Two things are happening right now that will define the business landscape in 2022 and beyond.
Firstly, we are going through a series of multiple transformations across our organizations — digitalizing our workforce, integrating new ways of working, including Agile, organizational change- the list goes on. Secondly, we are attempting to do this through a remote workforce where challenges of isolation, fatigue and connectedness are become barriers to success.
New research shows that 70% of digital transformations fall short of their objectives, often with profound consequences.
— BCG
The ability for organizations to drive an end-to-end transformation mindset will have a game-changing impact on their ability to turn their transformation vision into business value. This is created when remote teams’ day-to-day actions interacting with each other and customers, are linked to your transformation goals.
Here, we want to share 3 top challenges to overcome the engagement gaps that exist between your workforce and your transformation ambitions in 2021 and drastically increase your odds of success.
In our experience working in transformation experience design, and through the accumulated insights of over 1,000 business leaders, we have found that these are key challenges organizations face when trying to deliver successful transformation through a remote workforce.
Challenge #1: Awareness
As has been the case for many decades with change efforts, the fist hurdle that you need to overcome is that of awareness of the teams that are linked to your transformation success. The root cause of transformations failure lies at this initial hurdle. Teams are often unaware of what is being asked of them and we need to show them first hand the challenges that exist.
We need to break through the cognitive hurdles that exist in teams and make our leaders experience their organization’s problems.
You might be thinking that this can be an uncomfortable discussion but it doesn’t have to be. Taking teams away from the business for a short period in a virtual experience that simulatesthese problems can be impactful. The facilitated discussion that follows this experience is where we find clarity and understanding.
Your metric for success here is your remote workforce understand the following for your transformation;
- What is it?
- Why is it important?
- Where do I start?
⚡️ Top Tip: these experiences need to be run by your leaders. These may be selected Champions from your Transformation team or hand selected from business areas — but it needs to be a voice from your business.
Challenge #2: Motivation
The second challenge to beating the odds of success of your transformation is that of the motivation of your remote workforce. Now whilst we could talk about Purpose and intrinsic motivational levers here (at see6 we see this as an important narrative in your transformation) but we want to bring it closer to home for remote teams and individuals. In other words, so that they quickly see and feel the benefits of working in a different way.
Speed is your winning advantage here.
Gamification plays a roll here too, as we need to enable teams to experience the benefits of working in a new way in a safe environment that simulates your business.
⚡️ Top Tip: these experiences should be challenging and fun. The alchemy of great experience design is that teams are engaged, participate fully, have fun and can connect capabilities back to their business.
Challenge #3: Insight driven action
At this point — still very early on in your transformation journey — remote teams will start to think about preparation for what is being asked of them. This is where providing remote teams with the resources and confidence to use them will enable you to achieve tremendous pace from the start and beat the odds.
Your ability to understand the business context of teams face across your business will enable you to target resources and support to that point of need.
⚡️ Top Tip: this is not about sending out surveys to the organisation but from real time experiences that we have covered in this blog, that capture where teams are.
Silos of excellence do no good; best practice and insights must be shared across boundaries within your organisation. When teams contribute to a network of insights, the organization can push resources to other teams on the front line, where the most value can be added.
Final Thoughts
Beating the odds of transformation success comes down to people — this was the case before COVID-19. However, 2020 has shown us that overcoming these people challenges requires a different approach, one that brings experiences to your workforce where they are.
see6 — The Real Time Experience Platform for Remote Teams
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