. Generally, we expect greater accuracy and detail in plans for the next 3 months, with somewhat less accuracy and detail for the subsequent quarter, etc., with less detail further out, and only major milestones identified for years 2 and 3 and beyond.

The 90-day plan is divided into three phases, each spanning over 30 days on average, as discussed further below.

90-day plan: Phase 1

Phase 1 of the 90-day plan for IT transformation is the diagnosis stage, also known as a current state assessment. It involves a company-wide diagnosis of the different business functions. The cross-functional teams built during the pre-planning stage are assigned to all the important business functions in the company. These teams are responsible for diagnosing any existing problems within these functions and determine the probable causes of these problems. Identifying things that are working well is also important, as we may want to leverage those ideas in other areas of the company.

The teams report to the transformation leader, who is responsible for overseeing the entire transformation process. By creating a number of different teams that work in parallel, the organization can save time on the diagnosis. It also helps involve people from all areas of the organization and gain their valuable inputs, which can build a clear picture of the current state. By the end of Phase 1, the transformation leaders will have a holistic perspective of the organization.

Note: For smaller organizations, there will likely be one transformation leader. For larger organizations, there may be one overall executive transformation leader, with a transformation leader for each division of the organization who reports to the executive leader for the transformation initiatives. While this course discusses one large transformation, if divisions or product areas operate fairly autonomously (e.g., separate companies), IT transformation can be done at that level as well. The same concepts and processes apply.)

90-day plan: Phase 2

After the diagnosis and analysis of the problems is completed, the same cross-functional teams can move to the next stage of planning. Phase 2 of the 90-day plan involves envisioning the future state of the organization. At this stage, each team creates a vivid vision for their respective business functions describing what the future state should look like.

This vision should consider all the problems and opportunities uncovered in the Phase 1 current state assessment. The transformation leaders can then conduct a gap analysis to see how far the organization is from the desired future state and how the existing issues must be solved to attain this desired state. By the end of this stage, clear goals must be set for the transformation process. The change leaders and other stakeholders should have a clear idea of what they are working towards. Once this envisioned future is clear to all, creating an action plan becomes much easier.

90-day plan: Phase 3

The final stage of planning involves development of a high-level roadmap, which is then further detailed into a blueprint for the IT transformation process. Based on all the insights obtained from Phase 1 and Phase 2, an action plan to take the company from its current state to the desired future state is to be laid out. This can include methods for implementing change within the organization. The action plan will also define roles and responsibilities of different teams that will be involved in the IT transformation process.

Apart from this, the IT transformation initiative may also require a change in organizational structure. The roadmap should also guide the people involved on what changes in structure are necessary and how they can be implemented.

Breaking it down further

To make the 90-day plan all the more effective and elaborate, you can further break it down to smaller functions and elements, defining the activities to be undertaken each 15 to 20 days within the 90-day span.

Business capital, human resource and role of leadership

The first 15 days of the 90-day plan can be focused on defining the roles and responsibilities based on the current business needs. Teams have to be formed and the transformation leader must interact with each team to get their views on the current state of the business.

This time can also be used to set the leadership’s agenda. It is important to define what the role of the leaders will be in the transformation effort. The inputs of the leadership must also be taken on how they see the current business and what according to them the company needs in order to lead digital transformation.

Governance, tools and customer focus

The next 15 days should focus on reviewing the governance processes, assessing the existing digital tools and define how you collaborate with customers. In terms of the governance process, you may want to increase agility and the pace at which decisions are made in the organization. You would also want to identify any bottlenecks in decision making and approval processes and eliminate them to make the process more streamlined.

In terms of your digital tools, you would have to look at every aspect of the business that already uses digital tools or needs them. From collaboration tools to customer relationship management tools, everything must be reviewed and gaps in technology must be identified. This is the primary purpose of the IT transformation process and so it is important that the digital tools are carefully assessed.

Hypothesis, revisiting the goals and strategy

By this time, you are already 30 days into planning. The next 15 days are a good time to build a hypothesis based on your findings in the last 30 days and using this hypothesis to set goals for the transformation process. If there were any goals already set, it is time to revisit those goals and see if they are aligned with the organization’s goals and with the findings from the diagnosis stage.

You can also create an initial outline for the roadmap, roughly deciding how to use the teams, which areas to change and which processes or workflows to focus on. The people involved in the transformation effort should all be on board by now and should be fully invested in the process. It is important that they have trust in the transformation leadership and are ready to take on the task without any hesitation.

As the 90-day plan will be halfway through by the end of this stage, this is the right time to finally define the scope of the transformation and make adjustments wherever necessary. Doing this will ensure that all the energy is focused on the right elements and no time is wasted on unproductive work.

Validation of findings

From day 45 to 60, it is important to validate the observations and assumptions made during the first 45 days. It is not only important to convince the top-level executives that the transformation is necessary, it is also important to give direction to the effort. The raw data that has been obtained must be validated as facts and figures to ensure that the transformation is going in the right direction. The information obtained should also be shared with all the teams involved so that everyone is aware of the current state of the business.

Finalizing the plan

This is the penultimate lap of the 90-day plan. Between day 61 and 75, the transformation plan has to be anchored and all stakeholders must be onboard. The plan has to have a solid base by now, so that you can move on to building a clear roadmap for the transformation initiative. It is important to decide on priorities of the identified transformation opportunities, and any dependencies. All changes cannot be implemented in one go. So it is essential to prioritize on the basis of the value added by a particular process or technology to the business. The execution of the plan can then be divided into shorter stints, stage by stage, based on priority.

Creating the roadmap for implementation of transformation initiatives

In the last 15 days of the 90-day plan, you can move forward with creating the action plan for the execution of the IT transformation program. The roadmap should be created keeping the goals of the transformation effort in mind. The action plan must provide a solid framework for the transformation. It is important that all the teams are ready for change by the end of these 90 days and the plan can be immediately executed.

Preparing for the planning phase

Before you set on the 90-day long journey of planning and strategizing, the management and leadership of the organization has some preparation to do. First of all, the organization needs to recognize a need for change and choose a transformation leader who can convince everyone else to contribute to this change. The role of the transformation leader is going to be very crucial throughout the transformation effort.

So, it is important to choose someone with valuable experience in change management and leadership. It should be someone who the employees look up to and would be willing to follow.

The 90-day plan marks the beginning of the IT transformation process. So, before it is taken up, the change leaders have to plant the seeds of change in the organization. There is immense need to build momentum before undertaking the transformation.

The leaders must communicate the purpose and the goals of the IT transformation to all the people involved so that they are willingly involved in the change. Everyone must understand their role in this transformation process. All the stakeholders in this IT transformation process must be aware of the business case for the transformation. Getting buy-in from the key players in this transformation is essential before you move ahead.

Another important step at this stage is to build certain cross-functional teams. These rapid response teams must include people from different areas of the organization. Each team must be assigned to different departments and business functions to run a thorough examinations of all the major business functions throughout the company to identify issues and their root causes.

The main goals of this pre-planning stage can be summed up as follows:

• Getting the commitment of the entire organization to the transformation initiative;
• Detecting and addressing any resistance from employees to the upcoming change;
• Getting buy-in from key stakeholders and ensuring their support throughout the transformation effort;
• Breaking the inertia and gaining momentum for the transformation ahead
Getting an overall, general view of the problems faced by the organization from the top;
• Forming rapid response teams across all departments to drive change faster and much more efficiently.

Typically, during the first 90 days of the program, the organization will be juggling two priorities: fixing current issues and planning changes for the long term. In other words, the project team will be in a ‘reactive’ mode, understanding and fixing the pain-points of the current technology architecture, systems and processes. They will also enter a ‘proactive’ mode, simultaneously exploring opportunities to enhance the existing IT system and offerings, as well as business processes and culture, to meet evolving needs of customers, supply chain partners and business partners.

The business case for each priority must be defined to justify benefits and budget. After approval, procurement, development, research and other key activities can begin.

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Course Manual 2: Review Organizational Structure

By its very nature, a transformation affects the fundamental operations of the business at all levels of the organization. When the transformation is termed such, but the technology investment is planned for one or a few organizational units, it creates silos and is characterized by a non-coordinated approach to technology implementation. Here, the ‘transformation’ is opportunistic and tactical.

In the centralization model, digital initiatives are centralized in a single unit (such as the Digital Business Unit). This unit shares its resources with all other organizational units that require technology support, breaking silos and prioritizing digital initiatives. The overarching goal of this approach is to set the agenda on digital transformation.

An organization-wide IT transformation is enabled by the champion model. Under this model, all digital initiatives are communicated to all levels of the organization, with a focus on implementing key initiatives. It involves knowledge-sharing and exploring possibilities for digital transformation in line with the organization’s strategic goals.

Once employees start using digital technologies in their daily activities and a digital culture takes shape, a future transformation feels familiar and less intimidating. Embedding a digital culture means that employees are aware of the impact of technology on business and willing to adopt new tools that make a meaningful difference to how they work and deliver value. Transformation feels like ‘business as usual’.

Archetypes of the organizational structure for IT transformation

There are many different approaches to how an organization may bring its people together and establish coordination and decision-making mechanisms. Research group IDC identifies four archetypes of the organizational structure for digital transformation:

Digital Transformation Special Projects Team

Companies use this model during the discovery phase of the transformation, when the IT transformation mission is defined. It comprises higher-level executives that report directly to the CEO. Their objective is to define the organization’s digital mission by undertaking extensive research and determining the best ways to move from the existing culture to a digital culture.

Office of Digital Transformation

Companies that have defined their digital mission and now need to put a governance structure in place create a central group of executives who work closely with lines of business to determine what can be digitally transformed and how to plan governance. The Office of Digital Transformation is tasked with identifying priorities and the kind of coordination needed to implement them.

Embedded Digital Business

At this stage, the model changes from being centrally held to diverging towards the lines of business with the goal of making the IT transformation a part of the entire business. It is a challenging stage as it requires a significant amount of coordination, accountability from business lines, and unified efforts towards meeting a common strategy.

Digital Business Unit

Very large businesses steeped in bureaucratic practices may create a separate Digital Business Unit for the purpose of creating a disruptive business or offering. This model is commonly seen in Asia-Pacific (APAC) countries. At the end of the transformation journey, absorbing the group back into the organization can be difficult, a reason why it isn’t used very often.

Cross-functional teams

When the IT transformation takes a technology-first approach, the focus is on making technology upgrades to existing processes, usually without considering how those processes might need to shift or change in the future to better serve the end user. In a business-led approach, most of the attention is devoted to transforming the business model or operational structure without a thorough consideration of the role that technology plays. Consequently, the organization takes a narrow view of the initiative and misses out on making the best possible technology decisions.

A cross-functional approach acknowledges the mutual reliance between the technology and business side of the transformation. Prioritizing both can improve chances of a successful digital transformation. A group of people from different functional areas come together to form a cross-functional team. The merging of business and technology expertise leads to better problem-solving and creativity. Rather than competing for resources, the cross-functional team unites to plan a technology change through the optimal use of time, effort and money.

Developing a cross-functional team

Assemble the right mix of skills and capabilities: As a range of expertise is needed to lead the transformation, it is important to include employees who can make a real contribution. Apart from their background and role, consider their experience being a part of prior IT transformations at the company or at their previous employer. Cross-functional team members must be self-directed, taking initiative and moving the initiative along just like how they do within their business unit.

Establish clear goals: Everyone can work autonomously and do what they’re expected to do in their individual roles only if they’re clear about the initiative’s priorities and roadmap. Goal setting and budget approval should be early activities. As much as possible, the team must be able to begin work immediately, without having to wait for approvals or a finalization of project outcomes and schedule.

Communicate effectively: When cross-functional team members operate out of different offices, communication gaps tend to arise, and the project can suffer a slowdown. The use of collaboration tools, such as Zoom and Slack, ensures that communication is quick and frequent. To ensure that everyone stays on top of the project, a leadership role will be necessitated, as discussed below.

Choose a team leader: The leader gives the team direction as needed, as is responsible for ensuring that everyone stays accountable to the project.

Sometimes, cross-functional teams aren’t sufficiently motivated to maximize value from the transformation initiative. Framing the project not only in terms of the benefits to the organization but also the incentives for accomplishing successful transformation can spur motivation.

Cross-communication

Members of the cross-functional team contribute their expertise and do their share of the work independently. However, they must continue communicating throughout the planning, implementation and review phases. During planning, responsibilities are negotiated and each member’s stake in the initiative is clarified. Ideas are proposed and challenged, the peculiarities of individual contributions are made known, and priorities are restated.

When project activities and tasks are underway, progress and status update meetings tell everyone whether they are on schedule. Individual contributions come to light and any delays or conflicts – if they haven’t been communicated and resolved – are tackled. When cross-collaboration between two or more departments is needed to implement activities (such as selecting a software vendor), effective collaboration is imperative. If not, the project will not likely maintain the cadence needed to meet the agreed timelines.

So, cross-collaboration is inevitable, whether it occurs between departments as required, or during team meetings. Mutual trust and appreciation among team members encourages collaboration and avoids unnecessary work or delays arising from a lack of cross-communication. As mentioned previously, incentives for successful project completion can arouse motivation to perform and collaborate regardless of how existing relationships stand. The team leader should encourage feedback from everyone and focus on the positives.

Interdependent KPIs

There is some degree of interdependence in cross-functional teams. Everyone has the job of meeting common project goals. These goals should be articulated in terms of the measures of success, such as reducing internal overheads and improving customer satisfaction. Both the business and technology sides must work together to make the right procurement decisions, sharing the joys of success or burden of failure equally. Interdependent KPIs stimulate greater cohesion among team members, making them responsible for the same measures of success. They should have an objective view of what’s right for the organization, supporting and complementing each other to make success certain.

Examples of common IT transformation metrics

– External success (Net Promoter Score and feedback loops)
– Internal success (productivity of the workforce)
– Adoption rate
– Operational improvements
– Availability and reliability
– Time savings (ex: hours saved due to automating certain tasks)
– Revenue from any new digital initiatives launched as part of the transformation
– Team morale
– Rate of innovation
– Operating expenses

Undertaking a review of the organizational structure

With respect to IT transformation, the review will consider the strengths and weaknesses of the existing structure that support or impede communication, decision-making, cross-collaboration and other project activities. The high-level structure does not need to change drastically for the sake of the transformation. Any problem areas can be addressed to align to the project, and a comprehensive review launched later to decide whether fundamental changes must be made to the prevailing structure.

