No, your digital transformation is more than just ZOOM

by Dr Catherine Charbonnier

"COVID had better results on digital transformation in a few days, than the years of change management before it." Who among you hasn't heard this joke? At the risk of disappointing those who thought they'd finally turned the corner, no, digital transformation isn't just a matter of organizing meetings on Zoom.

Quick and dirty?

While the urgency of the situation has enabled some changes to be made radically, the chances are that they will only be superficial and, as is often the case in emergency situations, poorly implemented. While the tools have been adopted spectacularly but under duress, the collaboration and project management processes need to be completely adapted, otherwise the entire organization will be destabilized. Companies that do not anticipate, but rather undergo this evolution, will suffer serious repercussions:

Reduced productivity due to lack of mastery of digital tools and their proliferation.
Fragile security of information systems linked to remote working.
The appearance of a new form of stress linked to the systematic increase in screen time to the detriment of human time. Novlangue has already dubbed it "Zoom fatigue".
Harmful changes in managerial relations linked to distance and a feeling of "loss of control": increased non-productive reporting, surveillance, mistrust and deterioration in interpersonal relations.

From then on, it's up to organizational leaders to start structuring their teams. And this starts with culture.

Digital has its own culture

A simple example: how many times have I seen executives exchanging e-mail messages in a chat terminal? How many conflicts have arisen from misinterpreted digital exchanges, lacking non-verbal communication and deprived of the extra-intellectual perceptions usually offered by face-to-face communication?

To use digital tools productively and sustainably, you need to understand their basis, their usefulness and their limitations. You need to understand a minimum of the underlying system in order to use them properly. Understanding the fundamentals of computer networks, for example, is key to ensuring that the entire organization is not compromised. Every employee in 2020, for example, should know what a server, an IP address, a request, a security certificate, a cryptographic key, a brutforce attack, social engineering, wifi, AES or TKIP protocols, a router, single-sign-on or 2-factor authentication are. But also, and more generally, understanding a user license, whether free or not, knowing how to use gifs or smileys to give an emotional context to your binary communications, knowing the shortcut keys for different programs or even learning how to search for information on search engines using basic Boolean operators. In short, master the basics before going any further.

Processes and tools

For those wishing to take advantage of this upheaval to increase their competitive edge in an economy with ever-shorter cycles, they will need to enable their teams to develop a culture of risk-taking and an entrepreneurial attitude. They will need to learn how to run in-house design thinking workshops, and use prototyping tools such as Balsamiq or AdobeXD to go from idea to product in a matter of days instead of months. Develop your agility using IT-derived methods such as agile project management with SCRUM and KANBAN methodologies, and adopt efficient project management tools such as Trello or Jira. Faced with the multiplication of platforms, learn to automate low value-added work with API connectors like Zapier or IFTTT. Developing your ability to collaborate remotely with tools like Jamboard or Mural will soon no longer be an asset, but a prerequisite. At the same time, we must avoid falling into the pitfall of "all tools" before even understanding the underlying need or process.

From face-to-face to performance

Digitalization and telecommuting are major challenges for managers, both at the business and organizational levels. They must move from the false sense of control provided by face-to-face work, to the real absence of control brought about by remote working. How can work be allocated, measured and evaluated under these conditions? We need to move from a culture of presence to a culture of performance. This means assessing the work to be done, giving clear guidelines and measuring productivity. It also means putting in place processes and tools to improve follow-up and collaboration.

Not forgetting health

Man has spent hundreds of thousands of years frolicking in nature or working in the fields, before finding himself in less than 100 years, bolted to a chair in front of a screen for 8 to 15 hours a day. New, more balanced ways of working are urgently needed to preserve employees' physical and mental health. Techniques such as Pomodoro, for example, can help to sequence work while increasing concentration and hence productivity. But sporting and extra-professional activities must be encouraged, and even subsidized, to maintain a good level of performance and sustainability over the medium term.

In the aftermath of the epidemic, business agility and resilience have become key factors in survival, rather than competitiveness. Digital transformation must be mastered, and only those companies that embrace this change with curiosity and passion will be able to sustain their business. Those aiming to establish leadership will have to play an additional card: audacity!