Digital Transformation Is Not about Technology: It Is about People

When it comes to digital transformation, it is fair to say that most people think first and worry most about technology. Hold my hands here and let me tell you a very painful truth: it is not about technology! The most important point here is PEOPLE. This is a very clear indicator of why companies and projects are successfully identified by McKinsey's research. Let us dive into it here!

Why Are People The Keypoint for Achievement?

Owners or directors do not build a company, the chosen professionals do - alongside their leaders! The transformation is done, implemented and followed by people. These are the parts of the process that one cannot avoid. As long as companies are built-in, vertical hierarchies, the company’s upper management cannot force certain behaviours down. You can even try to enforce it by fear of losing one's job, but you will only meet with more problems than solutions and many issues hidden under the carpet.

When we look into the main challenges faced by construction companies nowadays, it is even harder to force the change and achieve success. There is a huge labour gap, the workforce is aging, diversity is low and all of that results in narrow perspectives, as people have been doing things in the same way for decades. Pushing people out of their comfort zone most likely will make your company lose money.

How Can You Make Your Team Want This Change

To achieve a desired positive digital transformation that delivers the ROI you aimed at for the financial investment on technology, your team actually needs to want this transformation. It might sound like a mission impossible, but it is really quite simple. According to sociological research, people want to feel appreciated, they want to be good enough and they want to be part of a group. Having said that, here are a few steps that will help you build your construction company path to success:

• 01

  Look at Your Teams
  
  What are they telling you? What are their biggest pain points? What takes most of their time? Is this a valuable action or is this something they need to execute to be able to do their most valuable actions?

• 02

  Foster Innovation
  
  Innovation comes from a company’s culture that lets people question certain things in order to achieve better efficiency. The process goes with the analyse, plan, do and check cycle. Why do we do what we do? How can we make it better/ easier/ faster/ cheaper? Some people call this the 'start-up culture' of doing things in a new way to achieve the new result. New ideas will arise.

• 03

  Involve People in The Decision-Making Process
  
  When an employee is involved in the process of decision making, they will most likely commit to the transformation success. This does not mean they will be the only ones to decide. It means you will take their expertise into consideration to get the best solution for everyone. They will feel appreciated and will evangelise others to follow their lead and adapt to the solutions for the benefit of all.

• 04

  Clear Communication
  
  You should not involve every employee in your decision-making process, but you must communicate well with all. At every stage, let people know and help them understand the value of the project both for you and for them. Guide them to see the needs you are looking for and explain your pain points. Share clearly the help and support you need from them and let them give it to you. This will foster a stronger relationship, full of trust and accountability, which leads to a healthy and productive work environment.

• 05

  Ensure Training & Clear Learning Path
  
  Recognising the fear and respectfully addressing it is a point of attention that deserves proper care. Especially with the people not involved in the process who will naturally have less information at first, there might arise the fear of the unknown. Keep clear information at all levels at your company making sure that they will have full support to develop themselves. New technologies can be scary for some and the way to approach them is to give people adequate information to understand how to master them. You can even consider some gamification with heath competition.

When you build things with purpose with the community, the alliance is built and this reduces the chances of rejection and fosters preaching for change. People not involved in the process will want to be part of it and their contribution should involve putting their best effort to adapt, share their pain points and follow you and your guidance to overcome them.

We see this in our successful clients at Archdesk! They involved their key stakeholders during the buying process for a solution that makes sense and that will help everyone work better. They designate one inside champion that leads the implementation process internally and key champions through the teams, all connected, to commit to building the ROI of the chosen solution. They too want to have positive numbers and be part of this successful transformation. Some of them will even feel appreciated and valued that you are investing in state-of-the-art technology to support your team's work. Others will be grateful for the development opportunity thanks to training and technology that support them on becoming better 2020s workers. Finally, others will feel "just" proud of working in a company with this kind of approach and leadership.