A technology transformation that requires inputs from decision-makers in various departments can be successful if each group can understand one another and work unitedly towards meeting the project’s strategic goals. If the organization has siloes, facilitating those important conversations will be difficult. An effective solution would be identifying a decision-maker who has experiences and relationships spanning different functions and geographies, and making him/her a part of the cross-functional team. If this isn’t possible, the intermediary should be brought in as and when required to help people from different functions or geographies collaborate with minimal disruption to their daily activities.

The intermediary acts as a bridge between team members or people who aren’t a part of the cross-functional team but must collaborate from time to time on the project milestones. This approach is effective when the transformation needs to happen quickly, as it allows disparate parties to get through to each other without having to invest in learning one another’s perspectives.

From a long-term perspective, the organization should consider hiring people with multifunctional and multicultural backgrounds who can build strong connections with people across various functional groups and geographies. They can then bring multiple parties together and help them form synergistic and lasting relationships.

A flexible structure that allows people to move into roles that provide them a broader role of the organization will help transformation and innovation goals. Working in different environments enables an understanding of different geographies and cultures, making it easier for people to collaborate and work together on initiaves.

Leaders can create the right perceptions around cross-functional collaboration by modeling the behaviors they want to see in employees. When leaders demonstrate curiosity and ask questions, they encourage others to follow suit.

It is important to learn how to ask the right questions. The information requested should serve a purpose, such as enabling a deep dive into an issue for informed, consensus-based decision-making. When asking questions, employees should take care to be respectful and cognizant of cultural differences. When interacting, assumptions and jargon may prevent one group or individual from getting across to the other effectively.

Explaining complex topics in simple terms and asking follow-up questions, such as ‘Can you help me fill in the gaps?’ or ‘This is what I’m hearing – can you confirm whether I’m on the right track?’ is helpful.

Creativity and innovation flourishes in an environment of continuous learning. Employees should be encouraged to tap into expertise outside the organization or even the industry. The challenge is to identify domains relevant to key business goals. This responsibility can be delegated to a mid-level manager, who can organize workshops or trainings for a few employees who will then apply that knowledge to a pilot project or disseminate it to others. A different approach would be to crowdsource ideas on the new skills they would like to acquire or conferences they might be interested in attending.

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Course Manual 3: Set Mission and Goals

The vision of an organization is a brief description of how the organization should look after at some point in the future. For instance, it should tell you where you see your company 5 years from now. Similarly, the vision for the IT transformation effort should tell you where the organization should be after the transformation has been implemented.

To make sure that you are setting relevant and correct goals for the IT transformation initiative, it is important to understand how digital technology is impacting the industry. Technology can have different roles in different industries. They may also have evolved to different levels. While in some industries, digital technology may still be in a nascent, emerging stage, in some others it could be far more advanced.

You need to understand where the industry is currently in terms of IT use and where your organization stands with respect to the industry standards. It is important to see whether the direction in which digital technology is moving in the industry is aligned with your organization’s goals. Not all IT tools that other companies in the industry are using may be relevant or affordable for you. Knowing what the industry standards prescribe and what your organization needs will help you make better decisions for the transformation initiative. It will help you establish realistic, relevant, and attainable goals as well.

Review your company’s mission and vision statements to ensure your goals are aligned with them

The IT transformation aims to implement and integrate new technology into all areas of the business. And to make sure that you cover all areas of your business when setting the goals, the first place to start is your organization’s mission and vision statements. Keep in mind that we are referring to the organization’s mission and vision statements here and not those of the transformation initiative.

You need to review the mission and vision of your company to see if there is any need to modify them to include new value streams that the digital transformation can create. You need to ask a few important questions at this stage. Firstly, is there any need to rephrase the company’s mission statement so that it includes any new impacts that digital innovation might bring forth? Secondly, is the digital transformation going to take the company closer to its vision? If not, reconsider the scope of the transformation to ensure that it is aligned with the company’s mission, vision and strategic objectives. Perhaps a whole company transformation is not needed, but a particular division is in desperate need of an overhaul. An IT transformation of a relatively autonomous business unit follows the same process.

Answering these questions will enable you to judge whether your IT transformation goals are aligned with the organization’s goals as a whole. Every individual action taken during the transformation should, in some way, contribute to the vision and mission of the company.

Identify the key value drivers in your organization and your industry

Every industry has some key value indicators. Your digital transformation goals will depend on how the new technology can change the performance of these key value indicators. For instance, if your company works in the oil and gas industry, some of the key value drivers of this industry can be safety, crude oil processing, labor, resources, and capital. You need to see how the technology you plan to adopt will improve any of these value areas.

Digital transformation generally provides the following main avenues of improvement – automation, collaboration, decision making, and connectivity. There are other aspects too but these are usually the main advantages of an IT transformation. You need to see how these avenues are linked to the key value drivers. That will give you an idea of how the transformation will help solve complex problems and drive growth. Finding these interconnections will also help you set better goals for the transformation.

Analyze how competitors have gone about transforming their technology, and its impact on their bottom line and market competitiveness. Have you lost clients or business partners because your close competitors are more technologically proficient? What is your position relative to comparable companies when it comes to technology infrastructure and capabilities? These findings can also be embedded into the transformation objectives.

Define the objectives of IT transformation

While the goals of the IT transformation effort cover the broader aspects of the business, objectives are much smaller milestones that you need to reach to fulfill the goals. Once the company’s priorities, key value drivers, and avenues for growth are identified, you can go on to set some measurable objectives. These objectives will guide the IT transformation process.

To set the objectives for the transformation initiative:

– Identify the organization’s pain points and gaps between the current state and the desired future state;

– Find out what technologies are available that can help address these pain points;

– Define what your organization’s ideal digital future looks like;

– Define how you plan to attain this ideal state;

– Identify who needs to be empowered through training and skill development to carry out the transformation successfully.

It is important that this brainstorming session stays focused on the target. Getting 3 to 5 measurable objectives for every business area out of this introspection is enough to guide the teams for successful implementation. Adding too many objectives will only take the attention away from the priorities and distribute the efforts which might dilute the impact of the transformation.

From these objectives, you can form the IT transformation goals for the overall project. For instance, let us consider the area of customer service. Say you have identified a few key objectives in this area, such as:

– Introduce chatbots to reduce customer waiting time;

– Introduce an automated ticketing system for customer complaints;

– Gather data-driven customer insights for better personalization;

– Adopt a multi-channel approach to customer relationship management;

– Deploy a new CRM tool.

These are the micro-goals that guide your effort to achieve the bigger goal in customer service, which could be to “Improve customer experience through the use of new, up-to-date technology tools”. That is how your measurable objectives help you define your IT transformation goals.

Common digital transformation goals relevant to most industries

The IT transformation goals will normally vary from one organization to another depending on their priorities, capabilities, and functioning. They also vary across industries. But there are some common IT transformation goals that are important to almost every industry and organization irrespective of what they deal in.

Here are some of these goals of a digital transformation that may be relevant to your organization as well.

Encourage and improve collaboration across departments

An effective digital transformation is required to break the barriers to communication across all departments and all levels of the organization. It should be aimed at improving the company culture as well as break the silos in the organizational structure, allowing easy collaboration among people from various departments. If the people can communicate better and work together productively, without a lot of back and forth, the IT transformation can be considered successful.

Increase productivity and efficiency

This is by far one of the most sought-after goals of IT transformation in any organization. IT transformation is meant to increase productivity in the organization if nothing else. The introduction of new technology and tools should optimize the processes and improve workflows, making them much smoother, faster, and efficient.

IT transformation should reduce the amount of paperwork required in the organization and help make a shift towards digital workflows. This not only saves time but allows employees to focus on other, more value adding work. The improved productivity and efficiency allow projects and tasks to move towards completion much faster.

Improve customer service and satisfaction

Customers are definitely one of the most important stakeholders in a company. So, focusing on customer satisfaction is one of the top priorities in any initiative. The IT transformation effort should also enable your organization to provide better customer service and improve customer experience. Not only does it help improve sales and revenue but also improves your brand image among existing and prospective customers.

Improve processes and competencies

The intensive change in business activities and workflows that IT transformation can bring about should be able to optimize the processes and improve competencies within the organization. The IT transformation should prepare the organization for further disruptions that are brought about by fast-evolving technology and continuously improve its processes to stay in the competition.

Increase top-line growth

The primary aim of every business is usually the same – to increase sales and revenue. The IT transformation initiative should help your organization fulfill this aim. The technology you adopt should improve customer interactions and make purchases and transactions easy to drive sales. Simplifying the process of buying and completing payments adds to the customer experience and gives you a competitive advantage. Up-selling and cross-selling other products that your customers need or want is another revenue enhancing initiative that is enabled by technology.

Key starting points for IT transformation goal setting

While every organization is different, they all need to focus on some key starting points when setting their transformation goals. Understanding your current state of IT adoption in key areas can help you decide which goals to choose.

Connected Technologies

The first starting point to review is where your organization stands in terms of connected technologies. By connected technologies, we mean technologies that create a network throughout the organization allowing an easier flow of information and tasks. These can include cloud technologies, Internet of Things, and more. These technologies make data accessible to all and make business processes much more transparent.

Autonomous Technologies

Autonomous technology is the technology that can work on its own once deployed. These technology tools do not require human intervention to perform their assigned tasks. Technologies like Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning are helping companies process customer data to create highly targeted campaigns. Automation is improving productivity and being extensively used in CRM to manage interactions with customers. You need to assess where your organization stands in terms of autonomous technology usage, and whether it is a priority for your company to invest in these technologies to enable future growth.

Programmable Technologies

Lastly, there are programmable technologies that can be programmed to perform specific tasks, such as creating a communication link between two different apps.

In the process of goal setting for your IT transformation effort, you need to assess the current state of your organization to see whether these technologies are in use in the organization. If yes, then are they up-to-date and adding value to the processes they are intended to assist? If these technologies are not in use, do you need to introduce them into the system and how is that going to help the organization? Based on these insights, you can decide what your technology goals should be.

Getting buy-in from key stakeholders for setting the transformation goals

Setting the goals for the IT transformation initiative is not a one-person task. It requires inputs from various people working at various levels within the organization. That is why it is important to get buy-in from some key stakeholders in the business and use their knowledge and experience to help decide on more achievable goals.

A few of the key stakeholders to be included in the goal setting process are listed below. Your list may include these and quite likely others as well.

Top management

The top management of the organization is the ones who approve projects and secure funding. It is very important to get buy-in from this section of people at the very beginning of the transformation process. Their support in planning and goal setting can make the job a lot easier, as there are fewer chances of projects getting rejected later. The influence of the top management can go a long way in making the transformation effort a success.

Employees on the frontline

While it would be challenging and costly to involve all employees in the decision making or goal setting process, input from frontline employees is very important to the success of the transformation efforts. Employees working on the frontline are the ones who have first-hand experience of the processes. They are in the best position to tell you what is lacking in the system and what needs to be improved. Key frontline workers (knowledgeable, well-respected by their co-workers) should also be involved in goal setting not only for their knowledge, but also because their buy-in to the transformation goals can help tremendously with the organizational change management efforts when new technologies are implemented. They may become key change champions for their business unit.

IT department

The involvement of the IT department in the goal setting process is critically important because these are the people who will be working on the implementation of the new technologies. They also have the technical expertise to identify architectural and integration challenges of different technology solutions and can provide strategic advice on where technology is going. They will be responsible for troubleshooting during the transformation and can help identify and eliminate roadblocks in the process as well. IT people will also be the ones you have to turn to for integrating the new tools with the existing ones.

Finance department

The digital transformation can impact the revenue generation of the organization and change how transactions are made. Digital transformation can reduce fraud and make payments more secure. These factors are of interest to the finance teams and they need to be on board as well during the goal setting process to offer their inputs.

HR department

The IT transformation initiative will require people to carry out the tasks at hand. People have to be either shuffled within the organization or fresh talent has to be hired. The IT transformation process will be a challenging task for most employees and the HR department is responsible for seeing to it that employees are utilized in an optimal way. Overburdening some people and not using the skills of others at all can create dissatisfaction and conflict, throwing the whole initiative off balance. That is why HR has to be aware of the transformation goals so that they can help decide where fresh talent needs to be acquired and where existing human resources can be better utilized. Job descriptions or role descriptions may also have to be written, and compensation may be impacted, which typically involves HR.

Marketing team

The marketing team works on creating targeted campaigns for maximum engagement with customers. They can benefit a lot from the digital transformation initiative as the tools and technology that are introduced can help them make data-driven decisions for better segmentation and targeting. It is important to solicit their inputs in the goal setting process as well.

It is essential to secure buy-in from all of these areas from the start so that each stakeholder understands their role in the transformation initiative, as well as what they are going to gain from it.

Milestones

Project milestones will be known to project participants and must be clarified as needed in the early stages of the project. The project scope will be outlined in the charter. It will include all related activities, resources, deliverables and timelines. The project must define, track and manage milestones.

Milestones are checkpoints in the project that track progress. Two types of milestones can be identified in an IT transformation plan. The project team can set internal milestones to break up a complex deliverable into its constituent parts. Milestones on the project timeline (indicated in project roadmap) indicate a change in the project’s phase.

Note that while deliverables are usually used in the context of work done for clients, such as creating a software application or providing a new service to a business partner. The deliverable should be within the scope of the project and play a role in achieving the project’s objectives. In the IT transformation plan, deliverables pertain to the overall work done to accomplish the desired technology-related changes for different departments or strategic business units, such as accounting and finance transformation, supply chain transformation or marketing transformation.

The transformation roadmap, strategy document, risk register, resource allocation framework and any other structured information and guidance for how to realize the desired future state, can also be termed as ‘deliverables’. So, it is a matter of semantics.

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Course Manual 4: Plans and Timelines

The IT transformation plan is the roadmap for the work that must be executed in the coming months. It will consist of a logical sequence of activities planned in collaboration with decision-makers from various departments. The plan will draw upon best practices from industry and department(s) that have managed transformation efforts. The outcome will be a new model for IT management and delivery.

For example, the company may establish a new IT purchasing model that focuses on purchasing services instead of infrastructure. The following aspects will be defined for each service area: the price representing the total cost of ownership, desired level of performance, and a delivery schedule that will align with project timelines. The model may aim to meet customers’ and supply chain partners’ expectations for the accessibility, availability and reliability of information resources, as well as internal company needs.

Details of how the plan is to be executed will be fleshed out during this phase and in the coming months as implementation begins in full swing. They will be supplemented with information on the changes to organizational structure (if any) needed to support the new IT model.

Principles for modernizing the organization’s IT

Findings of IT transformations at companies suggest that efforts fare better when they follow certain principles. The principles that are common to successful IT modernizations are as follows:

Prioritizing customer value: The business case for IT modernization should explicitly state the value to the customer, whether it is in terms of improving efficiency, experience or quality, among other outcomes. Ask what problems the change is expected to solve and how it will deliver value to customers.

