While digital transformation (DT) is a holistic configuration of an organization’s processes, technology, and people, it delivers a new value proposition that utilizes digital business capabilities, customers, and managing operations.
DT allows the financial organization to automate, optimize, digitize, and maximize data safety reshaping the methods and technologies. Financial organizations require a leader who can support them with effective execution in every step of the digital journey encouraging the team to plan, build and adopt the organizational culture and operational changes. Here are a few methods of how financial organizations must address the pitfalls of digital transformation.
Hire a Coach
Teams at financial organizations recruit digital transformation consultancies, thinking they need to hire an individual who will assist them efficiently. However, these hires follow a streamlined process that tells them how and what is required during digital transformation initiatives rather than efficiently engaging with their teams and restricting teams from adopting the operations.
Financial organizations must hire a coach who adequately understands and addresses specific problems. This consultant will need to guide the team rather than give orders, allowing businesses to focus on inspiring the teams, connecting with the right individuals, thoroughly helping them think about the issues, and offering numerous options when they face challenges. More importantly, teams require someone who can guide them and give constructive feedback on the operations.
Avoid Team Burn Out
Digital transformation ceases to be a priority when teams within financial organizations take up multiple projects simultaneously. Since digital transformation delivers fruitful results after years and not months, hence; businesses must ensure the groups do not burn out while adding qualitative efforts to speed up the processes.
Establish Two-way Conversational Meetings
Lopsided power structures are one of the significant issues that financial organizations face during digital transformation. A top-down approach results in functional and business leaders that lack the power and willingness to implement the correct change.
Communication amongst a large group is effective; however, they are always one-sided. Businesses must start meaningful conversations and must, give constructive feedback, and make them realize accountability for their actions. Moreover, seeing a successful digital transformation is better, especially when team members are encouraged to learn from their processes.
Stop Anticipating a Quick and Seamless Ride
For banks and financial organizations, digital transformation takes years, while some might proclaim it never ends. Customers’ willingness to pay has changed in a constantly moving digital world. A thriving digital economy is not about a brilliant strategy but adapting to a constant range and aligning the processes to execute the activities.
More importantly, digitization requires colossal change, and it takes a long time for financial organizations to adapt to being genuinely digital.
Businesses must understand that some strategies work and some don’t. Therefore, companies cannot fully anticipate all the learning curves, blockers, and upcoming issues they might face throughout the digital transformation.
Thus, businesses must station proper strategies and standards as per the situation.
Not Recruiting when Needed
With new technologies and processes, businesses require an expert to coach the team, station efficient operations, and understand how to progress. While teams train to learn the system, it often transforms into burnout and dissatisfaction. The best way to change the complete system is to hire the right person at the right time.
There are tendencies of increase in complexity as the organizations grow. Great leaders understand and must eliminate the business complexities that do not add value. Moreover, financial organizations must lean towards hiring an expert to remove complexities.
Explain the Reasons for Actions Taken
When leaders set unrealistic expectations without transparent and achievable goals, it is challenging for the team to understand the specifics and implement adequate actions. When initiating a transformation project, financial organizations must connect the views, principles, and values from the beginning narrowing down to an individual. If the team does not understand the specifics, aligning with the strategies and prioritizing the projects is challenging.
Financial organizations, for example, want to divert the process to project management systems. Rather than offering the team monthly reports, financial organizations can utilize a real-time and interactive dashboard. This is the best way leaders can ensure the team is motivated to implement the amendments and explain how these actions will impact the team and the operation. This will allow the team to utilize the dashboard more effectively and gather better intelligence and value from the data.
Furthermore, financial organizations must explain the.
- Why is digital transformation the top priority?
- Explain that the transformation is not just about outlining IT benefits; it effectively drives business goals.
- Explain to the team why certain things are implemented in a certain way
One of the best ways to keep the team well-aligned with “the why.” Offering the group, a larger picture and demonstrating the immediate impact on the organization will help them understand the digital transformation better and get better transparency with onboard projects.
Also Read: AI in Fintech: How Advanced Generative Models are Driving Innovation
What’s Next?
The biggest challenges of digital transformation are the team’s lack of alignment and communication. After defining strategies, the assigned team must involve in the process and start executing. Financial organizations must emphasize training and ensure the teams have the proper skill set and whether or not they are ready to take up the challenge.
By embedding adequate resources, an individual with the right financial industry experience understands the issues. By employing the proper practices for digital transformation, businesses can quickly determine the right resources to fix the problem.
Furthermore, financial organizations must devise an effective “communication plan,” enabling the team to get targeted pointers to guide them. This plan must focus on regularly assessing all the inconsistent communications and operations.
More importantly, challenges surge when a financial organization integrates innovation with current business processes to minimize transformation costs. Partial transitions to advanced technology lead to departmental and decision-making inconsistencies, creating severe barriers to further digital development. Therefore, leaders must ensure the transition is an investment rather than just a one-off purchase.
