In order to determine what precisely you want to transform, it’s important to look at the following factors:
People and Organisation: What form of teamwork will best support the organisation through the intended transformation? The flexible Agile method is often introduced for this purpose.
Data and Analytics: How should we organise our data governance to get the insights we need from our data? The best data approach is usually non-invasive.
Technology: Is the right technological (IT) foundation in place to support the future strategy and the customers’ products? The architecture is usually based on a platform that serves as a basis for the modular provision of products and services.
Ecosystems: Which unusual partners offer unusual opportunities for future collaboration? Building a healthy ecosystem often requires specific competences.
How do we want to transform?
In order to further amplify on the ‘how’ question, it’s important to pay attention to:
Shaping the change: Change does not happen by itself. It requires knowledge, experience, skill and capacity to perform the necessary interventions to guide the change in the right direction.
Ownership and cooperation: Transformation requires ownership by top management. But it also involves learning to cooperate differently inside and outside the organisation, while basing workplace behaviour morethe transformation goals than on the existing structures.
Clear picture of the future: At the start, the picture of the future will be more of a Polaroid photo than a fully worked-out, detailed drawing. However, the faraway dot on the horizon must be appealing and activating enough to set the organisation in motion.
Change team: Most organisations find it difficult to change completely autonomously without the support of a team of qualified change managers. The latter ensure that the change goes in the right direction, and provide the capacity and competence that the line organisation often lacks.
Sustainable impact: The change is only a transformation when it is permanent. This means that the transformation requires more than temporary support alone. Only by fully aligning all management systems – such as finance, HR, sales and operations – with the future can the change in a transformation be secured over the long term.