Simplifying architecture: The evolution of technologies has been accompanied by an evolution of the architecture underlying them. However, the underlying architecture is often changed haphazardly and in an unplanned, as-needed manner, resulting in a complex network of technologies. The standardization of software code and integration standards have enabled system interactions without the need for bespoke designs, while Application Program Interfaces (APIs) have ensured seamless interactions between data, applications and devices. A simplified architecture helps organizations to adopt the infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) model and also software as a service (SaaS) model to realize cost efficiencies while leveraging the benefits the software and hardware platforms provide.

Designing for flexibility and speed: The continually changing business environment requires organizations to enhance their products, innovate and adopt emerging best practices. Their systems should also be flexible enough to accommodate changes. Modular systems are flexible and accommodate a range of connection and configuration possibilities. Deploying future-ready IT systems can help the organization make the necessary operational changes quickly. Organizations should review the constraints of current systems in terms of how swiftly change strategies can be executed. Unexpected changes encountered in the past can also inform the design of future-ready IT systems.

Enhancing distinctive capabilities: Legacy systems cannot be replaced in one go. Companies that organize their IT modernization by project achieve short-term goals but miss out on building capabilities that create long-term value. The modernization initiative should enhance the organization’s key capabilities, improving its strength in specific categories that have a direct impact on financial performance. For example, implementing new technologies to strengthen a distinctive capability such as rapid-response manufacturing can increase customer satisfaction and reinforce the company’s competitive position. Pertinent inquiries will revolve around the critical capabilities that deliver value and how the IT modernization will enhance these capabilities.

Investing in the right resources: The team overseeing the transformation initiative must be sufficiently qualified to fulfil expectations. Choose people that have experience managing or serving as key contributors to similar IT transformations. They should have a strong desire for change and a high tolerance from complex, ambiguous situations. The organization must be clear on how financial resources will be spent – such as on high-priority modernization areas – and where allocation of finances should not occur. Identify the IT investments that can generate the greatest return, how to plan resources to support the transformation and run the business, and the skills associated with the new systems.

Managing risk

The IT transformation must account for risks and prepare accommodation strategies. As an example, there is a risk of continuing to use duplicative IT infrastructure, making it difficult to achieve the planned savings. The right governance structure can keep the focus of the transformation on eliminating waste.

The case for agile transformation

The Agile methodology, which is most commonly associated with software development, also serves as an effective approach to digital transformation, offering the benefits discussed below:

Flexibility: Agile accepts changes after implementation has begun. It can adapt to changes in business priorities while maintaining a constant and ongoing pace on the project tasks.

Continuous improvement: Regular iterations allow teams to learn and improve continuously, building individual and team knowledge. This learning can be applied to each stage of the initiative to drive the best possible outcomes.

Frequent value: Agile delivers small chunks of value quickly and consistently as the project progresses. As the focus is on realizing value early, the risks associated with development are smaller and the organization may not need to wait to see value months after implementation.

Cost control: Structured yet flexible processes allow Agile teams to anticipate the amount of work that must be accomplished, making it possible to refine budgets on a regular basis and incorporate changes without high costs.

Transparency: Agile creates highly visible processes, demands regular updates and keeps all stakeholders informed through progress reports/charts, allowing expectations to be managed at all stages and levels of the initiative.

Boosts team morale: The opportunity to share knowledge, learn continuously, and self-manage accelerates work velocity. By encouraging creativity and innovation, Agile also has a positive and uplifting effect on the project team.

Servant Leadership: The role of leaders in an agile environment is to support the agile teams, and to address and remove roadblocks as they arise. The servant leader’s role is to meet the needs of the team, to ensure they have what they need to deliver the planned results. Typically, the agile team identifies “blockers” to their performance or delivery (such as the need for additional resources, training, agile coaching, etc.). The leader listens and supports the team by removing the blockers to the extent possible. The leader may also suggest alternatives to mitigate the need. Servant leadership is a complete change from the “command and control” model that is often thought to be a leader’s role.

Value pools involved in agile digital transformation

People: Hidden talent is often underappreciated by organizations pursuing digital transformation. Tech talent in the organization’s existing workforce can play an important role in leading innovation initiatives.

Expertise: Hidden expertise in various areas of the organization must be captured to design, plan and execute effective transformation tactics and strategies. The organization can conduct a talent audit to unearth unexploited expertise and gaining a much clearer idea of the digital skills gap.

Assets: Certain organizational assets support digital transformation initiatives, such as by minimizing risks or acting as a source of monetization. They can be the missing piece of the innovation puzzle and should therefore be identified and leveraged proactively.

Smart Partnerships: Smart partnerships propel IT transformation. The right partners bring new technology capabilities, may help the organization optimize technology or process costs, and support faster implementation of program tasks or innovations.

The Agile methodology increases the quality of solutions and helps anticipate as well as accept changes that arise on the journey. The main goal of agile is to increase “speed to value”, by frequently delivering incremental value. Consideration of using an agile approach that make sense for and can be easily incorporated into IT transformation planning should be decided upon at an early stage. If agile is new to the organization, initial training and ongoing coaching will be needed to help ensure success.

The IT transformation roadmap

The transformation can be executed in phases. Each phase will have its focus areas, milestones and timelines. The first phase can concentrate on developing technology acquisition plans, funding the project and piloting services to validate assumptions. Subsequent phases can deal with the delivery of services, aligning customers and supply chain partners with the changes, achieving a steady state of operations and implementing improvements.

What is a roadmap?

A roadmap provides the big picture, a bird’s eye view of a plan or strategy. It shows how different phases of a plan or parts of a strategy are connected together, and how they align with the overarching goal.

When teams execute IT transformation, they may get involved in their day-to-day tasks and lose sight of the big picture. A roadmap keeps everyone attuned to the high-level plan and allows them a better understanding of how their efforts are contributing to the strategic goal of the transformation.

A roadmap can be created for plan or strategy execution at the organizational and departmental levels. Any initiative that has an impact on the organization’s goals can be visualized through a roadmap. As a communication tool, the roadmap offers a broad picture rather than granular details, conveying the following information:

Strategic alignment with business goals: Teams are aware of the organization’s strategic goals. They will want to know how the IT transformation contributes to those goals.

OKRs and resources: A transformation is a big deal, with aggressive objectives and key results! A clear idea of how the OKRs will be achieved and the resources required to achieve them is necessary.

Time estimates: Which milestones must be achieved sooner and which ones can be targeted later? The roadmap should estimate the days, months or roughly indicate timelines for deliverables (ex: ‘now’, ‘sooner’, ‘later’).

Team interactions: What kind of dependencies between teams or departments will the transformation require? The cross-functional project team and extent of collaboration must be planned accordingly.

What does a good roadmap look like?

A transformation plan takes time to develop, appearing ambiguous and complex in its early stages. A flexible roadmap accounts for uncertainties and adjusts based on realities. When various stakeholders enter the picture, their concerns, ideas and objections refine the roadmap, which means that the roadmap should be collaborative.

The roadmap is a business case for transformation as well as a visual communication tool. An effective roadmap builds consensus and alignment among teams, improves communication across teams, and breaks organizational siloes. Therefore, it should be visually pleasing and present the logic and impact of transformation as clearly and succinctly as possible.

Creating a roadmap

Assess the current state: Where does the organization stand today in terms of IT software applications, infrastructure, processes and services? Are existing IT strategies impacting strategic goals? If not, they must be modified to serve their purpose and support the transformation being planned. Use Porter’s Five Forces or perform a SWOT Analysis to evaluate your present situation and determine the areas to focus on.

Establish what you want to achieve: How will outcomes from the transformation be measured? You don’t have to go into the details, but assign OKRs, KPIs and business metrics accordingly. Next, decide how human and financial resources will be prioritized. Finally, reach a consensus on how progress will be tracked as the transformation takes shape.

Determine the steps or initiatives of each team: An IT transformation affects everyone in the organization. It requires inputs and feedback from decision-makers at various levels of the organization and at the department levels. The participation and expectation from stakeholders should be clear from the beginning.

A transformation roadmap has four tracks: people, process and technology. The people track is about ensuring you have the right people in the right seats with the right skills both during the transformation efforts, as well as post-transformation. Ensuring you have the right people leading and supporting the teams, as well as the right team members executing on transformation initiatives are critical to the successful delivery of the vision. A roadmap item may include designing a new organizational structure and roles needed in post-transformation.

On the technology front, addressing the technology needs of the people – employees, customers and supply chain partners. How can the IT strategy enable or improve cross-functional collaboration? What digital channels and tools can boost customer engagement and communication? Are there tools to simplify the exchange of information between the company and its supplier partners? Are their data siloes that need to be torn down to make data available across the organization? How would adopting predictive analytics and business intelligence tools be used to generate rich insights and drive faster decision-making from the organization’s data? There are likely many opportunities for technology to improve the business processes and customer experience. Priorities will need to be established to implement those with the highest payback first.

The process track delves into the process changes needed during the IT transformation, such as changing workflow to maximize efficiency, shortening development times or cutting the cost from certain processes by x%. Moving to an agile process or expanding existing agile use in delivering technology projects is a good example. Redesigning a business process to cut out unnecessary steps and reduce handoffs is another example. IT transformation requires reviewing and redesigning (if needed) existing processes to improve efficiency and leverage the new technologies being deployed.

IT transformation timeline

How long does IT transformation take? This question is admittedly of great interest to shareholders and board members because the necessary investment has to be accounted for. And the investment, in most cases, is significant. Companies embarking on transformation initiatives may report lower profits for a few years. The payback may include: better customer satisfaction and improved loyalty, operational efficiencies that increase margins, and new capabilities that provide competitive advantage. In extreme cases, the IT transformation may be the key to saving the company from falling profits and loss of market share to competitors.

A foundation for transformation initiatives

IT transformation does not happen in a month or even a year. A large-scale digital transformation, on average, takes five years. The organization builds out the necessary capabilities, develops new products and launches transformation initiatives. The size of the organization also plays a role. Small companies and start-ups are generally nimbler compared to large enterprises with several chains of command.

The first 100 days are the most crucial

Badly managed IT transformations can stall the project. If everything goes smoothly during the first 90-100 days of the initiative, it is most likely to scale and be successful. Careful planning and management is imperative during the early stages of the project. A 90-day plan sets the vision and direction, aiding collaboration, swift decisions and the implementation of key transformation-enabling activities.

Inertia is not an option

Companies often find themselves playing ‘catch-up’ in an age of rapid pace of technological development. IT is more apt to view IT transformation in terms of a constant journey rather than a destination. A mindset of ‘think big, start small and scale quickly’ can help organizations respond to changes in their industry and adopt technologies that make a meaningful difference to their bottom line and growth.

Anticipating future technology changes is challenging

A new technology’s value proposition cannot be fully understood until it has disrupted an industry. Rather than trying to predict future technology and market changes, organizations should be able to respond to new market opportunities. Some areas to focus on include operations, platforms and culture.

A strong operational backbone gives an organization an advantage over competitors that haven’t established a foundation of operational excellence. Accurate customer and supplier data, and disciplined, transparent processes are vital to the success of transformation initiatives.

If the operational backbone supports business processes, the digital offerings platform enables the integration and configuration of the digital solutions adopted as part of the transformation. It functions as a repository for reusable business components.

Organizational culture plays an important role in IT transformation. Data-driven decision making, for instance, allows cross-functional teams to make technology purchases and evaluate supplier relationships based on facts and information. A culture of experimentation and risk-taking encourages innovation and creative partnerships. Experimentation is most useful to help teams eliminate unfavorable options quickly and build on successful experiments.

Well established companies’ transformation challenges are exacerbated by legacy systems and processes. In contrast, start-ups and smaller players launch with the newest technologies, skipping over generations of old technologies that established companies must deal with. The established companies have the advantage of many years of experience, and generally deeper pockets. It may make more sense for large established companies to transform over time, focusing on their area of largest pain or largest potential gain. Getting started on the transformation is imperative to business sustainability, before the newcomers become the market leaders (e.g. Amazon, Apple, Google, etc.).

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Course Manual 5: Best Activities to Pursue

There are certain activities that need to be pursued first. There will be some others that can wait until the end. Some activities will make the transformation initiative more streamlined. The transformation leader is likely to be drowned in a massive to-do list, but it is up to the leaders and the change managers to decide which activities are essential and which are not.

This decision must be made during the planning stage itself so that no time and resources are lost in unnecessary or unproductive activity. The best activities to pursue during the IT transformation process will vary from one organization to another, depending on their goals and needs.

Some activities are essential to all organizations undergoing digital transformation, as discussed further.

Leveraging digital technologies that people want

The first and most important activity to undertake is deciding on the technologies and tools you plan to adopt in the digital transformation of your organization. It is best to invest in technologies that are proven to be effective and useful. This requires some research on the part of the transformation teams to find out which technologies have helped other organizations transform.

They also need to find out what people want. People in this regard refers to both internal and external consumers. Internal consumers refer to the employees who will be using this technology. External consumers are your customers, whose experience with your brand will depend on the technologies you choose. Leveraging the right digital technologies can actually draw more customers to you as well as improve productivity within your business.

Along with leveraging the right technologies, it is also important to build a strategy on how to best utilize these tools. You need to determine where and how these tools can make an impact and derive maximum advantage from the data and information that these tools gather for you.

Form an R&D team to see what existing systems can be improved

While you may decide to partner with a reliable consulting firm or IT supplier to help design and develop your technology solutions during the IT transformation, it is important for you to have an internal research and development team as well. The internal R&D team can give valuable insights and work on optimizing the existing technologies in the company. They can add new functionalities to and improve the performance of existing systems, which may significantly reduce the cost of acquiring new technology.

The R&D team can also help the company research the current market trends and industry standards in technology and suggest how to eliminate obsolete systems and replace them with newer, more cost-effective options. Having an internal tech team encourages innovation and helps the company stay up-to-date with the changes in the market, even after the IT transformation is complete.

Hire fresh talent to meet new skill requirements

The transformation effort will give rise to new skill requirements. For an organization that is undergoing a large-scale IT transformation for the first time, it is possible that there will be a huge skill gap. In such a case, it becomes important to fill this gap and hire fresh talent with the required skills to carry out and sustain the IT transformation process.

