You upgraded your technology, does that mean you are digitally ready?
The need to support staff to work from home in the last few months has caused a lot of companies to upgrade their communication technology and infrastructure to enable remote access to company files. Zoom, Miro, Slack and other collaboration tools now occupy the home screen of many mobile phones. However, converting to digital communication tools does not mean that a company is now ready to compete against other Industry 4.0 companies. Now is a good time to assess the company’s business model, organization structure, internal capabilities, and adjacent businesses to identify opportunities and risks to avoid being left behind.
Many traditional businesses from taxi-drivers to hotel companies have been blindsided and disrupted by new businesses with highly scalable business models that leverage new technologies and globally connected online communities. In response, some companies have implemented agile work practices, adopted new technologies and implemented process automation. However, as Professor G. Westerman from MIT Sloan School of Management said, digitization is not about the technology but about the people, organizational culture and mindset.
Let’s face it. In the new reality, we need to think about how to make ourselves and our company more flexible and agile, to be resilient in the face of more changes. In other words, to be prepared for more uncertainty.
Resilience and agility are about people. How do your people behave? Do they have the values and practices that enable high performance in the digital era? Do they have the awareness, the desire, the knowledge, the tools and the autonomy to act with speed in the company’s best interest even when you are not around? Does your culture support your strategy? Are your people goal oriented, customer centric, open and professional? This is where organizational culture comes into play. Start off with the strategy, but don’t forget to make sure that the right organizational culture is behind it.
So you have upgraded your technology but has your company truly transformed?