Turning Visions into Reality: The Seven Steps for Digital Evolution
- Patricia Liden Kutxfara
- Jun 20, 2024
- 4 min read
I am excited to share with you my e-book, "DigitalNow: Turning Visions into Reality." In this guide, I present a seven-step plan based on John Kotter's renowned process for leading change. This material is perfect for anyone who’s not sure where to start with digital evolution or has some ideas but needs more clarity.
My goal is to minimize friction by combining organizational change management processes with project portfolio management. In this article, I’ll go into more detail about each step of the DigitalNow e-book to help you understand the material better and make it more enjoyable.
Below, I detail each of the seven steps:
1. Urgency and Commitment
The first step is to identify and understand the strategic objectives of the digital evolution program.
It is crucial to establish a clear vision of the desired outcomes and the challenges to be faced, aligning them with the company's mission and values.
To achieve this, I suggest conducting awareness workshops, internal communication campaigns, and digital readiness diagnostics. These activities help in identifying the most critical initiatives that need immediate attention and resources. The final product should include prioritized objectives, a communication plan, workshop results, and a digital readiness diagnostic report.
Portfolio management development in this step involves defining portfolio objectives that align with the strategic vision, creating a communication plan to ensure all stakeholders understand the urgency, and generating a digital readiness report to assess the current state and identify gaps.
2. Transformation Leadership
After assessing digital readiness and prioritizing strategic objectives, the next step is to form a leadership coalition to ensure that the strategic vision is transformed into action.
This coalition should inspire, direct, and sustain the digital evolution, the transformative initiative.
I recommend using tools such as stakeholder mapping, leadership training workshops, coaching sessions, and collaboration platforms. The final product should include a transformation stakeholder map, leadership workshop schedules, and a transformation leadership action plan.
Portfolio management plays a crucial role by providing a clear view of the project landscape and ensuring that leadership efforts are aligned with strategic goals. This involves stakeholder mapping to identify key stakeholders, leadership training workshops to equip leaders with necessary skills, and regular portfolio reviews to maintain alignment with strategic objectives.
3. Vision
Developing and communicating the vision is crucial to driving digital evolution. This involves creating a compelling vision that articulates the future state and the benefits of evolution.
The strategic planning should include key milestones and deliverables. It is essential to ensure that the vision and strategy are effectively communicated to all stakeholders to gain their support.
The products include a vision statement, a strategic roadmap, and an improved communication plan.
Portfolio management helps by ensuring that the vision is well-defined, communicated effectively, and that all projects within the portfolio are aligned with this vision. This step includes vision workshops to collaborate with stakeholders, strategy development sessions to create a detailed roadmap, and a communication plan to ensure everyone is informed and on board. Regular portfolio alignment reviews ensure consistency and focus.
4. Removing Barriers
Identifying and addressing obstacles is essential for smooth digital evolution. This means recognizing technical, cultural, and organizational barriers that might slow down progress. It’s crucial to develop and implement strategic solutions. I recommend holding barrier analysis workshops, problem-solving sessions, and setting up feedback and monitoring systems. The key outputs are a barrier analysis report, a solution implementation plan, and monitoring reports.
To make it clearer, think of barriers as risks in your portfolio management. The solution implementation plan will include all the answers to these risks, as well as contingency and action plans to minimize their impacts.
Portfolio management provides the framework for identifying these barriers across projects and implementing solutions systematically. This step involves conducting barrier analysis workshops, developing strategies to overcome identified barriers, and integrating risk management practices into the portfolio to mitigate potential obstacles.
5. Quick Wins
Achieving quick wins helps build momentum and shows the benefits of digital evolution early on.
This step involves identifying areas where improvements can be made quickly and with minimal resources, implementing changes that provide immediate benefits, and sharing these successes to build support and enthusiasm.
The key outputs are a quick wins plan, implementation reports, and success story documentation.
Portfolio Management should support this step by providing the right vision to select, prioritize, and allocate resources effectively. This involves using portfolio analysis to find quick win opportunities, allocating resources efficiently, and communicating success stories to build support and enthusiasm for the transformation.
6. Gains and Scale
Building on quick wins to achieve larger-scale gains involves scaling successful initiatives across the organization.
Steps include assessing the impact of quick wins to identify scalable opportunities, developing a strategy to expand these initiatives, and implementing these strategies organization-wide.
The products include a scaling strategy, an implementation roadmap plan, and impact assessment reports.
Portfolio management plays a key role in scaling efforts by ensuring resources are allocated effectively and aligned with the overall portfolio strategy. Impact assessments, digital evolution scaling workshops, and implementation frameworks are essential for this process.
7. Establishing Change
Ensuring that changes are deeply rooted in the organization involves reinforcing new behaviors and continuously improving processes.
This requires embedding changes into the organizational culture and practices, regularly reviewing and refining digital processes to sustain improvements.
The products include a change reinforcement plan, continuous improvement reports, and feedback and monitoring summaries.
Portfolio management helps by providing a structured approach to monitor progress, gather feedback, and ensure continuous improvement. It centralizes all initiatives derived from the Vision and Strategic Objectives, ensuring they are aligned and effectively managed. This centralized approach facilitates better resource allocation, risk management, and performance tracking, enabling the organization to adapt and thrive in its digital evolution.
Conclusion
By following these seven steps, you can navigate the complexities of digital evolution, ensuring that change is effectively managed, and resources are optimized to achieve strategic objectives.
This holistic approach fosters a culture of continuous improvement and innovation, positioning your organization for long-term success in the digital age.
I hope this article helps clarify how to effectively apply the steps for digital evolution in your organization, minimizing friction and maximizing results. Download the eBook for free on my website and start transforming your company's digital vision today!
Thank you!
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