IT transformation will usually require skills in the relatively new areas such as DevOps, data analytics, UX and UI design, digital marketing and so on. Existing manpower may not be equipped with these skills and cannot be used in these areas effectively (at least initially). It is the job of the transformation leadership to delegate tasks according to employees’ skillsets and decide whose skills can be best used in which areas. Hiring new employees and/or skilled consultants, and then training existing staff can be a good strategy to upskill your team while building employee loyalty. Investing in your people will pay dividends with lower employee turnover and higher job satisfaction and morale. Carefully considering current employees’ skills and interests, and deciding upon the right mix of hiring and training can lead to optimal results for the long term.

Use data analytics to improve decision making in the transformation initiative

Data analytics is a very important tool in today’s digital enterprises. Data can bring you extremely valuable insights on customer preferences, market demands, industry trends, technology trends and a lot more. That makes it imperative to use data analytics in your decision-making process during the IT transformation planning stage.

The amount of data that is available and can be gathered (or purchased) today is incredible. There are a lot of crucial questions that this data can answer for you. For example, what do the customers expect from a company like yours? What is the recent addition to the technology tools that your competitors are using? What is the upcoming market trend that your organization should be prepared for? The answers to these kinds of questions can help you decide which tools your business needs and what should be prioritized highest.

So, gathering all the data you can, organizing them and analyzing them with the help of a data analysis software can give you a competitive advantage.

Learn from businesses that have successfully implemented IT transformation

Organizations that have already carried out IT transformation successfully are in the best position to tell you how it is done. It is always a good idea to learn from such organizations. It is best if you can get the first-hand information from the organization itself. Many organizations are willing to help and enjoy sharing their story. You can get in touch with them seeking some guidance.

But there will be others who may not want to let out their secrets, particularly if you are a competitor. Still, there are a lot of other sources where you can learn how organizations have achieved success in IT transformations, even if you can’t achieve a one-on-one interaction. There are several case studies of successful transformation initiatives. There are also interviews and books to learn from. Engage your team to explore possible sources and identify the common elements that have led these organizations to success.

Encourage communication between IT and other departments

Just because it is an IT transformation initiative, does not mean it is the job of the IT department alone. This transformation is going to affect everyone in the organization. That is why it is important that communication is open among all departments, particularly with IT.

Keeping an open communication policy helps enable sharing of information easily and effectively. In case of any problems in implementation or use, employees should be able to inform the IT department easily. Any barriers to communication must brought down in the initial stages of the transformation initiative itself, so that any issues are addressed immediately and the transformation can proceed smoothly.

Use new digital platforms for ease of communication

In order to make interdepartmental communication easier, you can use new technology platforms to keep employees engaged. Video conference, group chats and other such collaboration tools can be introduced in the initial stages of the IT transformation effort to enhance communication among team members. These tools enable them to interact remotely from their desks and can even help break the ice before any formal in-person meetings. Employees can contact each other any time during the working day to discuss problems and issues. It can also make data and document sharing faster and easier to aid their conversations.

Address customer needs in the IT transformation strategy

One of the primary goals of the IT transformation initiative in any organization is improving the customer experience. Since customers are such important stakeholders in this digital transformation effort, it is important that their interests are kept in mind when building the transformation strategy. Organizations have to understand customer pain points as well as customer demands to be able to build a strategy that addresses them.

The technology tools that are adopted should be chosen with an aim to improve the customer experience. The applications deployed on the customer end should be user-friendly and make the experience worthwhile for them. These tools should make it easier for customers to interact with the business.

It is also important to use customer data to improve customer experience. Tools powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning can analyze customer data to determine customer preferences and personalize their experiences to keep them engaged.

The best way to add more value to the customer’s experience is by adding value across all the processes and systems that lead to the final product or service. When the entire process is delivering quality at every stage, the end product has to have greater value as well.

Revisit company policies

In any transformation process, it is very important that the organization’s policies are supportive of the change that is taking place. Quite often organizational policies themselves are a roadblock in the path of change. There is already some natural resistance to change from employees, and if the company policies do not encourage the adoption of new technologies and skills, overcoming this resistance becomes far more difficult.

Reconsidering and tweaking the organizational policies to accept the transformation better can bring about a cultural change in the company. You can start with small changes to the processes that will gradually turn into a routine as more and more employees are encouraged to pick them up.

For instance, consider the simple change in policy of marking their daily attendance by logging into the system which they earlier did by signing on a register, say. This is something employees won’t see as much of a task but will bring them onboard the transformation one step at a time. Or, say, all employees need to now apply for leaves on the employee portal instead of submitting physical applications to the HR. These are minor changes that will accustom them to the new digital-first culture that the company is introducing.

The types of changes you need to make to the policies will, of course, depend on the kind of changes you are implementing.

Choose IT solutions providers carefully

Most of your IT solutions in the IT transformation initiative will likely be provided by a third-party. In-house developed solutions are neither feasible nor economic for many organizations. You may require solutions in software, strategy, design, deployment and more. But when you do choose IT solution providers, it is best to exercise some caution. There will be hundreds of vendors offering similar solutions with similar features. It is extremely important that any third party you deal with is reliable and trustworthy.

Vendors are going to be an important part of your transformation initiative and have a major role to play in its success or failure. In this case, it is a good idea to rely on client reviews and recommendations. Take inputs from any partners who may know several IT solutions providers. Involve your IT experts on staff in the evaluation process and listen when they raise concerns. Always remember that the vendor’s job is to sell their product or service. They will not necessarily tell you why their product is not the best fit, or that a competitor’s product is better for your needs and your existing architecture. Your own business and IT staff should know your needs, the current state, any planned changes, etc., and have the best interests of your company in mind.

Set up meetings with all third-party vendors that you shortlist and have a detailed chat about what they offer. Include key subject matter experts from the impacted business and IT. Study their portfolios, go through their customer reviews and conduct a thorough background search to see if they have a good professional history. In other words, you should do your homework to find the best IT solutions provider for the transformation effort that you are working so hard for.

Draw away from legacy systems and experiment

Often, companies rely a little too much on legacy systems and spend too much time and effort to improve and upgrade them. But the market demands newer solutions. Sticking to the legacy systems can be a wrong choice when it comes to competing in the market. Customers want to deal with companies that apply the latest in technology – particularly customer-facing technology. Customer expectations are ever rising as dot com companies innovate and enhance the customer experience. As your customers have a great experience from home as a consumer, they want that same great experience at work when dealing with a vendor/supplier. For example, when shopping online consumers expect to: quickly find the product/service information they need to make a decision, check customer reviews, compare with competitor offerings, ask questions and receive a timely (or immediate) response, buy the product at the moment they make their decision, receive the product within a few days (with free or low cost shipping), easily return the product if they aren’t happy. These are base expectations today. How does your customer’s buying process compare? How are your competitors’ customer experience? Can your legacy systems meet your customers’ rising expectations? How can you use the IT Transformation to improve your customer experience?

Rather than assuming your legacy systems are working fine, find out how other companies are engaging customers with their improved technology tools. Gather data to make an informed decision on whether newer technology would be a good investment to reach the desired results and achieve your future state vision.

Focus on improving logistics and supply chain

The digital transformation process is meant to improve the speed at which value is delivered to the customer. It is also supposed to minimize the time to market for a product or service. So, unless you are focusing on the logistics, your IT transformation effort cannot be considered a success.

The technology that you introduce has to improve speed and reliability of logistics. It should also focus on improving the efficiency of the supply chain.

Address employees’ fear of being replaced by technology

One of the major reasons why many employees resist a digital transformation is because they fear losing their jobs. It is true that technology has replaced a number of functions that were earlier performed by humans. It is legitimate for your employees to be worried that the digital transformation can threaten their livelihood.

It is the job of the transformation leadership and the organization’s management to recognize these fears and address them. They should emphasize how the IT transformation can actually be an opportunity for growth for the employees, allowing them to learn new skills and upgrade their knowledge base.

The leadership should help employees realize their worth and explain to them how they can contribute to the digital transformation. Employees should be able to connect their skills and strengths to the digital transformation process. This help them see the IT transformation as an opportunity for honing what they are already good at or learning a newer marketable skill, both of which make then more valuable as an employee and in the marketplace.

Digital transformation requires a lot of groundwork before the actual transformation effort starts. The 90-day plan provides time to map out the preparatory work and identify what needs to be done at the fundamental level to ensure success of the IT transformation initiative.

Companies that have seen success with IT transformation have always worked from the inside out. They have focused on getting everyone, from the top to the bottom, onboard and changing the mindset of people to help them adapt to change. They have focused on gradually changing the organizational culture and improve their processes before deciding on tools and technology to implement. The decisions on which technology to use and how to use it is driven by what people want in these organizations instead of technology driving the people.

All of the activities listed above also have a people-first approach, be it customers, employees or other stakeholders. Planning out these activities in advance can ensure an easier execution of the IT transformation strategy.

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Course Manual 6: Competitor Assessment

Competitor assessment is a tool to identify current and potential competitors and evaluate their strengths and weaknesses. It also involves researching competitors’ companies, products, sales, and marketing strategies to create solid business strategies to beat the competition.

Competitor assessment can help businesses understand the way their competitors work and identify potential opportunities to outperform them. It also allows them to stay atop industry trends and ensure that their products and services meet and exceed industry standards.

How to conduct a competitor assessment?

For an effective competitor assessment, you may follow the steps below:

Identify your competitors.

Your first step is to figure out who your competitors really are. There may be businesses similar to yours, but they need not always be your competitors. Hence, what may work for their business may not work for yours.

In essence, competitors may be divided into two categories- direct and indirect. Direct competitors are those that operate in the same area as you and offer a similar product or service as yours. An indirect competitor does not provide the same products as your business, but they could easily expand their offering to satisfy your customers’ needs.

When doing a competitor assessment, businesses should focus on direct competitors, but keep indirect competitors on a ‘watch list’. To cite an example, let’s say two brands sell clothes on a monthly subscription basis and serve a similar target audience. However, the actual clothes, which are their products, are quite different. One of them may sell trendy casual outfits, while the other may only sell fitness-centric attire. By having clothes delivered right to a customer’s doorstep, both these brands are satisfying the same need, but since their clothes are entirely different, these brands are indirect competitors.

Does that mean you should pay absolutely no attention to indirect competitors? No. Your indirect competitors could easily switch over to the direct competitor zone anytime. This is exactly why a competitor assessment is not a one-time activity. Businesses should routinely conduct competitor assessments to be aware of market changes before it is too late.

Determine the products that your competitors offer.

For an effective competitor assessment, you should analyze the complete product line of your competitors. You should also check the quality of the products and services that they are offering while making a note of their pricing structure and any discounts that they may be offering their customers.

Analyzing their product lineup and pricing structure will help you analyze which of your competitors are low-cost providers and which are high-cost. You will also be able to identify which of them work on volume sales and what is their market share. You will also be able to understand how they distribute their products or services and how they differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Analyze your competitor’s sales strategies.

An important part of competitor assessment is analyzing your competitor’s sales strategy, but it can be very tricky. For identifying their sales tactics, you may need to look at their sales process and the channels that they are selling through. You would also need to keep an eye out on whether they are expanding or scaling down their business. It is also important to look at their total sales volume and the revenue that they generate every year.

Studying your competitor’s sales strategies will give you an idea of the effectiveness of their sales process. This information will be valuable in preparing your sales representatives to compete during the final buy stage.

It may be possible to find annual reports online for publicly held companies. However, for privately owned businesses, you may have to do a lot of digging to find the necessary information. You could start by reaching out to your customers and finding out what made them choose your products or services over others. If you have lost a deal, you may want to follow up with the prospect to understand why you lost out to your competitor. The honest feedback from your prospects or customers can be an eye-opener about what customers find appealing about your brand, what is turning them away and how you compare to the competition.

Understand your competitors pricing structures and perks that they offer.

To make sure that your products and services are correctly priced, you need to first understand the pricing structure of your competitors. If you feel that your product or services offer superior features to your competitor’s products, you can keep the pricing higher than the industry standards. However, when you do that, you should be prepared to train your sales representatives to explain why your products or services are worth the additional cost.

If you feel that there is a greater need for affordable products in your industry, you may then consider charging less than your competitors.

Several factors go into the correct pricing of a product, but it is crucial that you stay atop of industry pricing to make sure your products are priced in a way that feels reasonable to prospects.

It is also important to take a look at any perks that your competitors are offering and see if you can offer something similar to compete. For instance, if your competitor is offering a free trial or a huge discount, your customers may feel tempted to choose your competitor. To make sure you retain your customers and acquire new ones, it may be reasonable to offer similar perks or unique ones that may encourage more customers to opt for your products or services.

Try to keep shipping costs reasonable.

Most customers abandon their online shopping carts when they realize that the shipping costs are too high. Hence, many brands these days offer free shipping as it can be a major perk that attracts more customers. If you are in a business such as eCommerce where shipping is a major factor, you may want to compare your shipping costs to your competitor’s, and ensure you are reasonably in alignment.

If your competitors are offering free shipping, you may want to look into options that may make it possible for you to provide free shipping as well. If free shipping is not a feasible option for your business, you may look at other perks that you can offer your customers, like holiday discounts or loyalty programs.

Study the marketing strategies of your competitors.

The fastest way to gauge the marketing efforts of your competitors is to analyze their website. You may want to note a few things, like whether the website has a blog and whether your competitors are creating ebooks or whitepapers. You may also want to look at if your competitors post videos, webinars, or podcasts on their websites.

Visual content on their websites like infographics, cartoons, or slide decks can also give you valuable insight into their marketing strategies. You may also want to go through their FAQ section, if they have one, and the featured articles and press releases. If they have a media kit or case studies on their websites, you should also take the time to go through them. You should also take special care to analyze any online or offline marketing campaigns that they may be running.

By understanding their marketing strategy, you may be able to incorporate those that are working well for your competitors in your own strategy. You can also create marketing strategies that take advantage of your competitor’s weaknesses, helping your business outperform theirs.

Understand your competitor’s content strategy.

Content marketing is at the core of most successful digital marketing campaigns. If your competitors run digital marketing campaigns, then you just can’t ignore their content strategy. Take a look at your competitor’s website and check if they have just a few blog posts or do they regularly post blogs on their website. Are there any ebooks or white papers?

You must also look at the frequency of the blog posts or white papers. Are they publishing weekly or monthly? How often do they publish a new case study or an ebook?

If your competitor has a significant content archive, they have been publishing quite regularly. Analyze the topics that they frequently talk about. It may help you to hone in on their lead generation strategies.

Just looking at the type of content and the frequency is not enough. You should also look at the quality of their published content. If the quality is lacking, then the frequency does not matter as customers may not find a lot of value in their content. If your competitors have a lot of content, you may be wasting a great deal of time by going through each and every piece. You may want to go through a few samples that cover a variety of topics, focusing on more recent content. You will get a fairly clear picture of what your competitors want to share with their target audience.

