5 mistakes to avoid during your digital transformation

Digital transformation is now a major challenge for organizations. There is good reason why41% of French companies (60% for SMEs) believe that digital technology contributes to increasing their turnover! Increased efficiency, time and productivity savings, acquisition of new customers... The virtues of digital are numerous.

However, starting the digital transformation of one's company is not always a smooth process. In addition to the technical difficulties, there is sometimes resistance to change from certain employees. But don't panic: these obstacles are not inevitable. To make things easier for you, we have compiled a list of 5 mistakes to avoid when implementing your digital transformation!  

#1 Not creating a digital culture within the company

In a company, employees generally come from a variety of backgrounds. Some are digital natives, others were born long before the Internet... All these reasons make it important to create a common culture that bridges any differences between employees. Implementing such a change takes time, but it is an exciting challenge. It is important to show all employees the practical interest and usefulness of the new technologies, using examples. Communication actions, training, installation of new tools and applications... There are many ways to set up and install a digital culture in the company. This is all the more important as, in companies that use digital internal communication tools, productivity increases by 20 to 25% (McKinsey study, 2012).

To go further, here's our guide to creating a strong company culture 💪

Of course, it is important to draw up a roadmap beforehand. This involves defining the priority objectives, but also the departments (trades) most concerned by digitization.  

#2 Not choosing the right tools

No digital transformation can happen without the right tools. That's why it's essential to choose tools that combine security and efficiency, offer interesting features (e.g., that save employees time), and have the power to evolve the company's IT environment. For example, if you want to create collaborative intranets that will engage all of your employees, Mozzaik365 is a reliable and easy-to-use solution. 100% secure, our extension adds 50 additional features to Teams and SharePoint.

💡To help you choose the right tools, discover our selection through our article on the "Top 9 tools that have digitized your business" .

What about those who use these new tools? We recommend adopting a User Adoption approach, i.e. the use of the tools must become automatic for all users. To achieve this, users must be at the centre of the change (User Centric) and adapt the tools to their practices, and not the other way round. In other words, it is not a question of imposing new tools on employees, but of proposing that they integrate them as they go along.

Finally, it is important to streamline the change. It is obviously not possible to implement everything immediately, for reasons of time and budget. This is why it is best to do it gradually, which at the same time builds user confidence by giving them time to adapt, feature by feature.

#3 Not involving the right people

Digital transformation is not only a question of tools: it is also (and above all) a human issue. Thus, management must be convinced of the transformation to be carried out and the benefits it brings.

It is essential to understand the issues and methods of change management, in order to anticipate the risks and deal with the issues involved by adopting the right change management strategy.

First and foremost, the leader must set the example and posture for change and involve his or her staff. Other people can then take over.

3.1 Creating a stable and committed project team

While external expertise may be necessary in the implementation of a digital transformation, it must be complemented by an internal project team that knows the company and its objectives. The role of this team should be to implement and anchor the change, while communicating regularly on the steps to be taken. It is not compulsory that the members of the team come from the same department: the important thing is that the project team is versatile, expert and convinced by the subject. On the other hand, it is important that the team is unified and has common objectives.
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3.2 Designing business tools by involving users

With a huge number of different digital tools, it is easy to get lost... or to resist change. This is why it is important, when designing tools, to ensure that they are easy to use and offer employees many advantages (time saving or productivity, for example). To do this, what better way than to involve users directly, for example by organizing group training sessions? This will be an opportunity to make them aware of the possibilities offered by the Digital Workplace, such as the organization of events or the sharing of targeted news.  

3.3 Communicating on new uses at the end of the project

The clarity of the objectives of an organization's digital transformation and the ability to communicate them effectively are crucial to promoting change. It is therefore a good idea to have a communication plan to accompany this project. The objective is to convince, but also to guide and reassure employees throughout the change. We know that 70% of employees are more loyal to a company if it communicates clearly internally! Hence the importance of communicating transparently about the new practices that have been put in place. Which brings us to the following mistake...

#4 Not communicating changes to users

Implementing organizational changes takes a lot of time, effort and energy. It is a mistake to believe that users will adapt quickly to these changes! It is above all a long process: it is therefore necessary to talk about the project beforehand (to prepare people's minds), to communicate on its progress and on the weak points that it makes it possible to resolve, to evoke the challenges to which it responds, to answer questions, to propose training, etc. The aim is to educate employees to accept and then integrate the change, to the point of making them actors in this change (see our article on change management in companies).

📌 To go further on this topic, explore our guide to creating a digital company culture

#5 Believing that the project ends with deployment

The transformation project does not stop once it has been deployed: on the contrary, it has barely begun! Indeed, digital transformation is a long and complex process that requires constant adjustments. And this applies to both the technical and human aspects... A good way to identify the necessary adjustments is to set up a feedback tool, which allows users to give their feedback in real time. But that's not all. Usage must be supervised in order to integrate it over time, to make changes according to user feedback and needs, to train new employees, to decommission old tools, to anticipate future usage, etc. A job that requires time... and patience.  

Conclusion

A digital transformation project always takes time. It is not simply a matter of putting in place new uses and/or new solutions: it is also a matter of getting employees to accept the change and to anchor these new practices in their daily lives. This is a challenge that requires patience, and that requires avoiding some common mistakes that we have listed in this article!

Things to remember

The 5 mistakes to avoid are:

📌 Not digitizing your business;

📌 Not choosing the right tools;

📌 Not involving the right people;

📌 Do not create communication with users ;

📌 Stop the project after the deployment phase.