Companies commonly undertake business transformations to create additional value. They may want to harness intellectual property and proprietary technology for innovative purchases, unlock the potential of employees or simply become more efficient in terms of maximizing the potential of the company. Earlier, Anand Jayapalan had spoken about how business transformation is largely about identifying processes, technologies and techniques that are not being used to their maximum capacity or can help reach important business goals. It often requires a good understanding of how alternate solutions can be applied for the purpose of boosting revenue, gain market share as well as reduce operating expenses.
The goal of a business transformation strategy must focus on making sure that the best processes and systems are being implemented within an organization. Here are a few major steps commonly involved in a business transformation:
- Defining the focus: Business leaders must firstly identify the focus or goal of the business transformation. They may use these simple questions to help specify exactly what they want to change and what results it might lead to:
- Reason: Why is the change required?
- Content: What about the business requires a transformation?
- People: Which people should take part in the transformation?
- Process: How can the business achieve the transformation?
- Effects: How does the transformation impact the business?
- Create a strategy: Like any important business process, business transformation also requires a proper strategy. To create it, one must take into account why the business is changing and what the business needs to transform. It can be a smart move to involve managers from all the departments of a company to take part in the brainstorming and planning of a strategy. This can help ensure improved transparency and communication, as well as ease the transitions of a transformation. The transformation strategy must involve clear goals to help achieve change.
- Appoint leadership: A large number of business transformations involve management transformations as well. In such situations, managers might have to be retrained to guide the employees through the transformation process. It would be important to appoint effective leaders who can help in competently completing this task. They may assist in change management, answering queries and training employees as necessary.
- Execute and test strategy: With detailed objectives and well-equipped leaders in place, a business would be ready to execute its strategy. It would be a good idea to start the transformation with a single department. This would help in testing the strategy before implementing it on a larger scale, throughout the business. Testing is not only important for increasing the chances of success, but can also help identify areas to improve in the strategy.
- Integrate transformation: Subsequent to testing an effective strategy in a single department, one can move on to transform more elements of the company. The new processes or systems might also have to be integrated with existing processes and systems in the business.
Earlier, Anand Jayapalan had spoken about how business transformation allows companies to future-proof the venture, and ensures that the organization’s strategies are aligned with its mission, vision, and long-term goals. Hence, following a robust business transformation process is vital for businesses of varied types and sizes.