When analyzing your competitor’s content, also check for accuracy, grammatical errors, and how deep and well-researched their content is. You may also want to make a note of the tone of their content and the content structure. You should also look at who is writing the content. Is it a single person, or do they have multiple contributors?

You should also pay attention to the photos and graphics that your competitors use. Do they use stock photos, or do they create custom images and illustrations?

Understanding your competitor’s content marketing strategy will give you a true understanding of what’s working for them. These insights will help you to invest your hard-earned dollars in things that may really work for your business too.

Figure out what technology your competitors use.

In this digital era, if you have to compete with others in the market, technology is non-negotiable. Figuring out the kind of technology that your competitors use can help you increase momentum within your business.

Technology has taken over nearly all aspects of business, whether it is production, marketing, or customer service. For instance, some of the most successful businesses in the world use powerful customer service software to provide an excellent customer experience. Understanding the kind of technology your competitors use can help you figure out if they are feasible for your business or not.

There are several websites available on the internet that can help you figure out what software your competitors use. These websites can also help you figure out if there are any third-party plugins on their website, ranging from CRMs to analytics systems.

You may also consider looking at the job openings that your competitor has. Are they looking for engineers or web developers? The job description usually lists out the tools that a candidate must be skilled at. It can be a creative way to figure out the kind of technology that your competitors use, and possibly what new technology are the investing in.

Analyze the level of engagement in your competitor’s content.

By analyzing how their target audience reacts to their content, you can figure out the engagement level of your competitor’s content. You will need to check the number of likes, comments, and shares that your competitor’s content gets.

It will also help you understand if certain topics work better with their audience than others. The sentiment in the comments, whether they are positive or negative, will also help you understand the engagement level of their audience. You may also be able to figure out what social media platform works best for your competitor. If you are not very active on that platform, you may want to dedicate more time to become more active on that social media platform.

It is also crucial to note if your competitor uses certain tags to categorize their content. Also, check whether they have social media follow and share buttons on their content. You may be able to identify valuable tips that may help you to increase the level of engagement of your content.

Understand how your competitors promote their marketing content.

The right content marketing strategy can help improve your marketing results and return on investment. You need new leads to generate more revenue and keep the business going on. Content marketing can help your business be found by users on the internet, who are looking for your products or services. Content marketing is an excellent tool for conversions because it helps you connect with and educate your prospects and customers.

For effective competitor analysis, understand how your competitors promote their marketing content. You will need to go into detail here and understand the kind of keyword density they use in their copy. You will also need to check if they use internal or external links, and whether they use ALT text tags.

Keywords are a crucial part of SE0 as they help get the right content in front of the right people at the right time. By paying attention to their content promotion strategy, you may be able to discover keywords that you should use. You will also be able to discover content that is popular and has been widely shared. You will be able to compare your content to that of your competitors and evaluate whether improvements are needed. If the quality of your content is lacking, you may then take steps to drastically improve the quality of your content.

Analyzing the content promotion strategy will also help you understand the social media platforms your target audience is most active on. Instead of creating a presence on every social media platform in the world, you may want to concentrate on the ones your audience uses the most. You may also be able to figure out who is driving traffic to your competitor’s site and which websites link back to your competitor’s site but not yours.

Analyze your competitor’s social media strategy.

Social media has become a powerful tool for businesses to reinforce their online presence and brand awareness. An important part of competitor assessment is to analyze how your competitors drive brand engagement through their social media. If your competitor is using a social media platform that you are not on, you may want to figure out if it is worth your while creating an active presence on that platform.

When analyzing your competitor’s social media strategy, you may also want to look into the number of followers they have on each platform. You should also look at how consistently and how frequently they post on these platforms. Another area you must focus on is checking their content engagement and virality. You will need to look into whether their posts are receiving comments and whether they are getting shared, repinned, or retweeted.

Their social media strategy can give you valuable insight into their lead generation techniques. You will need to check the kind of content they are posting to see if they are driving more people to their website, creating new leads. Are they posting visual content to enhance brand awareness and to promote engagement? Is the content original or curated from other sources?

Once you have collected the necessary data, you will be able to grade your competitor’s content in terms of quality. You will also be able to enhance the quality of your posts if you find them lacking.

Perform a SWOT analysis.

While you evaluate individual components like marketing, sales, or customer service during competitor assessment, you should also do a SWOT (strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats) analysis at the same time.

Doing a SWOT analysis at each stage will help you understand what your competitor is doing well, and whether you can replicate it in your business. You can also identify gaps in their strategies that you may be able to take advantage of. Most importantly, you can identify opportunities in the market that your competitors have not yet identified, giving you an edge over them. Finally, you may identify external threats that could impact your business, (e.g., an indirect competitor becomes a direct competitor, selling the same or similar products to yours).

By comparing your competitor’s strengths and weaknesses against yours, you will be able to better position your business and uncover areas of improvement for your own brand.

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Course Manual 7: Benchmark Best Practices

Benchmarking against successful companies can help your organization achieve similar results in your IT transformation initiatives.

Cost management

Cost is an important factor, particularly when it comes to matters like the IT transformation of an organization. In such initiatives, companies need to vet, source, and implement new technologies that will completely change the face of the business. In such cases, it is very easy to get carried away in terms of expenditures and funding. If cost management is not effective, one thing can lead to another causing an avalanche effect such that by the end of the project you have no idea how much you have overshot the proposed budget.

Companies need to be strict with costs and expenditures. The management has to continuously keep track of IT expenditures and define metrics and policies to ensure that IT costs are controlled.

Highly successful companies who have carried out digital transformation effectively seem to have two things, or rather best practices, in common. The first is that they have a centralized cost-management process and the second is that they are very clear in communicating their critical performance metrics.

The first factor implies that they do not leave the cost management part of their IT initiatives to any particular team or business unit. They instead ensure transparency in the IT expenditures by forming a centralized governing body that oversees all the funding and investment requests for the IT transformation effort. Every department working on the transformation must follow the set procedure to request funding. Funding may be approved or rejected only by the central governing body and can be prioritized based on need and urgency.

The governing body reviews all expenditures at regular intervals, either quarterly, half yearly, or annually, to help in decision making. This gives clarity and transparency in the IT expenditures and transformation leaders, as well as teams, have a clear idea of how much they can afford to spend on their tasks or what needs to be prioritized. It also helps reduce the conflict of interests between different teams.

The second factor – defining clear performance metrics helps to streamline IT expenditure in the most successful organizations. The IT transformation leaders need to work with the transformation teams to define certain critical performance metrics to control cost, (e.g., the technology cost per user or the per transaction technology cost, etc.), where it makes sense for the organization. These metrics need to be clearly communicated across the entire organization so that all employees know what they are expected to achieve in terms of cost management. Employees should know that these metrics also add to their individual performance reports.

Demand for IT

Another effective way to control the IT transformation effort and ensure that it stays on track, adopted by most of the successful organizations, is to understand the need for IT in the business. The demand for IT in a particular business function or department is ranked according to its contribution to the overall business goal. This ranking is used to prioritize IT Transformation spend on the highest value initiatives.

Many mediocre companies seem to take inputs from different departments or business units just as a one-time activity when building the IT transformation strategy. This gives a very limited understanding of the business’s IT needs, what technologies are already available and which technologies to procure to gain maximum value from the transformation effort.

Best practices adopted by successful organizations are quite the opposite. These highly efficient organizations are constantly gathering feedback and inputs from various business units and departments to understand how IT solutions can help improve their business processes. The people working on the front line are also closest to one of the most important stakeholders of the organization; that is the customer. Successful organizations acknowledge that and constantly engage with those business units that cater to the customers to gain insights on how to improve the customer experience, not just in the initial stages but throughout the transformation process and even after it is complete.

The IT transformation strategies in these successful organizations are formulated in consultation with all critical business units, following formal protocols and processes. They also ensure that there is sufficient representation from all departments and all levels of the organization as well as other stakeholders in the decision-making process. Efficient organizations make sure that their employees and departments continuously improve the demand for IT tools and resources by offering some incentives. For instance, they may offer volume discounts for software licenses to departments with a large number of users. That way, the department is motivated to encourage better user adoption with the hope of saving on their IT budget.

Controls and incentives

For a successful IT transformation, it is important to control productivity within the organization and see to it that a certain level of performance is maintained, both by employees and external partners. Companies that have succeeded with digital transformation have found innovative ways to control the fluctuations in people and resources that are common to all businesses taking up transformation efforts. The people, technologies, and market demands are highly volatile and they need to be kept under check.

One best practice that most successful organizations adopt to control their business’ productivity is to offer sufficient rewards and incentives for good and consistent performance from both internal stakeholders and external contractors.

These organizations also store all their insights and valuable data centrally to help with decision-making whenever the need arises. Their central database stores information on the skill sets existing in the organization, the user experience of their employees with certain technologies and tools, and any other critical information that helps them monitor performance better.

Another best practice that seems to improve productivity in these highly efficient organizations is that they have a flatter organizational structure, which is not seen in many of the mediocre players. Successful companies do not rely on a command-and-control approach or a managerial hierarchy where information flows only from the top to the bottom. They rather use collaboration tools and techniques to ensure that information can be shared easily across the organization at all levels. IT managers are given a certain amount of authority which also gives them a sense of responsibility and ownership of their actions.

In flat organizations like these, the job of the manager is not just to give out orders to their teams. They are servant leaders, responsible for coaching and guiding their teams and removing roadblocks, as well as keeping themselves updated with the latest in technology and the industry.

Successful organizations also consider their external contractors as an integral part of their system. Their IT suppliers and consultants are often involved in discussions on improving productivity and their views are valued.

Process

The IT transformation initiative is aimed at making the business processes faster and more efficient. Once an organization goes digital, it is expected to deliver better services and be available for customer support round the clock. This further increases the need to make their processes more streamlined. The time to market must be reduced to gain a competitive advantage. All of this puts a lot of pressure on organizations newly adapting to digitization. In such cases, benchmarking against highly successful organizations and adopting the best practices that they espouse can be very valuable.

Most of the highly efficient organizations respond to this constant pressure of improving their processes by adopting agile practices. They also focus on the continuous improvement of their processes. Using an agile approach, cross-functional teams (with IT and business staff) work collaboratively to deliver valued features in successive iterations, rather than waiting until the end to deliver the fully finished product. This approach is especially useful if requirements are unclear at the start. Incremental improvements are delivered frequently (e.g., every 2-3 weeks), using continuous user feedback based on actual experience. They test these iterations and learn from them to identify further improvement opportunities. They cannot wait for approval from the top as decisions must be made fast. Teams are composed of the right mix of skills including a Product Owner. They are empowered to make decisions. They do not rely on the conventional waterfall approach for decision-making and development.

To make their processes more efficient and agile, successful organizations adopt best practices in simplification, standardization, and automation of the processes. Automated testing and other standardized processes are employed to improve “speed to value” and to ensure the desired quality in the final outcome.

Simplification

Most successful organizations also have a centralized change management unit that controls the changes which affect several of the business processes. This division has representation from different departments across the organization. The purpose here is to make decisions on change faster, through quick reviews and approvals. Rather than waiting for approvals to come from the top management, the change management unit makes the process much simpler and more responsive.

Standardization

Another common characteristic of highly efficient companies that believe in continuously improving their processes is that they do not wait for others to set industry standards. With most mediocre or unsuccessful organizations, it is seen that they rely on industry standards in technology to drive their decisions.

Market leading organizations, on the other hand, set their own standards or participate in the standard setting process of regulating bodies to ensure that they stay ahead of the game. This allows them to be the first ones to know of the new industry standards and incorporate them into their system as early as possible. Early adoption also reduces the need to make any major changes to their systems which others would be struggling with when these new industry standards are deployed. This also helps them reduce their delivery times as they do not have to worry about compliance issues or adherence to standards.

Cloud computing

The most successful companies are also found to be the earliest adopters of new on-demand virtual technologies like cloud services. With advancements in technology, there is already an excess of data to be stored and processed, an efficient organization understands the importance of storing, transmitting, and computing this data in real-time. Instead of adding more complex components to their IT infrastructure to increase storage space or processing capacity, they rely on cloud providers for Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Software as a Services (SaaS) and Functions as a Services (FaaS). These cloud services scale as the business grows, without having to make a huge upfront investment in anticipation of future growth.

Sourcing

IT sourcing is one of the most important aspects of a digital transformation initiative. Companies need to decide how to best source running the current business operations while also staffing the transformation efforts. IT suppliers can help with strategic consulting, outsourcing certain functions or services, staff augmentation, and co-sourcing. Companies need to have good relationships with their IT suppliers to ensure that their operations continue to run smoothly and efficiently. It is important to align the expectations of both the company and the suppliers so that the relationship is not strained due to miscommunication of these expectations.

Most companies undergoing an IT transformation have a tough deciding what their objectives and incentive in IT sourcing should be. They struggle to strike a balance between the different requirements of cost, quality, efficiency, user experience, and innovation. At the same time, IT suppliers struggle to meet the customer’s requirements, prioritize their objectives based on customer’s needs and come up with innovative improvements not just to meet the current needs but future demands as well. Organizations need to have policies and governance measures that acknowledge the pain points of both sides and benefit both parties.

Some of the best practices that the highly successful organizations employ are what sets them apart from other less successful organizations in this regard. Efficient organizations view sourcing differently. They do not treat IT suppliers as just a vendor but as partners who contribute to the growth of their business and should benefit from it equally. They use their sourcing relationships as an opportunity to learn about new and upcoming technologies and market trends that can be relevant to the business.

Successful organizations involve their IT suppliers, along with other key stakeholders, in defining the shared outcomes that benefit all parties. They discuss their common goals and look beyond cost, to other opportunities that this relationship can bring. Instead of focusing on the immediate transaction, they focus on long-term benefits and opportunities that a good sourcing relationship can bring. They try to look at how they can innovate in partnership with their IT suppliers for creating next-generation products that will be a win-win for both parties.

Successful companies may even consider converting high-tenure contractors into internal staff by creating talent acquisition strategies and incentives for aiding this. Working with the IT supplier, terms can be negotiated to recognize this hiring as a potential future staffing strategy. Of course, the supplier will expect to be paid a fee, (e.g., percentage of salary) since it will cost them to recruit and hire a replacement. This fee may be negotiated to reduce after the contractor has been with your company for so many years.

Focusing on these five core capabilities allows organizations to create a holistic, integrated operating model for the IT transformation initiative. A true peak in efficiency can only be achieved when best practices in all the five areas are adopted simultaneously.

