In the first part of our brace of articles designed to help you manage a smooth transition to the digital world, we looked at how your digital vision, your business goals and your business framework all need to be reviewed for a digital age. On top of this we explained that to succeed in this brave new world, you need to be increasingly focused on your customer – not on yourself.

Furthermore, teams across your business will need to adopt agile ways of working to address the changing environment and to best achieve your goals. Importantly, you will need to test new ideas and new innovations – your own or others – that might improve how you deliver your product or service to your customer. While remembering that you need to understand what is an acceptable and welcomed communication in context for that person and that moment in time.

So far so good. But does all this mean you are equipped for change and that everything is good?

Well, you are probably way ahead of your competitors by now, but there are some softer, more subtle, aspects of business that sometimes are more important than the more obvious operational and process-driven changes.

Throughout history the soft skills within leaders have been those traits that have defined them and set them apart as great individuals. Jack Welch of General Electric and even Alexander the Great both understood the power of participating and leading by example. Abraham Lincoln and George Washington, two of the most famous motivational leaders of our times. Henry Ford, and our very own Sir Tim Berners Lee. All these exemplary individuals demonstrated a responsiveness that contributed to global and economic change.

The same needs to be the case for organisations wanting to embrace digital and become more ‘digital’ throughout their business. Under the umbrella of a true and honest mindset fit for a digital world the following traits are powerful agents for change: Participation; Motivation; and Responsiveness.

But what do these traits really mean from a managers of a business’ perspective?

Participation

You have to be in it to win it! Nothing is truer in the world of digital. Even the world’s most influential and successful people are active in digital today. Within the world of business, participation in digital at the top will build trust and help cement the digital vision throughout the organisation.

Motivation

Like most things, if there is a display of motivation borne of true commitment at the top of the leader board there will likely be greater adoption across the organisation. Digital needs to be on everyone’s agenda. Motivational leaders will always ensure this.

Responsiveness

Realtime is a buzzword for many marketing and media people out there at the moment. But for digital success the subtlety of being responsive is huge.
Every business wants to succeed. We are in a digital world. Adopting digital ways of working are inevitable and not choices anymore. Being responsive across all areas of digital becomes part of the focus on incremental change to create tranfomational success.

A Clear Digital Vision communicated throughout the business is step one. Adopting agile processes and being open to how today’s business model is really changing is step two. Understanding what customer centric means for you in a digital world is step three.

If you implement these three steps and commit to participation, motivation and responsiveness the digital world and all it’s benefits are there waiting for you.

Of course, the complexity of moving to a digital first way of working is not to be taken lightly. But rewards are worth the effort.

 

By Mel Ross, Managing Partner at WalkDigital.

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