Business transformation. Getting ready is a crucial part of the success and growth of any business, regardless of size or industry. However, deciding to transform your business can bring with it many risks and challenges that are not always easy to navigate. As a business leader, you must prepare yourself and your stakeholders to ensure that you can adopt new tools and processes necessary for successful transformation. Here I will cover the essential steps you need to take to prepare your business for transformation now and into the future.
Step One: Position business transformation as a problem you must solve.
To prepare your business for transformation, you must first understand conversion. A shift is a significant change in how something works or looks. It can be as simple as updating the software on your phone or as complex as developing an entirely new product line.
When defining the problem that needs solving, it’s essential to keep things clear and concise, so everyone understands what they’re working toward. Defining the issue will also help guide decisions about which solutions are best suited for solving it–and which ones won’t work!
Let’s say one of your team members came up with an idea for an app that would allow people who want to lose weight but don’t have time (or know-how) to get personalised exercise routines from certified trainers like the team member via text message every morning before work starts, so they don’t skip out on their workout routine altogether like most people do when their schedule gets busy with other commitments later in life such as family obligations etc…
Step Two: Get the right people to lead your transformation and engender trust.
Choosing a leader with a proven track record of success and who is experienced in leading change is essential. The leader should also be able to bring the right skills and experience to bear on your transformation and be trusted by the team.
In addition, it’s vital that you find someone with the right personality for the job; this doesn’t mean they have to be extroverted or charismatic (although these qualities can certainly help). Instead, what matters more than anything else is whether or not this person has an open mind, listens carefully before acting, takes time out from day-to-day operational duties when necessary–and, most importantly–knows how far they’re willing to go when it comes down to making tough decisions about people within their organisation.
Step Three: Define clear goals and metrics to measure success.
The next step is to define clear goals and metrics to measure success. Unfortunately, this is where many companies falter because they need to figure out what the transformation should achieve or how it will be estimated.
The first question you should ask yourself is: What are my company’s goals? If you can’t answer this question, it may be time for a change! Your business needs direction for its stakeholders to know what they’re working toward. Once you have defined your goals, move on to defining how those goals will be achieved through various strategies and tactics–and then determine what metrics need to be tracked for these strategies and tactics to succeed at reaching those objectives over time.
Once again, think about customer experience throughout the business transformation process; if a customer interacts with one of your products or services during their journey through life with us as a customer, we want them to experience our brand consistently across all touchpoints. Hence, they feel comfortable trusting us with their hard-earned money again later down the road when they need another product/service from us someday down the line,
Step Four: Create a scalable operating model.
The fourth step in the process is to create a scalable operating model. This is a set of processes and structures that define how your business operates and should be aligned with your business strategy.
A scalable operating model allows you to scale up or down as needed, depending on market conditions, customer demand and more. For example, suppose you’re operating in multiple locations with different cultures or languages among staff members (like Starbucks). In that case, it might make sense for each site to have its policies for hiring new employees and training them before they start working there–but only if those policies are consistent across all locations!
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Step Five: Roll out your business transformation in stages, only some at a time.
- Use small, incremental changes to build momentum—Imbibe agile principles to deliver the changes.
- Don’t try to change everything at once. If you’re trying to transform your company, there will be many things that need to change–and some of those changes might seem contradictory. For example, suppose one goal is increasing productivity while another is reducing costs. In that case, it may seem like the only way forward is by cutting staff or reducing salaries (which could hurt morale). Instead of taking this approach and risking losing employees’ trust and loyalty when they realise what’s happening behind closed doors, start small with one or two projects and gradually build up momentum from there.
- Make sure your employees understand why their roles are changing–and give them some control over how these changes happen to feel empowered rather than powerless during this process!
- Change management is essential to managing the delivery of business transformation.
Follow these five steps to ensure your business transformation is successful.
- Position the transformation as a business problem to solve
- Get the right people in place
- Define clear goals and metrics to measure success
- Create a scalable operating model
- Roll out your change in stages.
Bottom Line
If you’re looking to deliver business transformation successfully, these five steps will help you get started. First, remember that transformation is a process, not an event. It takes time and commitment from everyone involved–from top leadership down through the ranks of your teams. And for it to succeed, you need buy-in from everyone on board with new ideas and ways of working together.
Who am I?
I am Dotun Adeoye, a Business Growth Strategist & Author
I’ve built up my experience via serial entrepreneurship, consulting leadership roles in business growth, business development, business transformation and product innovation in large companies worldwide in the last 30 years.
Today, I consult with large businesses on how to sustainably grow their businesses, sustain infinite growth, and ensure business continuity irrespective of the business climate.
Hire Dotun Adeoye to Speak Virtually or In – Person at your company’s event to cover this or other topics. You can also get in touch via +44 203 097 1718 or dotun at dotunadeoye.com