Apart from these five primary areas of focus for benchmarking, there are some other areas too that you can consider for benchmarking to assess and improve your IT transformation efforts.

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Course Manual 8: More Detailed Plans

The initial Roadmap may be quite high level, defining by quarter by year what is expected to be delivered, for example. This works well for communicating with executives and employees and keeping everyone grounded to the overall plan. However, more detailed plans are needed before beginning execution of the roadmap. Using an agile approach, it is common to create very detailed plans for the upcoming 3 months, and fairly detailed plans for the subsequent 3 months. Time periods after that may be flushed out a bit more as details become clear or may be left at the high level to accommodate adjustments to the roadmap as more is learned through the iterative development. As the detailed plan is executed, more detailed plans are developed to ensure the team always has the next 3-6 months of detailed plans to guide their activities.

Having a detailed plan for at least the next 2 quarters of your digital transformation initiative ensures that you reach your goals sooner without having to go back and forth too many times incurring extra costs and wasting resources. It is also extremely essential to give you a competitive advantage in this rapidly changing digital landscape as a faster, more effective transformation means faster delivery of value to the customer. Having a high-level transformation roadmap plus detailed plan for 2 upcoming quarters can reduce the number of hurdles in the way to digital transformation.

Aligning the actual activities undertaken with the detailed roadmap

While the detailed plan describes everything that needs to be done in the next 3-6 months in full detail, with lesser detail in subsequent periods, it is not a binding mandate. Adjustments to the plan are expected, especially 6 months or more out. Sometimes deviations from the planned path are the right decision to help ensure the future vision (or something even better) is delivered with quality in a reasonable timeframe. The roadmap is a sort of guidebook for everyone to follow and helps the organization move closer to its goals.

As stated above, in many instances, the actual activities will deviate somewhat from what was originally defined in the detailed plan. This should not be seen as a violation of a rule in any case. The transformation teams should have the liberty to make necessary changes to the plan whenever the need arises. But to keep things on track, it is best advised to stay as close to the plan as possible. There are many ways of ensuring that the activities undertaken are aligned with what is described in the detailed plan.

Some of the indications that should guide the decisions made during the transformation are listed below.

How the activities align with the roadmap

It is important to assess from time to time how closely the activities being undertaken align with the roadmap. Most activities will usually be on track and so a simple yes or no answer does not suffice, as the answer in most cases would be yes without giving you a very clear picture. It is rather important to assess to what degree the activities are aligned to the plan. It can be either measured on a scale from 1 to 10 or in terms of high, medium, and low alignment or any other suitable measurement that tells your roughly how close the activity is to the detailed plan.

Even if an activity that was not previously included in the plan is being taken up during the transformation process, it is first necessary to check its alignment with the roadmap. This is important to ensure that the activity does not throw the process off track or demand a major detour.

How an activity contributes to the goals

The second important indication to ensure whether an activity is aligned with the plan is by assessing how the activity contributes to the transformation goals. Each activity that is chosen should have some impact on the transformation, taking it one step closer to the goal. In this assessment, you need to see how far the activity can take you in the right direction and what is the cost involved in undertaking this activity.

There may be two or more proposed activities that can take you closer to the goal but no two activities will usually have the same costs and same benefits. So, a quick cost vs benefits analysis can be done at this stage to decide on the most suitable option, without wandering away too far from the plan.

How efficiently are resources being used

Resources are a very important aspect of the success of an IT transformation process. If you are achieving the transformation goals but spending much more in resources than originally planned, the initiative cannot be called a success. Most organizations work with limited resources, (e.g., manpower, time, money), which much fund both transformation efforts as well as running daily operations. Thus, there is a tradeoff to be made if more resources are needed for transformation efforts than was planned. This tradeoff should be an informed decision rather than an accident or assumption.

That is why, when activities are being chosen under the digital transformation effort, it is important to assess how much resources each activity demands. Projects and tasks that give the maximum ROI are usually preferred. It may also sometimes be necessary to bundle some activities that are correlated and combine them into a single project working with the same limited resources or even forego certain benefits that an alternative activity or project may deliver, in order to optimize the use of resources.

Modifying the detailed plan as the demands change

The IT transformation initiative is not a project that will be completed in a matter of days. Depending on the scale of the transformation, it may take years for the effort to be completed. The transformation roadmap will be a guide throughout the process of the transformation and most of its activities and ideas will remain relevant to the project throughout its course.

But as you proceed with the transformation, your business environment and the available technology will change over time. This may give rise to new opportunities that you should not miss out on. In such a case, it becomes necessary to adjust or modify your digital transformation roadmap to accommodate these new opportunities. It may also sometimes be necessary to tweak your IT transformation plan to avoid certain risks or threats to the business or due to changes in budget, resource availability, or overall priorities of the business.

It is nearly impossible to map out a detailed transformation plan that can be followed and executed with 100% accuracy. Course corrections will always be required at some point in time or the other. But this should not be taken as a failure of the plan. Having a roadmap helps in making corrections or choosing alternative courses of action as you have a reference to compare with. Every time you need to make a change, you can always compare how close the changes are to the original plan and whether these changes will take you closer to the goals faster, or if you are making optimum use of resources as predicted in the original plan. It prevents you from going off course or spending too much time and resources on unplanned activities.

Having a detailed plan helps you make adjustments in a coordinated way and minimizes disruptions to the progress that has already been achieved.

Some important aspects to focus on when creating a detailed transformation plan

We cannot emphasize enough that IT transformation is not just about technology changes in an organization. It covers a number of other areas of business. The digital transformation initiative in an organization should focus on some very important areas and these should be taken into consideration when creating the detailed transformation plan.

Looking at digital transformation as an integrated and connected effort

The first important factor to consider when making your detailed digital transformation plan is that the digital transformation effort is a connected effort covering a number of important business areas. Some of the common business areas that the transformation plan should include are –

Business functions

The IT transformation is going to impact several different business functions including operations, marketing, customer service, human resources, finance, administration, and more. The detailed transformation plan should cover all such critical business functions.

Business processes

Business processes are made up of one or more connected business operations or activities that together lead to a specific business goal. IT transformation focuses on business process optimization through the use of automation technologies and tools. The detailed business plan must, therefore, pay attention to business process management as another important area impacted by digital transformation.

Business ecosystem

The ecosystem of a business involves all the people and stakeholders associated with it as well as other factors affecting it such as market conditions, regulatory priorities, etc. The business ecosystem is highly dynamic and keeps changing with any minor change made to one or more such factors. So, it is inevitable that the business ecosystem will be impacted by digital transformation. The detailed plan must take this into account.

Business model

Shifting to a digital or IT-driven environment may change how the business functions considerably. It might change the market approach, the value proposition of the business, the way the business views profit, its impact on the customers, and much more. The business model is a very crucial aspect of the IT transformation effort and the transformation plan has to concentrate on it in order to understand how it may change and how to make that change for the better.

Asset management

Digital transformation deals with all kinds of business assets, but it is the less tangible, or rather intangible, assets that are of greater importance in this initiative. These are assets such as customer experience or customer data or market information. These assets are at the heart of a digital transformation process and they need to be treated as real and valuable assets in the detailed transformation plan.

Organizational culture

We have been constantly stressing how important a role the organizational culture plays in the IT transformation effort. The detailed business plan must define how to make the organizational culture more customer-centric and agile. It should also put forth ways of breaking down silos and encouraging collaboration. It should define the role of the leadership and suggest cultural changes that can make the organization more proactive and future-proof.

Approach towards the people involved

The digital transformation process involves several people working in close collaboration with the transformation team. From employees to partners to the customers, everyone is in some way associated with the transformation process. The changing behaviors and demands of all the stakeholders must be taken into consideration in the detailed plan. The transformation plan should look at the human side of this initiative as well. Important changes like enhanced customer experience, employee satisfaction, or improved partner relationships are not always brought about by technology changes alone. The detailed plan should suggest ways to improve these dynamics through human interactions too.

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Course Manual 9: Implement Plans

An IT transformation plan can be successful only if it is executed systematically. A plan may have been created after a lot of deliberation, adopting all the best practices, covering all the important aspects of the business, but unless it is implemented efficiently, all the hard work will be futile.

The key here is to start at the roots. The successful implementation of the IT transformation plan depends on how good the foundations of the initiative are.

Start with the people

For successful implementation of the IT transformation plan, you will need to work with people. It is the people in the organization who need to be prepared for the transformation, before anything else. We’ve discussed how most organizations face resistance from their employees when it comes to change. Overcoming this resistance is the first and probably one of the biggest challenges for an organization.

Choose worthy leaders

The first and most important step in the implementation of the IT transformation plan is choosing an effective, tech-savvy and business-savvy leader for the initiative. The transformation leader is one of the keys to success. The commitment of the leadership will be extremely crucial to the transformation process. Apart from the transformation leader, you may also want to select individual project leaders to oversee each project under the transformation initiative. You may also need different team leaders. These leaders should all be chosen on the basis of their merit, experience, and their capabilities in technology and people-leadership. In addition, if using agile practices, they need to understand their roles as servant leaders. Rather than command-and-control, servant leaders’ roles are to make the teams successful, removing roadblocks and providing needed support to enable the successful delivery of product iterations.

Get the right talent on board

Once the leaders are chosen, their job is to prepare the rest of the people for the transformation. The people involved in the transformation process need to be aware of the plan. It is extremely important that the goals, strategies, and action plan are clearly communicated. The benefits of the transformation should also be communicated to ensure that people are motivated to work towards it.

Build capabilities

The next requirement is building capabilities. The IT transformation is a new challenge for everyone in the organization. It will require new skills and knowledge of the technology and tools that are going to be adopted under this transformation effort. Developing talent and skills is one of the most important factors for success in an IT transformation effort. Unless the people are equipped to handle these tools and technology, they will not be able to adapt to the change any faster.

In building digital capabilities in the workforce, you need to first define all the roles and responsibilities. It is important to ensure that each role contributes in some way to the transformation goals. Refer to the roles defined in the detailed plan and see if the roles allocated are aligned with the plan. There may be a need to add or eliminate roles depending on the need and availability of people. Once the roles and responsibilities are spelled out, the employees know what each one of them should expect hereon.

As a next step, you will need some people in the role of integrators or technology innovation managers. These are people who have a thorough knowledge of both the existing systems and the new technologies being adopted. These people can bridge the gap between the current technology and the future of the organization. They can also train other employees and build stronger capabilities within the organization. Apart from this, these integrators or innovation managers can lead the implementation of the digital transformation plan with their experience and specialized skills.

Some organizations may need to consider acquiring new talent if their organization does not already have some key capabilities. The organization must set hiring goals based on these specific needs to find the right talent.

Apart from this, an organization needs to have leadership development programs to build leadership capabilities in working with cross-functional teams. It should also offer training for the integrators to develop coaching skills for guiding others in new ways of working. Integrators may be skilled in their own areas of expertise, but may not always be good coaches from the start. Training in servant leadership may also be needed.

The organization must identify what kind of skill-building programs are necessary to run the transformation efficiently. In some cases, guidance from external experts or consultants may be required to train employees in certain skills. The training programs need to be planned effectively, divided into multiple sessions, to ensure that employees can get the most out of them. Employees should be divided into small groups so that the batch sizes in the training programs are small and knowledge can be transferred effectively with individual attention to every participant. If agile practices will be used, training will be needed to help staff understand how IT processes change with scrum, as an example.

Wherever there is a need to develop specific skills, instead of overall knowledge of a particular tool or technology, there should be dedicated, individual learning modules for the same.

Empower people to adopt new ways of working

The organization has to find ways to introduce new ways of working to its employees. Reinforcing new behaviors gradually can help them adapt to the change faster.

Establishing at least one new way of working, which may be continuous learning or urging them to communicate better through digital platforms, can be a key to successful transformation. Employees’ input and feedback should be welcomed and taken into account. Collaborations should also be encouraged to help people learn from one another and exchange knowledge and skills.

Lead and manage the transformation zone investments

Most companies already have three zones of investment. These are the performance zone, productivity zone, and incubation zone. The performance zone includes the core business functions that make money for the business directly. The productivity zone includes other areas of business that do not generate revenue directly but are still crucial to the business such as IT, finance, legal, etc. the incubation zone is the business unit that focuses on innovation and creates ideas for the future of the business.

Businesses are already spending funds and resources on these zones. Once the digital transformation of the organization is envisioned, they must create a fourth zone that is the transformation zone. The transformation is equally important to the business at this stage because it is this zone that has to break the inertia and drive the change. The transformation zone can create new revenue sources and make the organization much more valuable. The transformation zone only lasts for the period that the company is undergoing transformation.

The transformation team should focus on diverting funds to the transformation zone at this stage, as investments are crucial for the progress of the initiative. The transformation leaders have to acquire funding and manage the spending as long as the transformation continues.

Coordinate across internal business units and external partners

We have already discussed how the IT transformation of an organization needs the combined effort of all the departments within the organization as well as external stakeholders. People from different areas of business, including IT, operations, finance, administration, and others, will be working together on various projects under the transformation. Bringing all these people together and ensuring that they can all perform their jobs at their best capacity, without any friction is in itself a challenge for the transformation leaders.

To add to it, there will be external partners such as IT suppliers, system integrators, and consultants working on and helping with the transformation too. They will need cooperation from the internal members as well to be able to contribute to the initiative.

It is the job of the transformation leaders to coordinate all the activities across the different business areas as well as with external partners. They have to make sure that everyone has access to the resources they need to complete their tasks. They must keep track of the timelines of each project and ensure that deadlines are met. But most importantly they should ensure that there is minimum friction in the different workstreams that are being handled by cross-functional teams.

Resolve conflicts and address issues

The IT transformation is a transformation of a massive scale. When an organization undergoes a change of this scale where people from across the organization are working day in and day out, conflicts and problems are expected. There will be frequent conflicts between different departments of the organization or between different team members in cross-functional teams. People who have never worked together before may not understand one another’s approaches and disagreements are bound to happen.

An important part of the implementation process is, therefore, resolving conflicts between teams and individuals. Problems that are brought to the notice of the transformation team should be handled effectively, without any sort of bias. In case of conflicts, the statements of both parties in conflict must be taken and an ideal solution that favors both parties or is in the best interests of the transformation initiative should be sought.

In case the issue in question does not fall within the authority of the transformation leader, it must be escalated to the competent authorities at the earliest opportunity to ensure that a quick resolution can be attained. Any issue dragged for longer will only impede the IT transformation initiative.

Maintain records of deliverables, assets, and decisions

Throughout the period of the IT transformation, there will be several things to keep track of. As there will be multiple projects under the initiative, there will also be multiple deliverables from these projects. There are also several assets that will be in use throughout the transformation initiative, which can take years to complete.

