Digital Transformation: How Professionals, Businesses, and Brands Have Shifted in the Wake of COVID-19
By Andrew Amaechi Original: 3/16/2021
Businesses were forced to rethink operations when confronted with the global pandemic. It brought about an onslaught of shake-ups not only with forcing employees to work remotely but in creating an entirely new digital age that was likely many years away from being a reality.
Companies re-examined their day-to-day operations and adapted on the fly, readjusting their respective corporate strategies to adjust to the “new normal.” The result was adopting a seemingly foreign (to some industries) buzz-word known as a Digital Transformation. Now before we get into what exactly these strategies consisted of, how they were implemented, and the impact, let’s first take a closer look at the word itself.
Digital transformation: The process of using digital technologies to create new — or modify existing — business processes, culture, and customer experiences to meet changing business and market requirements.
Technological change is nothing new in our society. After all, the evolution of technology has brought us many helpful tools, devices, and systems that are commonplace within both our homes and work environments alike. However, this change was different as it was not only abrupt but seemingly a necessity for survival. In order to meet the demands of this “new normal,” companies have had to adopt various digital strategies. Some of which were rather familiar but others were completely foreign in their operational playbooks.
4 Types of Digital Transformation:
Business Process: Learning, data, and analytics. One such example is how companies are easing the process for customers, such as how Domino's created an app to be able to order pizza from anywhere: your pc, phone, or tablet.
·Organizational: Redefining mindset and processes. Many companies have had to shift their offline older style systems into more modern technological areas to adapt to the new demands.
Business Model: How is value delivered? A good example is how companies create new ways to reach their customers, such as streaming networks vs traditional cable. There’s no coincidence that every media network has been racing to gather up all of their content/projects and launch their own streaming platform (i.e the streaming wars).
Domain: Redefining opportunity. Google and Amazon eventually added additional capabilities to their already robust service portfolios. Google starting with search, then getting into email and business suites. Amazon creating not only an e-commerce platform, but now storage/cloud computing (via Amazon Web Services), and digital streaming services.
When you think about how things are done, systems have been in place for years with some of these massive corporations, but with COVID-19 turning everything upside down, there was a major disruption. The outcome? Many of the small to mid-level companies had to drastically change the way they operated on every level. New systems, new digital strategies, and new patterns emerged as teams of EMPLOYEES WERE NOW SPREAD OUT AND WORKING FROM HOME.
How Digital Transformation is Revolutionizing the Government
Even the government has been forced to reimagine how things work on a day-to-day basis. Many of the systems and networks that they had in place were not set up to accommodate a fully remote workforce and were quickly proven to be inadequate during the early months of the pandemic.
Automation is making things more efficient, but without proper channels in place, they were quickly forced to examine departmental bottlenecks and areas that needed improvement.
Different branches of the government are collaborating more to try to streamline processes and figure out things that created new challenges with the pandemic. This is also helping create stronger cybersecurity systems as more functions are being handled online.
Smart systems have helped services be implemented faster by reducing red tape and friction.
While things didn’t happen overnight, because we’ve been dealing with the pandemic for months on end, the government has had time to create new systems that would have been pushed off because of time, old school leaders not ready to make the change, or uncertainty of how the new systems would work (cost, processes, etc).
When you’re forced to jump into the deep end of the pool, you figure out how to swim, whether you’re ready or not.
Digital Transformation: Business is Far from Business as Usual
You were probably used to your regular commute, working in the office, and holding meetings around a boardroom table. Today’s meetings are on software like Zoom, or people are meeting and collaborating via Microsoft Teams.
This technological shift is showing old school companies the possibilities they may have held off on incorporating because “things worked” according to an established status quo so long. This disruption isn’t necessarily a bad thing in some aspects.
While companies may have relied on older technologies, they’re now finding newer ways to accomplish those same tasks through implementing newer digital processes. Though, it’s not always a smooth transition.
