Digital transformation is about taking the way your agency operates today and helping it evolve through a newer more innovative approach to using technology. Think of it as modernizing your infrastructure, improving your staff and client experience, and creating a new culture﹘simulataneously.
Unfortunately, it is possible to head down the wrong path, and the results could be disastrous. By understanding the top causes of digital transformation failure, you can take measures to avoid them.
We can do it all by ourselves
One of the most admirable things about municipal staff is their spirit of “ we need to get this done and we can do it ourselves.” After all that “get’er doneness” is a big part of why we admire our clients so much. It’s one of the reasons why we focus on the SLG market.
However, that willingness to jump in is sometimes why digital transformations fail. This is especially true when it comes to their technology partner when agencies mistake of viewing less as an organic extension of their digital execution strategy and more like a second thought. If your digital transformation is going to succeed you should leverage all your resources. We hope that you consider CPS a valuable resource and we will stand by your side to ensure your digitization effort doesn’t hit any hiccups.
Scaling too quickly
Often, when launching an initiative it’s important to show progress and ROI quickly. However, with digital transformation, slow and steady wins the race. It’s impossible to control everything at high speed. The devil is in the details and digital transformation is a highly detailed project. Scale and transform processes one-by-one.
No advocacy from the top
Another reason why digital transformation can fail is that advocacy for the digital transformation process begins with one or maybe even a select few employees who love the idea of automating processes, implementing new technologies, or changing the agency culture in some appreciable way.
The problem is that these staff members need to work their way up the organization, getting buy-in from stakeholders and senior management. This can be a rough road. It’s important to get sponsorship from agency leaders first, then form a steering committee, and communicate, conduct lunch and learns, and share success stories!
Silos can be dangerous
The final reason why some digital transformations fail is activity and information is often siloed. If one department is engaged in activities that another is totally unaware of, how can they share that work so that both may benefit? How will Department A be able to understand that what they’re doing will have a very real impact on Department B? If information is siloed because departments and individuals still want to use their own systems, how can collaboration occur?
Thankfully, avoiding this type of situation altogether is can be simple — you just have to make sure that you have the right tools and resources in place before your digital transformation begins. I hope that includes having Laserfiche and CPS on your team!