Apart from the physical assets and deliverables of the transformation initiative, there are also some intangible resources to take care of, such as the different decisions made during the course of the transformation. The transformation team has to account for all the decisions they make for the transformation initiative, be it related to budget, selection of technology and tools, handing off responsibilities, changes in the transformation strategy, or any other. So, it is important to keep track of every decision taken throughout the initiative.

To manage all of these tangible and intangible assets and deliverables, the transformation team must maintain a repository so that all the information is available at hand whenever required.

Track progress and report to executive committee periodically

Implementation of the transformation plan also requires continuous tracking of the progress. The transformation leaders must keep track of how the plan is taking shape and whether it is following the timeline as predicted. This continuous monitoring is essential to identify any bottlenecks or roadblocks on time that may be affecting the progress of the transformation effort. It allows for proactive problem solving and eliminating any issues before they can halt the transformation.

Measuring progress of the IT transformation plan

Measuring the progress of the IT transformation does not necessarily mean measuring the number of changes that have been implemented. There is a very fine line between making changes and making progress. The progress of the digital transformation effort should rather be measured in terms of the impact these changes make.

Most organizations measure transformation progress in terms of the budget that has been spent on the initiative to date. Or in terms of the number of systems that have been digitized and modernized under the initiative. But this approach does not give the true picture of the transformation and the results obtained may be underwhelming. The measurement of progress should rather be focused on whether the transformation has been able to make the expected impact on different business areas as predicted during planning. Its impact on the products, internal processes, productivity, and profitability are the true indicators of progress. These indicators show how close the organization is to achieving its digital transformation goals.

The IT transformation plan that has been created already defines the targets set for the transformation effort, the strategy for arriving at these target states, the major activities that must be undertaken under this strategy, and the milestones of the transformation process. The evaluation of the progress should take these as references instead of simply measuring the number of steps taken.

The details of the activities and projects undertaken may change as the situation demands, but they should still be contributing towards the transformation goals. So, the measurement of progress ideally should not be affected by any minor changes in the plan.

Reporting to the executive committee

The support of the top management is extremely crucial in this entire effort. That is why the executive committee or the company’s leadership should be aware of the progress of the IT transformation as well. The transformation leaders must report the progress to the executive committee from time to time, through monthly or quarterly meetings.

Since most of the major decisions are in the hands of the top management, it is important that they see the progress. The transformation leaders must be able to show a positive return on investments to prove the value that the digital transformation is adding to the organization.

Useful tips for a successful implementation of the IT transformation plan

The details of the steps to be taken under the IT transformation program are already defined in the plan and the transformation team can follow the plan to understand how to execute it correctly.

There are some crucial tips, though, that may make the implementation much smoother and easier.

Taking an iterative approach

During the planning stage itself, it is important to understand that implementation will be much easier when the transformation is divided into smaller steps. The transformation plan itself should be iterative, divided into several stages and each stage may vary in duration. This makes it easier to break down the plan into smaller, more achievable tasks.

Breaking down the transformation into more tangible pieces, allows the organization to make small but continuous progress towards the goal without wearing out the people or causing transformation fatigue. It also ensures that there is no major business disruption and allows for changes in plan or course corrections without making any huge impacts.

Celebrating the smaller achievements

It is extremely important to celebrate the accomplishment of each micro goal and milestone. IT transformation can be a tiring journey for most employees. It takes years for the transformation targets to be fulfilled. But celebrating these milestones assures people that progress is being made. It can be great for the overall morale of the employees.

Taking user feedback

Throughout the transformation process, it is important to gather feedback from the people who have been impacted by the changes taking place. They can be customers, partners, or even employees. This brings to light any issues that may have slipped in and allows for further refinement of the system.

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Course Manual 10: Feedback Loops

A feedback loop refers to a continuous communication process that begins with data collection, continues with data analysis, and then ends with implementing responsive decisions. Almost every institution has some form of informal feedback loop.

However, institutions that carefully follow the different phases of the feedback loop have been found to consider issues more comprehensively, make more informed decisions, and take appropriate action.

The feedback loop approach does not recommend an institutional hierarchy. Responding appropriately to customer information is far more important than the employee making the decision. It is an action-based structure that recommends that all activities must be completed, whether one person or the entire organization completes the loop.

When you address feedback appropriately, it results in a variety of positive responses- new products, product alterations, policy or procedural changes, one-time activities, or improved communication strategies. There are also chances that addressing feedback can also elicit a negative response, especially in terms of customer expectations. Sometimes clients may make suggestions that the business has no other option but to reject. Even in these cases, it is important that the negative response is conveyed to the client. Studies have shown that customers trust businesses more when they get responses to their issues, even if they are negative responses from their perspective.

Different phases of the feedback loop

There are eight distinct phases to a feedback loop that may be repeated over time depending on the issue at hand. A business may have several feedback loops working at the same time.

The phases of the feedback loop include:

Information collection

Information collection refers to gathering data. A business could gather data formally through surveys, information requests, or studies. It can also collect data formally through suggestion boxes, focus group discussions, and client monitoring systems. Businesses can also gather data informally through staff and management interaction with the clients, prospects, local officials, board members, and others. Informal data can be a valuable source of information as it can be used as background information for more formal data collection.

While gathering data, it is important to bear in mind who the information is for and who will use the information. It affects data gathering and the feedback of information.

If you are speaking to clients to gather information, explain well how the information is going to be used and how it could help them. Your client’s answer may be affected by the way they understand the purpose of the data. Hence, it is imperative that they understand the purpose well.

How you frame your question may also elicit different replies from your clients. For instance, if you ask a client in front of a group why they are dropping out, they may not reveal all the relevant information.

Suggestion boxes can be a useful way to gather information from clients. However, many businesses rarely open suggestion boxes. Clients will stop using suggestion boxes if their feedback is not read or responded to.

Information consolidation

Scattered information is of little value in itself. If you want to get the full value of the data that you have gathered, you must consolidate it so that it can be shared and analyzed. There is a high chance that you may leave out much of the information collected if it is not consolidated properly.

In the information consolidation phase, businesses convert the raw data into usable information. Formal data is typically consolidated by the researcher or person conducting the study. Informal data is mostly consolidated during staff meetings or management meetings when the staff come together to discuss client issues.

It is better to assign one person the task of organizing the material collected. Doing so will ensure that the information collected will be effectively used instead of just lying on a desk. The person assigned with consolidating the data may also be made responsible for analyzing and reporting it.

The information you collect from clients can be valuable input for designing effective products and services. When clients know that you are listening to them and paying attention to their feedback, they feel valued.

Also, don’t go overboard and collect more information than you can consolidate. Consider the time and capacity you have at hand and only collect the amount of information that you can successfully consolidate.

Analysis

Data analysis is necessary to figure out how to proceed. It forces a business to assess the information in terms of both client and business needs. Businesses must analyze the data collected to understand the existing and potential issues that the clients are facing. It also helps in developing a recommendation to satisfy these needs. The business analysis must always include a review of cash flow, profitability, capacity, and other pertinent issues.

Data analysis and recommendations may be influenced by the person who does the analysis. For a truly participatory feedback process, clients and the frontline staff must be involved. It is also recommended to conduct a financial analysis if the recommended changes may have a financial impact.

Reporting

Reporting refers to the summary and synthesis of the analysis prepared in a form that is useful to decision-makers. It is organized into pertinent points that are considered for every potential decision and may be written into a formal report, depending on the issue.

Following a structured reporting procedure is vital because it sets out information in clear and formal ways so that it can be communicated to the management and staff, and can be presented for decision-making. A proper reporting structure shows the steps that led to the decision so that others can understand how the decision was made.

A report generally contains an explanation of the issue and its importance, a description of the recommendation, a summary and synthesis of the analysis, and a framework of the implementation plan. However, it is recommended to keep the report short and concise so that the main issues don’t get lost among the details.

Decision-making

An appropriate decision is made to address the feedback received following the report. A business may have different levels of centralization and decentralization. Hence, the decision-making point may vary from business to business. In many businesses, the decision-making authority depends on the type of issue at hand. Sometimes, it may depend on the authority of staff based on their experience and tenure in the organization.

Organizations that follow a decentralized system provide considerable freedom to branch managers, field staff, and sometimes even the clients in decision-making. Organizations that are member-owned often have clients on the Board. A decentralized organization is usually better at responding to client’s needs as they are focused and flexible allowing faster implementation of decisions. However, the downside is that the resulting operations may not be consistent throughout the organization.

Rigid structures may lead to more consistent decision-making across an organization that is easy to implement in an efficient, cost-effective manner. However, rigid structures may sometimes prevent client’s views or needs to be properly represented. It is up to the organizations to decide how much involvement of staff and clients they want in their decision-making process, and if their existing structure is suitable.

Businesses may need to develop more flexible systems to enable a more bottoms-up collaboration.

Delegation

Delegation happens after a decision has been made. It is most effective when guidance along with proper information is given to the person delegated with moving the decision to the implementation stage. There should be a clear understanding of what is being delegated, what authority the delegate has, and how and when they should escalate any issues.

It is crucial that you select a person with the appropriate skills before delegating the tasks. It is also important for management to communicate decisions and implementation plans clearly to all concerned, to avoid any possible misinterpretations.

Communication

Communication needs to be addressed as part of the preparation that goes into implementing a decision. It includes conveying the issues to the staff and other departments like training and marketing. In some cases, it may also be necessary to communicate back to the clients that their feedback has been heard.

Good communication is extremely important to ensure that both the staff and clients understand and are prepared for the upcoming changes. You may also need to provide training to the staff members on the new products so that they can explain it to the clients. A manual or guideline outlining the implementation plans should also be made available to the staff who are implementing the decisions. You will also need a marketing plan outlining how the new product will be explained to the clients.

Implementation

Depending on the issues at hand, the implementation stage may be fairly simple or complicated involving extended periods of prototype development and pilot testing.

You may need more or advanced resources such as software, new staff, or retrained staff. Products and services may also need to be tested on a small scale, and then their impact needs to be tested using the information collected through the feedback loop.

Implementation includes all forms of responses to clients. Businesses should ensure that clients receive feedback from their comments and suggestions, even if the decision was not implemented. Without proper feedback, clients may feel that the business does not really care what they think.

How to analyze feedback loops?

Feedback loop analysis is driven by a research plan, providing the research team a roadmap through which to analyze communication mechanisms. The research team should have excellent moderation skills to guide discussions and to ensure that issues are fully explored.

Here are a few guidelines on how to obtain the best research results:

Give the job to the right people

The job of analyzing the feedback loop should always be entrusted to the right people. If you don’t want to involve someone in your business, you can always hire external consultants. These consultants ensure independence and objectivity when analyzing the feedback loop. You may also train some of your staff on the tools to be used for feedback loop analysis.

Use the right tools

It is important to use the right tools to analyze feedback loops to achieve the desired objectives. Businesses can also use a research plan that uses a variety of tools to triangulate the information and produce strong evidence.

Some of the qualitative research tools used in analyzing feedback loops are:

Focus group discussions

It allows the research team to gather detailed information using customized discussion guides designed for different groups, such as clients, front-line staff, middle management, and senior management.

Information mobility mapping

It outlines the main sources and uses of information in a business. It provides information on the importance of the different modes of communication and the direction that the information flows. Information mobility mapping reveals areas where the information may be distorted, incomplete, or blocked.

Simple attribute ranking

It is used to evaluate and rank the attributes of communication channels used in a business. It can also be used to rank and assess customer service attributes that internal and external stakeholders think is the most important, and issues within the feedback loops.

Relative preference ranking

Relative preference ranking is used to compare selected businesses in the industry using the main attributes of the feedback loops. It underlines the areas a business has a comparative advantage over its competitors and the ones that need improvement.

Semi-structured individual interviews

Such interviews come in handy in situations that require validation or clarification of information arising from other tools.

Understand key stakeholder roles

It is important to understand key stakeholders and their roles within the business to gather useful information. By understanding key stakeholder roles, businesses can interpret the information sent out or received and determine the right set of follow-up questions to properly analyze the feedback mechanism.

Key respondents include internal and external clients including front-line staff, middle management, senior management, board members, and significant suppliers. Non-clients can also prove to be a vital source of information, especially if you consider the reasons why they chose not to associate with your business.

Prepare the business

Feedback loop analysis can be a sensitive matter, and the staff may be reluctant to share negative information, especially the ones that can be attributed to them. Hence, it is important that management take the responsibility of informing the staff, encouraging them to express themselves freely. The staff should also be assured that the issues that they discuss would not be used vindictively. If the business does not respond to feedback, it may not be truly ready to embark on feedback loop analysis.

Staff, clients, or other stakeholders may not be willing to provide quality information if they feel that the business will not respond to their comments.

Deal with internal clients separately

It is often seen that lower-level staff find it difficult to express themselves freely in the presence of seniors. If you want an effective feedback loop analysis, sensitive issues may need to be researched at respective levels.

Test feedback loops

For understanding the health of the feedback loops, businesses should make the effort of testing them out periodically. You should send out questionnaires through specified internal feedback mechanisms and then should examine the response and type of information generated.

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Course Manual 11: Improvements

What areas or aspects of the 90-day plan need a second look or opinion? Has project risk analysis been performed rigorously? Incorporating feedback gained in the previous phase and reexamining the IT transformation plan for loopholes, unrealistic expectations or unaccounted items is advisable to avoid nasty surprises after the project gets underway.

Weigh the impact of events

Unpredictable events or known events that haven’t been accounted for in the transformation plan can affect implementation. Events that have a negligible impact do not need to be taken into consideration. Those that can create difficulties during the first 90-100 days of the program must be reviewed for they can prevent the program from gaining momentum and bring down employee morale.

The organization must anticipate issues if one or more members of the special projects/cross-functional team will be unavailable for an extended time in the project’s early phase. If remote teams are involved, then planning for any potential disruption with a significant impact is essential if it isn’t already considered. Staff vacations, holidays and planned company events should also be considered. The plan should realistically represent the resources available to work on the projects during a given period. The project sponsor and team leader should calculate the impact of foreseen events on program progress and the overtime due to lost progress. This should be included in the plan.

Identify resource management risks

The two most common resource management issues are identifying the right skills for the program and aligning resource capacity and availability to program workload and schedule. If a core member of the team falls sick or quits the project, who will be his/her backup? Can a provision be made for a consultant to be brought in to fill his/her place? Can that person’s responsibilities be split among other team members? Unrealistic schedules can exacerbate the problems.

