By Greg Lush

In this series thus far, we’ve discussed various aspects of how to ensure digital transformation success. Last time, we talked about the importance of building a positive digital reputation – and one of the keys to doing so is to make it personal for your employees.

If you look back at the legacy of software deployment within organizations over the last couple of decades, with a keen focus on transactional systems, practitioners learned how to adapt their habits into the constraints of the software system. It really wasn’t until valuable applications came into the mix in the last few years that this position has been questioned. Now, more than ever, we need to look at it through a different lens if we are to achieve success in building our digital reputations. Although maybe a bit unusual for some here are some suggestions to get you started on making your adoption practices personal:

Lead by example. As with many things and articulated earlier in the series, a community, each in their own way, must demonstrate consistent use of the new valuable As everyone learns at their own pace it is not important the level of competency demonstrated, instead positive signals that the transformation is important to everyone.

Digital coaching. Often, with modern digital tools, adoption is not the core functionality of the software. Instead how to connect these tools with individuals daily work habits drive a change in behavior. Digital coaching starts with a discussion, followed by suggested tools to leverage. We remove the challenge for user to correlate their needs to functions within often unknown and/or complex toolsets. As the tools deliver immediate value they are commonly expanded by the individual or the team.

Typical uses:

• Individual or team often utters “if I could only” …
• Progressive users with the desire to be more productive
• Output from business improvement or ideation meetings

Value:

• Personalizes adoption
• Immediate increase in personal and team productivity
• Builds user confidence

From apps to outcomes. It is simply amazing to watch the transition as individual’s dependency on the “I believe button” falls off. The efforts put forth within your organization, in some cases for months and months, building and fortifying your digital reputation have paid off in spades. You will know that you’ve arrived and are ready for the next phase of the hierarchy of digital adoption when your transformation cycles stop naming applications and began listing transformation elements. Instead of your practitioners feeling the burden of determining which valuable application in the cloud platform will serve them best, they are now thinking about how these tools can help them reach their digital potential.

For me, and why you see the greatest amount of detail within the digital reputation section, is the realization that without a good digital reputation you will never achieve adoption. For those of you scoffing at that statement, true business transformation through these wonderful, value packed applications, will always be just out of your reach.