Business Transformation

There are a number of reasons businesses embark on business transformation projects or programmes and there is little doubt they are all well intentioned. But do these projects succeed and really achieve what they are designed to deliver?

The most common drivers for Business Transformation are:

• The business wants to “Increase Revenue” or “Market Share”
• There is a need to “Reduce Costs” or “Improve Efficiency”
• Drive “Improvements in Customer Satisfaction or Experience”
• Fundamentally change the products or services business offer to remain competitive

The need for business transformation is often triggered by external changes in the market. Mergers and acquisitions, divestment or centralisation / integration activity often trigger huge business changes.

There are of course many other triggers such as an organisation’s products or services being in need of an update:

• Funding or income streams being changed
• New regulations coming into force
• Market competition becoming more intense

Most of these points will not come as a surprise to many of you as they are pretty standard reasons or needs to develop your business. They are however very important as understanding what you are trying to achieve will help you design your strategy and clearly understand whether your project or programme is ultimately successful.

Strategy

Defining your strategy is the first step in the Business Transformation journey. You must clearly state what you are aiming to achieve and why. This will enable you to move on to the harder and more challenging elements such as setting your scope and planning the programme prior to execution.

Your business transformation activity should always align to the clearly stated (and hopefully documented) strategy and it is important to embed appropriate governance and controls in to your programme from the beginning. This will help you stay on track to deliver against your original objects and prevent you from being blown of course in the event that there are conflicting priorities within your business.

Business Transformation involves changes to your business processes and working practices. IT changes and new systems often drive the need to change the way you do things, but it is important to base decision to implement new IT systems on the business strategy and “need” rather than assuming that just by implementing a new system your business will be transformed.

Behaviour

A key factor for the success of any Business Transformation is the way the messages are delivered. You must ensure that your Senior Management “buy in” to the strategy and communicate effectively to their teams so they understand why the are changes critical to the future of the business and ultimately their future as well.

Capability

Clearly managing change in any organisation is challenging, and every organisation will need commitment and drive to see things through. But motivation and desire to change is only part of the equation, capability and skills will be needed to set direction, define the plans and assist with implementing the changes.

Summary

In summary Business transformation is achieved by setting your strategy, using data to drive decisions and realigning the way your staff work. Ensuring you are driving the correct behaviours and communicating effectively will help you manage your transformation. Ensuring you have the right “capabilities” within your organisation and choosing experienced partners to help you through each phase should enable you to achieve your goals.

Lion and Gazelle are experts in the field of Business and IT Transformation having been successfully involved in all the phases of change, from defining strategy, to designing and implementing process improvement and the implementation of IT systems to deliver business benefit. We have the skills to help you to achieve your goals, be it in an advisory basis or as an implementation partner.

If you are embarking on your own Business or IT Transformation programme and would like to discuss your needs with us, contact us by clicking on the button directly below. We would love to join you on your journey.

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