Companies that discount digital transformation do so at their peril. In my experience, the digital dilemmas paralysing boardrooms are the very same dilemmas inspiring agile enterprises.
Larger organisations are finding it more difficult to reform, with CEOs not understanding the value of digital transformation, and so feeling ill-equipped to trigger the reform button. On the other hand, smaller, more agile enterprises are braver and bolder, with an acute awareness that survival of the fittest means those that can adapt quickest.
However, this is not an excuse, it’s an observation.
As I sit on a €40 Ryanair flight to Brussels, I consider how the disruptive model has become the norm in the Digital Age. I've been behind the doors of boardrooms for almost a decade, preaching the word of World I communications. Sometimes as I spoke, my words reverberated against the digital stained windows, a result of constant battles between decision-makers about digital reform and its "relevance to their sector".
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But what is disruption in digital communications? Quite simply, it's closing the circle on your customer dialogue. The smartphone has changed the world, but more than that it has changed human behavior. We look at it 150 times a day, seeking answers to our biggest and smallest problems.
Companies need to ask themselves - are they there to answer and to engage?
Digital transformation from a communications perspective is simply about having a 360-degree conversation with your customers, prospects, colleagues, or whomever the target audience may be. The age of the Internet has given everyone a voice, but it has turned the tables of power. Seated now at the top of the table are prosumers, active consumers with a new-found voice ready to use at any opportunity.
The customer experience is the cog in the wheel of digital transformation. Social media has created engagement-ready customers seeking real-time relationships with companies of every kind. Sitting sideways on the same seat are the goliaths of the Internet - search, social and video - controlled by Google, Facebook and YouTube.
So, if you want to take your seat at this digital dinner table, then you better sing for your supper.
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A former journalist and PR practitioner, Joanne hosts a weekly podcast called JSB Talks Digital. A life-long learner, Joanne holds a Masters’ Degree in Journalism and a Masters’ Degree in Digital Marketing. She speaks on a range of digital topics across the globe and is a Google Partner.
Meet JSB
LinkedIn: Joanne Sweeney-Burke
Podcast: JSB Talks Digital
Twitter @tweetsbyJSB and @dti_ie
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