Answering these questions is easier with a tool that describes participation by various roles, such as a responsibility assignment matrix (RACI), briefly explained below:

Responsible: Those who do the work to complete project tasks, such as project team members and any other employee selected from each department to assist with the project. This role also includes anyone who has been delegated project tasks.

Accountable: Those who approve/sign off on the work and delegate work to people serving in the ‘responsible’ role. This can be the project team leader or anyone chosen to lead in their absence or appointed as a supervisor to oversee all team members.

Consulted: Those whose opinions are sought for the project. They are subject-matter experts who interact and engage with the project team.

Informed: The individual or group of individuals who are updated on project progress. This can be the project sponsor, who will receive progress reports from time to time but otherwise have a hands-off approach after work on the program has begun.

The organization can use an RACI chart for an overview of responsibilities across the project team. Sort each team member by position and skill. Identify employees who can join the project in case one of the team members is unable to, for whatever reason, fulfil their role. Estimate the impact of different outcomes on the team, workload and project.

Historical data can offer useful clues into the challenges that might be expected during a critical project. Based on this information, appropriate responses can be planned.

Although the 90-day plan is a high-level plan, it should be adjusted and improved as needed. The backups and responses to anticipated events or potential risks can be set into motion immediately after challenges have cropped up or risks have manifested. Of course, rapid response is possible only if the program is monitored effectively.

Confirm if the program has been viewed from various strategic perspectives

Updating obsolete technology and modernizing legacy systems boosts efficiency, speed and pace of innovation, which can improve products, drive greater supplier accountability and support business model innovation. Has the change strategy been viewed from as many strategic perspectives as possible? The more diverse the group of program stakeholders, the greater the likelihood of incorporating several different perspectives. Anything unaccounted for can be included if it does not change the transformation plan significantly. If significant change is required, the Transformation leader and the sponsors will need to evaluate the relative value (cost vs. benefit) of increasing the roadmap scope vs. staying on track with the roadmap vs. swapping out an existing scope item and replacing it with the new one. Adjusting the roadmap may be appropriate, even if the timeline changes, if the value of the change is sufficient.

Project risk analysis and management: Overview

Project risk analysis and management involve the analysis and management of risks associated with a project. It increases the likelihood of the successful completion of a project keeping in mind cost, time, and performance objectives.

There is ample data available to assess risks statistically. However, no two projects are ever the same, and things often go wrong in a particular project due to its unique industry or working environment. Dealing with risks within a project can be very different from situations where there is adequate data to adopt an actuarial approach. Project managers prefer to use a systematic approach to risk management because most projects involve strong engineering, technical, innovative, or strategic content.

The first step in project risk analysis and management is to recognize the fact that risks exist as a result of uncertainty. In any given project, there may be various types of risks involved, including technological, industrial relations, management, or financial problems. These uncertainties create the possibility of risks that may result in the failure to stick to a budget, meet deadlines, or achieve the required performance objectives. Project risk analysis and management reduce the risks which endanger the achievement of project objectives.

Project risk analysis and management: The process

The process involves two steps- risk analysis and risk management.

Risk analysis

The risk analysis stage is further divided into two stages:

Qualitative analysis

The qualitative analysis stage allows the main risk factors or sources to be identified. It is mostly performed with the help of checklists, interviews, or brainstorming sessions. It also involves evaluating each risk and ranking its impact in terms of both its effect and probability of occurrence.

The main aim of qualitative analysis is to identify the main risks for each project which are then analyzed and managed in greater detail.

Quantitative analysis

Quantitative analysis involves more sophisticated techniques and measures the uncertainty involved in projects in financial and time estimates. Depending on the project, such techniques may be applied in varying levels of effort- from modest to thorough.

Qualitative analysis is extremely beneficial for understanding the project and the risks involved, irrespective of whether a quantitative analysis is carried out or not. Identifying and assessing the risks usually leads to a simple level of quantitative analysis in the initial stage itself. If due to time or resource constraints, it may not be possible to do both, it is recommended to at least do the qualitative analysis.

Risk Management

The risk management stage involves the management responses to the main risks in a project. Risk management begins as early as the qualitative analysis stage, as the need to respond to those risks is urgent, and the solution may be quite obvious.

Risk management may involve identifying preventative steps for avoiding risk or for reducing its effects. It is also necessary to establish a contingency plan to deal with risks as and when they occur.

Risk management can also initiate further investigations to provide better information to reduce uncertainties. It is also extremely important for contingency planning for cost estimates or gaps in performance specifications.

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Course Manual 12: Document Outcomes

As large amounts of information will be created and exchanged during the project, documenting all of it and making it easily shareable is necessary.

Cambridge dictionary defines documentation as “official papers, or written material that provides proof of something”. Documentation is a set of officially written, maintained or recorded material containing information or evidence.

Project documentation has several benefits, including:

Aids project planning
Establishes governance
A single version of the project work
Helps maintain focus
Facilitates resource planning and assignment
Makes project traceable
Quick access to information or evidence
Better collaboration within the team
Makes it easy to incorporate changes
Easier reporting

The project needs to be documented from its initial phase. Information will be collected, organized and reported for as long as the project is alive. The final document will contain the project post-mortem summarizing what went right and what went wrong.

Key project documents

Generally, six key documents are created for each project:

The business case, drafted in the initiation phase, demonstrates the value of the work in order to secure funding approval. It is created and owned by the project sponsor.

The project charter describes the project, including its objectives, scope, how it will be executed and the stakeholders who will be a part of the project. It defines what will be included and what will not, as a way to manage project scope.

The communications plan is a document setting out who needs to receive information, when and the submission format. For example, the team leader may decide on weekly meetings and daily updates during the first 100 days of the project.

The risk register notes the potential risks in the project so they can be identified and addressed as needed, keeping the project on track to meet its timelines and outcomes. The team leader should update the risk register as required.

Lessons learned records the positive and negative experiences of the project. It is a closure document to inform future projects and improve internal processes.

Project Documentation Checklist

Value of the project/outcomes to drive business goals in the business case and project charter

Improve collaboration across departments
Increase productivity and efficiency
Make supplier relations smoother
Increase benefits and value to the customer
Change organization’s structure and streamline operations
Increase top-line growth
Uncover technology-related pain-points holding back strategic goals
Research technologies and solutions to address the pain-points
Envision what your organization’s ideal digital future looks like
Describe how you plan to attain this ideal state
Identify who needs to be empowered through training and skill development to carry out the transformation successfully

Who documents?

Broadly, three groups are given the responsible for documenting activities: insiders, direct stakeholders and outsiders. Subject to their respective participation and contribution, each have their own advantages and disadvantages.

Insiders are members of the project team. Documentation is carried out by specific team members assigned to communication, monitoring or process documentation. Insiders contribute to learning within the project team, but they must maintain sufficient ‘distance’ in order objectively validate lessons learned and reflect on the process critically and independently.

Direct stakeholders play an important role in the project and they are direct beneficiaries of a successful transformation. The involvement of direct stakeholders stimulates learning and reflection, and helps in fostering relationships that ensure diverse stakeholder groups voices are heard.

Outsiders are external consultants that may be brought onboard if the organization needs specialized expertise for the project or doesn’t have the required talent to lead transformation, such as an executive with sufficient experience managing a similar change strategy. The viewpoints of outsiders are the least biased compared to the other groups and should therefore be considered to discover more opportunities for improvement.

What to look for in a documentation specialist

Documenting a change strategy or transformation plan effectively requires technical skill, communication flair and high emotional intelligence. The project team member who will be gathering information and creating presentations, documents and reports can be counted on to do a good job is he/she has the following qualities:

Can ask questions that encourage critical thinking
Is able to synthesize a vast amount of information
Is able to dig below the surface or beyond the obvious
Stays objective while also seeing the big picture
Places learning in context of the larger vision
Is culturally aware and familiar with the realities of the team’s dynamic
Understands what the IT transformation is trying to achieve
Has stakeholders’ trust while also being able to report without bias
Is skillful in communicating messages in positive ways.

These characteristics may not be available in a single individual. More than one team member can be assigned documentation duties. By involving two or three individuals in the process, multiple checks of documents can be done. The entire team can also a play a role in documenting the project. They can provide their accounts and findings to the documentation specialist or the specialist team, who can then organize and improve the information, readying it for reports, documents and presentations to be shared team-wide and with the project sponsor.

Project documentation tips

Documentation fatigue is a real thing, and it can occur due to a variety of reasons. The team leader or any participant assigned to document the project should ideally have the necessary experience. They should stay updated on the best practices of formalizing information for sharing among different shareholders. They also need to watch out for the common documentation errors and follow best practices, as explained below.

Avoid putting down too much information

Leave out the unnecessary details and state key points concisely. Include links to references in order to provide context, if necessary. Documentation is an important task but it is an administrative duty, and should not occupy more time than needed.

Write for the audience

Not all documents created during the course of the IT transformation program need to be shared with every project participant. Consider what information participants need to carry out their roles. Also determine a frequency that is useful to participants in staying on top of the project.

Use a standardized template

A consistent format and structure do their bit to help participants engage effectively with the documents. Illustrations and colors codes should feel familiar across documents. The available templates of a project management software address these issues and also offer options to customize reports.

Fix mistakes

Sending documents to the wrong person. Typos and spelling errors. Gaps in information. Unclear analysis. These are common errors that must be rectified immediately after they are brought to attention. Documentation mistakes can belie the imperativeness of the technology-led transformation and create an embarrassing situation for the project sponsor.

Sprinkle personality

Project documents are not creative reports but they can be simple and reader-friendly. Project documents that read like user manuals fail to connect with participants on a human level. Add a dash of personality to increase the engagement quotient. Write with an objective tone. Leave out fluff and state information in simple terms.

Avoid being judgmental

Statements from the project sponsor/team leader such as “I’m extremely proud of Mr. Jones’ relentless efforts to build the high-quality application in a short time”, are quite unnecessary. The outcome is of value to the project but the tone can be neutral. Efforts should be recognized at the team rather than at the individual level. The congratulatory remarks can be conveyed in person or efforts rewarded on an individual level, such as fast-tracking a promotion or a salary hike.

The exception to this is when a particular document – to be shared with the project sponsor and board – mentions the team leader, Transformational Director, external consultant or any other executive taking ownership of the IT transformation project. The individual’s credentials will be evidence for why he/she has been chosen to lead, oversee or advise the project.

Avoid a chronological narrative

Project stakeholders have only so much time to go through documents. The information should be presented such that it can be understood after a single reading. A chronological narrative makes the document confusing and cumbersome to read.

Example: After speaking with Mr. X from [name of marketing research consultancy], we did not receive a clear picture of clients’ business communication preferences. We then contacted [name of another marketing agency] that advises [list competitors]. We found out that businesses are increasingly preferring asynchronous communication channels. With this data, we went back to Mr. Y, our head of marketing, and along with our existing client data, we were able to reach the following conclusions: [insert points].

This narrative is long and shows the path the team took to understand a certain preference among clients. It focuses more on the individuals and companies rather than the value to the client. The information appears to convey that the team kept busy. The chronological narrative is also a bit confusing as readers will have to remember the names of people and companies.

An effective way of putting across the same message is to simply state the research findings, how they relate to the company’s own data, final conclusions, and what needs to be done. A list style is easier to grasp and leaves out unnecessary details.

Project documentation tools

Web-based project documentation software allow organizations to store, manage and share information in one place. Functionalities include adding, deleting and downloading documents; tracking activity and setting up alerts for document updates; real-time co-editing of documents; role-based access control (who can view what); and sharing files and folders via links.

The popular project management software Microsoft Project integrates with third-party applications and extends with other Microsoft products to store project data in a central database. It offers access levels to project data based on different classes of users (team members).

The software chosen will depend on the project scope, scale and methodology used. For instance, Jira’s interface is designed with the agile development approach in mind and used for Scrum, Kanban and Agile models. Trello is a top choice for small teams but cannot accommodate complex project management.

Will Google Docs and Dropbox suffice? Microsoft 365 SharePoint? Shared drives can be messy and confusing thanks to the many folder hierarchies and duplicate content. Guidelines for using shared drives along with oversight (‘‘administrator’) can bring them under control.

A cloud-based tool is advantageous for several reasons. Project team members can access documents on-the-fly on their mobile devices. Storing important information in the cloud also cushions against the risk of losing data in a physical location such as a server. Losing data before a full back-up is done will require documents to be created again and eat into team members’ time. Web-based project management tools also allow seamless collaboration, and many can be customized to suit the needs of the project.

Organizations embarking on a transformation for the first time have plenty of opportunities to adapt their documentation process to best practices. The required training and support can be made available to create a robust team of documentation specialists for future projects. If documentation skills are present internally but not to the level desired, then the gap between required and effective competencies can be plugged with external talent.

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Workshop Exercises

90-day plan Exercises

01. Theory and Communication: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
02. Review Organizational Structure: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
03. Set Mission and Goals: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
04. Plans and Timelines: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
05. Best Activities to Pursue: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
06. Competitor Assessment: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
07. Benchmark Best Practices: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
08. More Detailed Plans: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
09. Implement Plans: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
10. Feedback Loops: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
11. Improvements: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?
12. Document Outcomes: Explain in your own words how this process will directly impact upon your department?

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SWOT & MOST Analysis Exercises

01. Undertake a detailed SWOT Analysis in order to identify your department’s internal strengths and weaknesses and external opportunities and threats in relation to each of the 12 90-day Plan processes featured above. Undertake this task together with your department’s stakeholders in order to encourage collaborative evaluation.

02. Develop a detailed MOST Analysis in order to establish your department’s: Mission; Objectives; Strategies and Tasks in relation to 90-day Plan. Undertake this task together with all of your department’s stakeholders in order to encourage collaborative evaluation.

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Project Studies

Project Study (Part 1) – Customer Service

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 2) – E-Business

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 3) – Finance

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 4) – Globalization

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 5) – Human Resources

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 6) – Information Technology

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 7) – Legal

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 8) – Management

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 9) – Marketing

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 10) – Production

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 11) – Logistics

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Project Study (Part 12) – Education

The Head of this Department is to provide a detailed report relating to the Leading IT Transformation process that has been implemented within their department, together with all key stakeholders, as a result of conducting this workshop, incorporating process: planning; development; implementation; management; and review. Your process should feature the following 12 parts:

1. Theory and Communication
2. Review Organizational Structure
3. Set Mission and Goals
4. Plans and Timelines
5. Best Activities to Pursue
6. Competitor Assessment
7. Benchmark Best Practices
8. More Detailed Plans
9. Implement Plans
10. Feedback Loops
11. Improvements
12. Document Outcomes

Please include the results of the initial evaluation and assessment.

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Program Benefits