We've heard all the cliches before: "Hope isn't a strategy", or "failing to plan is planning to fail". Unfortunately despite everyone's best intentions a number of business change projects fail to meet their objectives.
To give you some context of how important it is to spot the early warning signs of a project going adrift consider this: an IDC study predicts $2.8tn will be spent on digital transformation projects worldwide by 2025, twice what was spend in 2020 AND possibly up to $1tn could be wastes on such projects either not achieving their desired outcome or scrapped all together.
In order to protect against this type of waste here are 4 early warning signs that your transformation project may be be going the rails.
#1 LEADERSHIP
Simply put, if a change management project isn't sponsored by the CEO, you should be concerned. A true business transformation project will likely touch every aspect of a business from people to process to technology. Consequently, if it is not a directive from the top person in the organization it is going to be challenging to achieve the desired outcome. Worse still is a project without a single leader. It may take weeks or even months for a coalition of department heads to actually meet to discuss the project and its KPIs and begin its implementation.
Even worse still, a project that has different departments working against the transformation. It is therefore critical that the CEO is seen as the champion of the transformation and that they clearly communication the projects rationale and goals across the entire organization.
#2 EXCESS RELIANCE ON TECHNOLOGY
Technology and automation are designed to create efficiencies to allow a business to grow. Moreover, if businesses are buying technology as a product to solve a problem, they are missing the bigger picture. A business needs to conduct a prerequires analysis that identifies the business process and the people within this process that have been targeted for improvement prior to purchasing or building any business software or technology. This analysis will allow the business to better identify the appropriate technology and benefits within the context of its own processes.
#3 EMPLOYEE RESISTANCE
Another early warning sign that a project may be doomed is a lack of support from the employees. There are a number of change management techniques that can be used to prevent this resistance. Regrettably, these techniques are often implemented once the project is well underway. In order to get a read on the staff’s mood, managers should pay attention to their staffs body language in the office as well as that in the common areas of the office. An employee’s mood can also be assessed seeing how often they remain off camera during virtual meetings.
A general lack of interest and questions around the project is also another indicator that the employee’s mood is not in a good spot.
#4 COMMUNICATION
Numerous transformations fail because the message to staff is focused on the wrong points. Too often businesses cite the rationale for change around financial benefits rather than what it might mean for employees. In order to win the employees engagement management needs to have a clear message as to what the transformation is attempting to achieve, how can the employees provide feedback on the project and most importantly, what they have to gain from the transformation project.
To Conclude
If you are able to spot any of these issues occurring in your business transformation project, you should be able to get the project back to its intended goals and avoid wasting large sums of money on a failed business transformation.
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