Digital transformation initiatives are more successful when project teams include comprehensive people change management.
People change management receives too little attention on many projects, including digital transformation initiatives at engineering companies. Projects flounder, money is wasted, and staff morale is undermined when too little attention is evident. In the worst case, projects fail or are cancelled.
Digital transformation initiatives encounter the following common change management issues that can all be remedied with low-risk actions.
Lack of change buy-in
Lack of change buy-in for the digital transformation initiative creates staff resistance to change and perhaps sabotage. The staff is comfortable with what they’re doing and believes it contributes value to the organization. There’s little understanding of the proposed new business processes and the business value of digital transformation.
The staff resistance slows the project and risks a partial digital transformation with few benefits.
The best way to build buy-in for the digital transformation is with people change management tasks that include:
- Offering formal training in the new business processes.
- Providing in-person support to staff as they switch to the digital way of conducting business.
- Ensuring that adopting the new business processes is a component of the annual review process.
Solution skepticism
The engineering company’s staff is comfortable with what they’re doing and are highly skeptical that the proposed digital transformation solution will:
- Meet business requirements.
- Work reliably.
- Constitute an improvement over the current practice.
- Deliver promised business benefits.
Staff skepticism extends the implementation timeline and risks a derailed digital transformation.
The best way to build digital transformation support is by involving engineering end-users in project tasks that include:
- Confirming that the proposed solution comprehensively meets the needs of the staff.
- Ensuring the software is thoroughly tested so that initial experiences with it are positive.
- Ensuring end-users are intimately involved in data migration confirmation and software acceptance testing.
Limited team knowledge of change management
Often, digital transformation teams include lots of data and software experience but lack change management expertise. Such teams tend to see the project primarily in technical and not human terms. Because the team is immersed in project details daily, they believe the change to the digital business processes is trivial, easy to learn, and doesn’t need significant change management.
This misunderstanding leads to frustration for engineering end-users, slows adoption and adds avoidable risk to the project.
Limited team knowledge of change management is best addressed by contracting for experienced change management resources that will join the project team.
Insufficient resources for change management
A common excuse for ignoring or inadequately conducting change management at engineering companies is insufficient resources. This situation often results from:
- Not recognizing or underestimating the need for change management when planning the digital transformation initiative.
- Some stakeholders actively challenging the need for change management.
- Believing that staff can adapt on the fly while implementing digital business processes.
Failing to budget for change management resources in the digital transformation project leads to the following:
- Disappointingly slow adoption of new digital processes.
- Lower than planned benefits realization.
- Skepticism about the value of digital transformation.
The better approach is to include comprehensive people change management tasks in the digital transformation project plan. Typical deliverables include:
- A proactive communication program.
- Formal training events.
- Informal individual support.
Change-resistant organization culture
Some engineering organizations have been phenomenally successful for decades. This situation creates a deeply embedded culture that appeals to many staff and customers. Often, the staff doesn’t see looming changes in the business environment that will undermine or even destroy their current success.
They actively challenge the proposed migration to digital business as unnecessary, counterproductive or even destructive. The challenges erode planned benefits, add costs and risk an unsuccessful digital transformation.
The only way to counter the challenges to digital transformation is through strong CEO and executive team leadership that promotes a new data-driven digital culture. The change to the new culture will likely include early retirements, layoffs and at least one reorganization.
Change-resistant staff attitudes
Some staff are comfortable in their current work, often leveraging their experience and expertise. They’re not interested in changes that will benefit the engineering company’s business plan. They view the digital transformation team’s communications as a blend of hype and propaganda. They cling to the hope that if they ignore the proposed changes to digital business long enough, the whole initiative will disappear.
They passively challenge the proposed changes toward a digital business. The challenges undermine staff morale and extend the implementation timeline.
The best way to win over resistant engineering staff is by supporting them comprehensively through the change. That support will not always be successful and may result in a few resignations and layoffs.
Lack of effective communication
Too often, digital transformation project teams are so intimately involved in their work that they forget to communicate thoroughly with the rest of the organization. The team falsely assumes everyone else knows as much as they do.
It’s difficult for the engineering company’s staff to adopt the changes expected by the new digital process if the project is barely noticeable. The lack of awareness will slow adoption.
It’s impossible to overcommunicate the goal of the digital transformation initiative, the changes being introduced and the status of the project work. Effective communication includes the following elements:
- Regular project updates on the engineering company’s intranet.
- Occasional broadcast emails from the project sponsor that recommunicate the vision and the progress.
- Quarterly town hall events at which the project sponsor and manager speak.
- Regular blogs about the project benefits on the project intranet website.
When digital transformation project teams pay adequate attention to people change management tasks, they ensure digital transformation success.
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Yogi Schulz has over 40 years of Information Technology experience in various industries. He writes for ITWorldCanada and other trade publications. Yogi works extensively in the petroleum industry to select and implement financial, production revenue accounting, land & contracts, and geotechnical systems. He manages projects that arise from changes in business requirements, from the need to leverage technology opportunities and from mergers. His specialties include IT strategy, web strategy, and systems project management.