Issues that Arise with Digital Transformations
Certain leaders don’t do well with change. Any change can be difficult but this was no ordinary change by any stretch of the imagination. The old-school leader who was used to micromanaging or being aware of what their employees were doing throughout the day quickly found themselves out of touch with their workforce. Not being able to “see” you in the office, puts a monkey wrench in their managing style and many haven’t adapted to this well. Think about how you’re no longer in a cubicle and instead you’re at home. They only “see” you when you’re logged on, even though you’re still getting your work done.
There will be employees who need added reassurance and may not adjust well to working at home. If they aren’t self-starting, self-motivated, and good at keeping focus in a distracting environment, this can cause issues in the amount of work getting accomplished.
Leaders who don’t believe in the new technology being a better option. This has to do with them feeling safe with what they know. Doing things differently may jar their confidence.
According to a study by McKinsey & Company, 70% of digital transformations fail. This comes down to individual strategies or having too narrow of a focus, rather than seeing the change and growth as being good for the company overall. Changing systems through the entire business ecosystem can be overwhelming if everyone isn’t on board.
Digital Transformation Strategies that Work
COVID-19 may have been the biggest global disruptor to business, but was it all necessarily bad? Could it have pushed companies to take a closer look at the choices they were making? Maybe it was time for these old school businesses to move forward, but they simply couldn’t visualize what would be involved.
What started as a preemptive 2-week closure has turned into a year-long nightmare for many businesses, and in the interim, everyone has had to adapt. You had to adapt as much as your company did. Suddenly, you’re working out of your home office if you had one, or on the kitchen table, hoping the kids didn’t interrupt your meeting, or your dog didn’t bark. Life as we knew it changed—dramatically.
You probably adapted quicker and easier than your company did, but they weren’t simply working from home. Now, they had to find new ways to do things that they’d taken for granted, because previously they operated like a well-oiled machine. This disruption shook their world, with you in it.
Finding digital transformation strategies that work took time, effort, and adjustment. Some are still grappling with the changes, while others adapted easier than they’d anticipated.
Strategies that helped some businesses move forward:
Staying customer-focused.
Staying aligned with their values regardless of changes.
Prioritized decision making and goals.
How has COVID-19 Impacted Business?
Professionals: You may have been one of the professionals that have been fortunate enough to still have a job, even if you have been working from home since the inception of the pandemic. While it might have been nice to skip the commute, some people didn’t realize that not being in a social environment at work would impact them via focus, mental stress, and fatigue. While most found their way through Zoom meetings, collaborating online, and via countless emails, some still miss the days they could go from an in-person meeting to an after hour happy hour simply by walking down the street.
Businesses: Businesses have learned to rely on technology in a new way and many found that after a shaky start, they could still manage to accomplish most things as they had in the office. Not everybody transitioned well, but overall a lot of businesses are considering several big changes especially how much office space they need to successfully run their operations. In fact, in major cities where office rent is astronomical, businesses are recognizing how much they can save by shifting to a more digital way of doing things.
Major Brands: When it comes to big brands, people were paying close attention to how they responded, how they treated their employees, the messages they were sending, and so much more. Some brands adapted well, surprising us all, while others floundered. Those that were fortunate enough to survive, were forced to pick up the pieces and try to fit them back together again.
Conclusion
When it comes down to the future of work and business, we’re not sure what the “new normal” will bring, but it’s certain that it will likely involve the need for all parties involved to be flexible, innovate and/or pivot to accommodate the uncertainties that will come about. From an enterprise perspective, when companies make changes and adapt their processes to meet certain demands, we all win. Yet, there’s a learning curve. Change is a stumbling block many businesses fear. COVID-19 forced the issue, ushering in a new economic landscape with which many are still struggling to come to grips with.
Where have you seen digital transformation impact your company or business the most? Do you feel like it was a good change, even if it wasn’t intended? What would you like to see your company do next to evolve? What steps are you taking to prepare yourself for the future business and professional landscape?
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