What management should be adopted for your digital transformation?

Digital transformation is more essential than ever to adapt to the changing market and consumer habits and needs. To be successful, any digital transition must be managed with rigor, meticulousness and agility, and therefore involves implementing an adapted management style.

 

What are the challenges of digital transformation for the manager?

Website redesign, digitization of points of sale, implementation of an omnichannel strategy… Digital transformations are now essential to maintain a competitive advantage, improve the performance of your business, and facilitate internal team communication.

Faced with these strategic challenges, the manager plays a central role in the smooth running of this change management. However, it is not uncommon for a digitalization project to generate a certain amount of Resistance to change on the part of employees, especially among employees who are not digital natives, and who are not used to using digital tools in their daily professional lives. The commitment and buy-in of the teams are essential to any large-scale project.

The manager’s mission is to support employees in this transition, by mobilizing them around a clear and strong common vision. He must therefore establish a real “digital culture” and gradually familiarize its teams with the new connected and practical tools put in place.

What management style should you adopt to succeed in your digital transformation?

There are many different management styles , and it is up to each manager to adopt the type of leadership that is most in line with the company’s culture, the personality of its teams and the context.

However, in the case of change management such as a digital transformation, certain managerial methods can be particularly effective. Indeed, to support your teams in this change, participative or collaborative management will be very favourable.

The manager must indeed listen to the fears and concerns of his team, with benevolence and empathy. He or she must also succeed in soliciting collective intelligence and encouraging a sense of innovation and initiative among employees.

Above all, this requires a clear and reassuring speech, to make everyone understand the importance of this digitalization, the challenges and objectives related to it, as well as the benefits for the company, the teams and their customers.

In particular, the manager will have to ensure that the employees’ web skills are developed, whether with external speakers or during internal training sessions. This will ensure that the digital tools, digital solutions and technologies used are properly used and understood (CRM tools, intranet platforms, project management tools, Big Data, information system, agile method, cloud computing, automation tools, etc.).

When steering a digital strategy, it is also essential to establish close communication between employees, the project manager, the manager and between the different departments of the company. Indeed, silo communication and the pyramid model are far from being adapted to the age of the digital revolution.

For example, it is imperative to get the marketing department and the sales department to work together. This will make it possible to implement new digital strategies to boost sales performance, such as an inbound marketing strategy, marketing automation, etc.

Finally, team cohesion, mutual aid and the exchange of know-how are other fundamental elements for a digital transformation.

Each stage of the digital transformation will also have to be shared with the teams, in order to make them aware of the importance of digital technology and to make them responsible for the challenges of digital technology.

 

The interim manager, an ally in its digital transformation

To successfully lead a digital transformation, it will be very strategic to seek the know-how of an external consultant, such as an interim manager. This expert, operational as soon as he or she joins the company, supports you at every stage of your transformation, whatever the objective: strengthening web visibility, digitizing processes, developing lead acquisition strategies, creating a new digital identity, strengthening the company’s competitiveness, developing an e-commerce offer, etc.

At WAYDEN, our network of seasoned executives and managers (CFO, HR Director, Sales Director, CFO, etc.) includes many experts in digital and information systems, with solid managerial skills. Thanks to their know-how, their interpersonal skills, and their long years of experience in the management of digital projects, these experts in the management of organizations help companies to manage their teams, and to implement a strategic, efficient transformation with tangible results.