Digital transformation is a continuous improvement practise or Kaizen. By people using digital tools and skills to deliver the result.
The genie in Aladdin says: “You wish is my command”. And that is what digitalization is. Ask and you will receive. No, no need to point a gun, threat or carrot anymore. Just practise digital transformation.
Digitalization is saying what you want and getting the result instantly. A clear example is the digital camera.
Digitalization of Pictures
The digital camera enabled point, focus, shoot, viewed, instantly duplicable and shareable pictures and stored permanently in a split second. This camera became commonplace with the launch of iPhone and smartphones from 2007 onwards.
Upto the end of the last century (ca 1999), this was not possible for the masses. We had to point, shoot, finish the roll of film, send it to the shop to be processed and printed, while praying and hoping the pictures turned out okay. Religion was our recourse for good photography. ; )
Of course Polaroid was available, but it was one size, took a minute or two to see, not duplicable, no other copy except for that print and cost lots of money per print.
Digitalization
So in a nutshell, digitalization is the process of collapsing a number of steps, processes, tasks, work packages into a seamless “Ask and Receive” process with just one touch point to the desired result. Like “Ask” Google and “Receive” your answer.
Ishikawa Diagram of Inputs to Outputs
To get this, you need to know the inputs and what is the desired output. Like a production line in a factory. In the factory, the Ishikawa diagram or fishbone diagram, is used to map this production line on a paper. Then its transformed into a project plan and fleshed out into a production line on the factory floor.
I saw these happening in the factories in B. Braun and Flextronics where I worked. It was fascinating to see ideas transforming into reality through a structured method of manufacturing inputs to outputs of finished goods. And mirroring a computer’s inputs and outputs structure.
For me the Kognifi Ishikawa Diagram Inputs are (mnemonically written, 5M 1T, for easy recall):
- Method
- Manpower (Workforce)
- Materials
- Machine
- Money
- Time
Other people would state the inputs differently, according to their worldview.
The Digitalization Process
Digitalization in Malaysia Case Study
The start the digitalization process, we will need to look at what is the required result. Start with the end, deliverable or goal in mind. The videos here were presented at a Project Management Institute (PMI) talk in KL in May 2019.
As the project leader, I led the digitalization process to be focused on speed and cost control for this digitalization exercise.
The digitalization expert will look at the methods available today, the desired cost per unit of result to identify the rest of the inputs. See example below that we used to cut costs and time to do site acquisition surveys for Telecommunications Towers in 2016.
The Ishikawa diagram that follows is a simplified version of what was done. This version is used for communicating with relevant stakeholders. The technical teams had a detailed diagram with a corresponding excel files for mapping tasks and costs.
In the example above we changed the method as it would reduce the costs, time and tremendously speed up the site acquisition process.
By changing the method, we eliminated a work package for crane rentals, and the scheduler was freed up for other tasks. The LOS (Line of Sight) surveyor had to be upskilled on how to use a drone and acquire the LOS images and height. And the cost of road damage on village roads by heavy cranes was eliminated.
There are further steps to be taken after mapping the two Ishikawa diagrams. That is the cost benefit analysis on excel and influencing the stakeholders to change the way of doing things.
The resistance to drone photography vs a DSLR camera with a compass was very high with technical stakeholders. As well as some resistance to capex vs an opex spend to fixed budgeted costs by finance stakeholders.
Digital Transformation Management
In a true digitalized environment, the processes will have reduced to minimal touchpoints. It should just be preferably one touchpoint to one deliverable. And the methods should strive to achieve that.
To get effective digitalization to an output or deliverable is an organizational change challenge. It involves:
- Changing attitudes
- Changing behaviours and skills
- Transformational leadership
As you can see, its all about the people and their habits. So the one of the first steps in digital transformation is to get people to:
- Know and understand how digitalization of their work impacts them
- Remove the elements of fear and uncertainty
- Train them to digitize their tasks
- Move from pen and paper to secure apps
- Then select integrated tools to digitalize their workflows and collaborations
- Microsoft Sharepoint, Teams and O365 or Google GSuite
- Trello, MS Planner, Evernote, Slido and other Collaboration tools
- Sales and Marketing CRM tools like Salesforce, Hubspot and Zoho
- Marketing platforms like Google Ads, Taboola, Semrush, Ahrefs, Emarsys
- and many many more cloud solutions like SAP Cloud, Litmos etc
Skillup the workforce with skills to use the new machines. The new machines are apps, software in the cloud, the smartphone and laptops. The new paper is the screen, speaker, microphone and camera.
The workforce is mobile. Manage digitalization to ensure data security and workflows are mobile first yet secured.
People are worried about AI and robotics in digital transformation. They should not be. AI and robots cannot replace human interactions and creativity. And the AI and robots need humans in the backend to configure, manage and control the AI to deliver the desired results.
Digital Transformation Steps in Summary
Digital transformation is a continuous improvement practise or Kaizen. By people using digital tools and skills to deliver the result.
- Map the Ishikawa diagram to the required result.
- Collapse the processes with digital tools, both hardware and software
- Map the costs accordingly and get the stakeholders buy in
Ask and you shall receive is the new normal. The genie is out in the open. All organizations need to get skilled and onboarded as soon as they can.
You can find a list of digital transformation training for marketing, project management and team collaboration in the file below. Just click the download button below.
Kognifi helps local businesses effectively use digital platforms for sales and marketing.Kognifi does this by first digitizing tasks and processes and then digitalizing the process chain for the desired results.
Before Kognifi, Logga was the lead project manager for a MCMC 3G small cells project in East Malaysia.
And prior to this, Logga was an international marketer with B. Braun Surgical, Dell, Tyco Healthcare and Flextronics.
Full details at https://my.linkedin.com/in/trlogga and https://trlogga.com/about-logga/
- Digitalization by Digital Transformation - 21 June 2019
- Digital Tools for Project Management, Morning Talk at PMI MY - 25 May 2019
- Online Marketing Lecture in Universiti Klabat Manado - 3 November 2017