According to McKinsey & Co, “78% of business managers expect his and her companies’ workforces will become digital in the next 3 years, however only one in three of these people feel prepared enough to lead during this potentially volatile transition.” *
So whether you’re a Marketing, Sales, Customer experience, Digital, Business Unit, etc Director working in a small, medium, or large sized company, digital transformation has already impacted your activities (and if it hasn’t, it will soon!).
Maybe you’re wondering, what does “digital impacting business” mean? It could represent a number of things: a change in business model, a new way of working internally with colleagues and externally with clients, prospects, and partners, digital presence for your brand, getting your colleagues on board and encouraging them to be more proactive on social media, etc.
So while digital transformation is multifaceted, many business leaders find themselves at different stages of their digital journeys. But what they all have in common, is that they will have faced one of several of the below myths!
Myth 1: We don’t need onboarding, all of our staff is digitally aware!
Really? Have you taken the time to communicate the corporate digital strategy to them? Have you gotten their feedback and listened to their concerns?
→ Yes, it might take time to do this. But without aligning your workforce with this new vision, driving digital strategy will quickly become more complex than you thought!
Myth 2: Most of our staff is “young,” they’re all using social media every day, understand our digital strategy, etc.
Right! Just because “young” people are comfortable with Facebook, mobile applications, etc. (which is a bit of a stereotype! ;-)), it doesn’t necessarily mean that they: 1) understand the corporate aspect of digital 2) are putting it into place effectively!
→ What does “young” really mean? And how are the different age groups within your organization using and reacting to digital in their everyday work experiences? If you take the time to find out, you might be positively AND negatively surprised! But all is not lost! By giving certain populations in you company the right training and framework, they will be able to effectively lead digital transformation with you!
Myth 3: Digital transformation is for the marketing team…
Many business leaders are keeping their heads in the sand by thinking that their customers, teams, and partners will not be impacted by digital!
→ According to Gartner, digital business incompetence will cause 25% of businesses to lose competitive ranking by 2017. Understanding how digital is impacting your customers, teams, etc. takes time, some thought and some budget, so you better a get a move on- before your competitors do!
Myth 4: Digital transformation is complicated… I don’t know how and where to start…
Many clients tell us, “Going digital isn’t part of our management’s vision, so it’s not important to us right now.” This pushes digital transformation further down the task list and will only make things worse later on for the company.
→ Yes, it’s a complex issue, but the easiest way to start is to focus on clients. All businesses need to be more in touch with clients and prospects. So if you start to lead digital transformation through better online relations with clients and prospects, no management in the world could be against that! 😉
Myth 5: I don’t have time to improve or fill out my LinkedIn profile, my son or daughter can do it!
This is our favorite one- we hear it probably once a week! Many business leaders feel that they can trust their personal branding and corporate communicate message to an adolescent or university student??! ☺
→ Using social media as a business tool starts with having an effective strategy. You are the only person who can build and drive this strategy, as you know your business, objectives, and ecosystem. Maybe asking a university aged son or daughter to “help” with technical questions might be ok, but it really will depend if they have experience or not. However, it’s not recommended, as it’s vital that YOU get used to using and integrating social media into your everyday business practices so that you can show management and help lead digital transformation. And besides, would you ask your kids to contact your clients and prospects for you? 😉
* http://workingcapitalreview.com/2016/02/what-leaders-can-do-to-digitize-workforces
For more information on how to lead digital transformation within your organization…
