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Is your organization ready for a post-COVID-19 digital transformation?
Digital transformation may have been on your agenda for a while, but COVID-19 has dramatically accelerated the pace of change. Now, businesses in all sectors have been thrust into a new virtual environment. While the focus has rightly been on managing the impact of the virus at a human, healthcare and economic level, we are still in the early stages of this rapid shift to widespread digital communication, convening and work.
We anticipate that these dynamics will reshape company cultures, the way companies work and make decisions, organizational designs, how companies engage with customers, and in-demand skills going forward.
Take this diagnostic to learn more about how you may need to adjust your company’s digital roadmap.
Where were you on your digital journey before COVID-19?
A bit behind
We had a strategy, but…
We were a leader
A bit behind
We were behind the majority of our competitors. We had a website, but primarily relied on non-digital channels. Internally we were not relying on digital collaboration tools, and/or our supply chain process was disparate.
Technology, Product and Strategy Experts
You’ll need strategic thinkers and product managers to set the roadmap, as well as on-the-ground executors and organizers to focus on modernizing the following areas.
The leaders you need:
IT
Security
Change Management
Finance
Program Management
We had a strategy, but…
We had an enterprise-level digital strategy and were keeping pace with competitors but wouldn’t define ourselves as “innovators.”
The leaders you need:
Core Business Transformers
You’ll need influencers, collaborators and networkers to drive innovation in the following areas.
R&D
Sales
Marketing
Supply Chain
Manufacturing
Data and Analytics
We were a leader
We were a leader in our space and continue to provide a world-class digital experience to our customers, our business ecosystem and our internal teams.
The leaders you need:
Visionaries, Evangelizers and Disruptors
You’ll need big thinkers, challengers and disruptors to reshape business models, products, services and partnerships, and corporate development.
Define your strategy
The current situation has accelerated the need for digital interfaces and exposed more employees and board members to the advantages of virtual collaboration tools. As a result, companies will need to advance up the digital maturity curve.
I want to...
Hover over each goal to explore new corresponding organizational needs.
Align digital with our new strategy
Re-evaluate the customer experience
Develop new digital business models
Drive sales through new channels
Leverage momentum of collaboration across teams
Prioritize data and customer engagement and employee engagement skill sets
Prioritize strategic and transformation skill sets
Prioritize product and digital skill sets
Prioritize combined online and offline sales skill sets
Prioritize convening in new ways
Adapting to a new way of thinking
Certain characteristics will become increasingly important for leaders in not only driving strategy, but also in improving engagement and increasing transparency. Click the dots to explore each attribute and find out what it looks like in practice.
Taking an empathy-first approach and providing meaningful work.
Caring and purpose
Giving people freedom to innovate and allowing for varied working styles.
Adaptability
Providing real-time feedback and making the time to celebrate individual and team achievements.
Feedback
Being accessible and frequently communicating with colleagues.
Communication
Making quick, analytics-based decisions and having the right team in place to deliver key insights.
Decision-making
Bringing on people with varied and diverse skill sets to solve problems together.
Collaboration
Providing direction and removing barriers to progress to allow teams to flourish while problem-solving.
Leadership
Maximizing the use of digital tools and media to enable flexible working.
Mobility
Ready to take the next step in your digital transformation?
Let us help.
Learn more
Restructuring your organization
Picking the right organizational model will depend on your needs. Explore the models below to find which one makes sense for your organization as it adapts to a fast-changing environment.
Centralized model
Hub & spoke model
Function-Driven Distributed Model
Brand-Driven Distributed Model
In this model, strategy, execution and profit and loss responsibility are centralized, while brands provide indirect influence and guidance.
Centralized Model
CEO
CMO
CFO
Chief Digital Officer
Business Unit 1
Business Unit 2
Pros
Cons
Pros
Cons
•
Can isolate the financial impact of digital activities with clear P&L
•
More direct revenues to monetize digital
•
Provides scale through consolidation in a single body to handle all digital issues
•
Weakens digital’s ties to rest of the organization
•
Pulls important activities away from brands
Hub & Spoke Model
In this model, there is a centralized strategy and processes with localized content and execution.
CEO
CMO
R&D
Sales
Marketing Services
Product Development
Pros
Cons
Cons
•
Difficult to strike the right balance between activities at center vs. within business units
•
Hub a point of connection
•
Ability to quickly disseminate best practices across the organization
•
Spokes preserve the ability of teams to customize activities
Pros
Business Units
Digital
Outbound
Business Unit 1
Business Unit 2
Function-Driven Distributed Model
In this model, digital activities are distributed across separate functional areas (e.g., marketing, R&D, PR, etc).
CEO
CMO
R&D
Sales
Business Units
Digital Marketing
Digital Product Development
Online Sales
Brand A
Brand B
Pros
Cons
Cons
•
While there’s good collaboration between groups, it could also result in longer implementation times
•
Digital is a “natural” part of the organization, with no overlays required for effectiveness
•
There is better integration among functions for online and offline activities (e.g., traditional and digital marketing)
Pros
•
Limited sharing between the product team and the rest of the organization
Brand-Driven Distributed Model
In this model, all digital activities and responsibilities are pushed out to the business units and their brands.
CEO
Business Unit 1
Business Unit 2
Brand A
Brand B
Pros
Cons
Cons
•
High cost, with redundant full-time employees focused on digital activities across the organization
•
Brands unable to leverage expertise and key learnings of the others in the organization
•
Rightly integrated and distinct brands — consistent face to the consumer
•
Effective if few big brands are present
Pros
Brand C
Brand D
•
Minimal or no formal system for knowledge sharing or testing
•
Buyers not aggregated
Reshaping your culture and leadership style
Your culture will need to evolve in a post-COVID-19 world. Culture is primarily informed by how an organization responds to change, and how its people interact to accomplish their work. The pandemic is dramatically reshaping both these factors.
With digital transformation accelerating, organizations will need to emphasize flexibility, experimentation and agility. Leaders will have to foster a culture that is comfortable with ambiguity and continually innovates, while demonstrating caring through the process of change. Leaders whose styles are oriented toward learning, purpose and caring are particularly well-equipped to lead in this environment.
Not every organization can or should have the same culture or types of leaders in the name of digital transformation. A holistic assessment can help you determine if where you are will help you get to where you want to go.
The journey never ends.
Your instinct may be to proceed with caution in today’s uncertain environment. However, we believe the long-term winners will be those who accelerate their investments in the tools and talent needed to stay competitive — and navigate future detours.
Ready to take the next step in your digital transformation?
Let us help
IT
Security
Change Management
Finance
Program Management
Operations (senior leaders and front-line employees)
Re-evaluate the customer experience
Align digital with our new strategy
Develop new digital business models
Drive sales through new channels
Leverage momentum of collaboration across teams
Prioritize data and customer engagement and employee engagement skill sets
Prioritize strategic and transformation skill sets
Prioritize product and digital skill sets
Prioritize combined online and offline sales skill sets
Prioritize convening in new ways
Operations (senior leaders and front-
line employees)
Encouraging experimentation
and the development of ideas within “safe” environments.
Learning
Improve productivity through automation
Evolve products and revenue streams with IoT
Build new integrated, connected systems
Prioritize manufacturing and distribution agility
Prioritize data science/analytics and integrated software/hardware skill sets
Prioritize collaboration among disparate functional and vertical market teams
Risk of misaligned online and offline execution
•
•
Risk of misaligned online and offline execution