Many businesses are eager to follow in the footsteps of companies that are thriving as a result of digital transformation, such as Uber, Netflix, and Airbnb. But changing the way your business processes run, and doing a complete overhaul of them in general, is no small feat. There are many pitfalls that can hinder such a task. Thankfully, these pitfalls can be avoided along the way.

Digital transformation is defined as the acceleration of business processes, activities, and models in order to fully leverage the opportunities of a business as well as the impact of new digital technologies in a specific way. Digital transformation is essentially business transformation. 

A true digital transformation can enable your company to strengthen customer relationships and create new opportunities for revenue while streamlining costs. But you can only reap these benefits if a transformation is managed and implemented properly. If done wrong, a transformation can toss critical operations into disarray and cause problems among employees, such as confusion and discontentment. Below are some of the most common mistakes that you can avoid to ensure your digital transformation process runs smoothly from the get-go. 

Lack of Company-Wide Knowledge About Digital Transformation

One of the biggest mistakes today is a company-wide lack of knowledge of what digital transformation is and what it is trying to achieve for a business. It is meant to improve customer experience as well as efficiency but it cannot do these things without being incorporated strategically into a company’s goals. Your company’s strategy needs to begin at the top and should be sold to the entire company and every employee should be made to understand their part in the process and why it is important. Leaders often develop a strategy but it does not get passed down. 

Failure to Make It a Regular Thing

Companies all too often make the process of digital transformation a sometime thing when it should be an all-time thing. Digital transformation is not just a technology issue. It is a company issue, a brand issue, a marketing issue, an HR issue, and a sales issue too. Your company needs to recognize how far and wide digital transformation and technology reaches within your business. Until then, you will run into digital transformation mistakes.

Failure to Redefine and Create Roles

Because digital transformation brings about such great change within companies, it is important that we change along with it. This means looking at old roles and redefining them so our employees are able to do efficiently and effectively what they need to in order to serve in today’s marketplace. Companies struggle to succeed in today’s marketplace with job descriptions of yesterday. 

Failure to Listen to Data

Another big mistake companies make is collecting large amounts of data but failing to use it. Either the upper management is not ready to make decisions that are data-backed or perhaps they do not agree with the direction the data suggests they go. Unfortunately, many companies miss the mark for success by failing to use the data they collect in ways that are meaningful for company prosperity.

Digital transformation is not an option today – it is a necessity. But it is important that you implement it correctly. Hopefully, these tips will help you to avoid major mistakes so you can watch your company thrive.