According to Zippia, 74% of U.S. companies are using or plan to implement a permanent hybrid work model. Furthermore, organizations’ average IT spending went up almost 10% from 2020 to 2021 as they continued to adjust to, and better facilitate, remote working.
One thing is clear: hybrid working isn’t just a stopgap – it’s here to stay. Employees like it because it affords them a better work-life balance and employers benefit from increased staff morale, productivity, and flexibility.
As more and more organizations embrace hybrid working, significant digital transformation is rapidly occurring to ensure their employees have all the tools they need to be effective, regardless of their physical location.
The digital workplace is the manifestation of this change, bringing new workflows, tools, and ways of collaborating to organizations and individuals.
However, change can be difficult to manage, especially when it comes to such a fundamental shift, such as the hybrid workplace. That’s why it’s important to have a solid change management strategy in place before embarking on a digital workplace transformation journey.
What Is Digital Workplace Change Management?
Digital workplace change management is the process of managing and executing changes to digital products, processes, or services. It helps enterprises transition from their current status quo to their desired future state in a controlled and efficient manner.
The goal of digital change management is to minimize disruptions and maximize opportunities during a digital transformation. This can be achieved through careful planning, execution, and communication.
Why Is Digital Transformation Change Management Important?
Digital transformation change management is important because it helps enterprises avoid the pitfalls of poorly executed digital transformations. In our experience as a change management consultant, without a solid plan in place, businesses can end up with disorganized workflows, confused employees, wasted budget and underutilized technologies. Ultimately doing the exact opposite of what digital transformation is focused on improving.
A well-executed digital transformation, on the other hand, can help large-scale businesses unlock new efficiencies, drive innovation, and improve the bottom line.
Managing Change for Digital Workplace Transformations
Discover how Yorktel can help your organization build a smarter and more collaborative workplace
How Do You Manage Change In Digital Transformation?
There are five key steps to managing change in digital transformation:
- Raise awareness
- Define the change
- Assess the impact of the change
- Develop a plan for implementing the change
- Execute and monitor the change
Let’s take a closer look at each of these steps:
1. Raise awareness
First and foremost, it’s important to raise awareness across your organization so there is clear communication throughout teams about why the change is necessary. Explain the current situation and highlight why it is not possible to continue as is & how this change will benefit individuals & the organization. By raising awareness, especially of the benefits, employees will better appreciate the change and are more likely to embrace or champion the new process.
2. Define the change
The second step in any change management process is to define the change that will be made. This includes articulating the business case and setting clear goals and objectives. We encourage leveraging employee groups to be involved at this stage, as it will boost buy-in and subsequent acceptance.
3. Assess the impact of the change
The next step is to assess the impact. This includes understanding how the changes will affect employees, clients, processes, and technology. Things that should be focused on are specifically:
- What new technology would be needed?
- What new hardware or software is required?
- What endpoints will need to change or be updated?
- Is your network ready for the additional requirements?
4. Develop a plan for implementing the change
Once the impact of these changes has been assessed, it’s time to develop a plan for implementing them. This plan should include a timeline, budget, and detailed descriptions of the steps that need to be taken.
5. Execute and monitor the change
This final step includes putting the plan into action and tracking its progress. The first month is a great time to understand some of the core issues your organization will encounter long term. It’s also important to have an understanding of how this final step in the process is impacting stakeholders & if additional training or awareness is needed.
How To Approach Change Management In The Digital Workplace
These three tips will help ensure your digital workplace change management is successful:
1. Secure C-suite support
A key component of a successful digital workplace change management strategy is senior management support. When senior managers are supportive of change, it can help build confidence and buy-in from other employees. It also underlines its’ importance and helps ensure the process is executed effectively and efficiently.
2. Make sure the change is necessary and beneficial
Change for the sake of change is never good. There has to be fundamental reasons why the change is being considered and the associated benefits need to be clear. This will boost employee buy-in and ensure greater adoption of the new tools, processes, and systems once they have been implemented.
3. Minimize disruption
Finally, while any change is likely to cause some disruption and require employees to adjust to new ways of working, keeping disruption to a minimum during the process is key. Significant disruption negatively impacts staff perception of the entire project – even if it will be beneficial in the long run.
Change Management Services For Your Hybrid Workplace
Yorktel’s Digital Change Management Services are designed to help organizations like yours navigate the overwhelming digital change management process. Our team of experts will help you develop a strategy to get your business from where it is today to where you want your organization to be in the future.
To find out more, download our Managing Change for Digital Workplace Transformations whitepaper, which includes the steps needed to ensure success or read more about how Yorktel can help on our Change Management consulting services page.
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