Things to think about before embarking on your university digital transformation project
So you’re about to embark on a digital transformation project? What does that actually mean? In our experience, digital transformation is rarely about technology. It’s more often about culture, content, user experience and a myriad of other things.
Before you start, ask yourself some fundamental questions. By thinking more about why you’re starting this journey, what you want to achieve, who you need to involve, and when’s the best time to do it, you can really think about the change you want to bring in your institution, and the best way to get there.
Why?
When we ask why we are doing something there’s a tendency to look backwards in our answer to justify the choice based on what has gone or happened before. When we begin by looking back we risk designing an approach that iterates on what we already have rather than sets the stage for the transformation that you might strive for.
Instead, explore the “why” as a future-facing question. By doing this we start not from a place of “what isn’t working” and instead start from a vision of how we want it to be. It opens possibility, vision and creativity, instead of defining a “fix” mentality.
To do this, start with these three questions:
Why does this matter? Following up with “so what?” for each of your answers until you arrive at the true impact that you are seeking to generate through this work.
What will change and shift in our organisation if we really deliver against that vision?
What’s the overall experience that we will create?
The answers to these questions should lead to an inspiring vision that you can enrol your stakeholders around. And you might also want to involve them in answering these questions. But more on that in the “who”...
What?
It’s easy (and common) at the outset to see technology as the issue, and the business case for digital transformation is based on how the snazzy new technology can enable you to better meet your objectives. A burning platform, for example, might be the driver for exploring your options. But is technology actually the problem?
As you probe into the problem that you are trying to solve in the “why?” you may find that actually it’s the culture or the people which are both the barrier and the solution to driving change. For organisations looking to create more engaging, powerful, personalised experiences, is the main barrier your CMS or CRM system functionality? Often while CX platform functionality could be improved, the real barrier to creating exceptional experience is that the teams work in silos, there’s a lack of insight on user needs, and a culture of churn rather than creativity and experimentation. If any of this sounds familiar, here are the questions to ask yourself:
What’s the problem that we’re trying to solve? Is this really a digital project, or is it a culture project?
Is it fixing things that are broken or long-term sustainable transformation? Digital transformation can often actually be digital firefighting.
Digital is a redundant word in the phrase “digital transformation” - so what replaces it? Culture? Team? Process? Experience?
Who?
Now you have some clarity on the why and the what, you can start thinking more about the who. This isn’t about putting together a list of everyone in the whole institution who has something to say on the topic, but rather thinking about the role they need to play in delivering a successful outcome. Here are some questions to help you think about who needs to be involved, and in what way.
Who do you need support from?
Who can share useful insights?
Who will be impacted by this work?
What are the relationships between those involved?
What is not being said between teams that might affect this project?
Who is the ultimate decision maker?
You might find it useful to conduct a stakeholder mapping activity to explore these questions, and from there you can start developing the right approaches and tactics to involve your different stakeholders in the most appropriate way.
When?
There is almost never an "ideal" time for digital transformation. There are always other projects, problems and priorities with competing timescales and needs.
But there are situations that make true digital transformation more unlikely:
Short-term problems with burning platforms and security issues can make this about fixing and fudging, not transforming.
Starting without nurturing cross-function alignment inhibits collaboration and prevents new culture from flourishing.
Building solutions without a long-term vision leads to meandering projects that lose momentum.
Choosing "when" to do digital transformation depends on clarity with the why, what and who. These questions identify the barriers and blocks that need clearing before you start. Doing this can give you full confidence that "now is the right time for transformation."
Three key "when" questions to ask are:
Is this likely to be a “fix” project or a genuine transformation in ways of working?
Is there healing, resolution or re-alignment to do between teams/people before starting?
Is everyone clear and bought-in to our vision for long-term transformation? If not, how do we get there?
If you need help answering these questions, we can help. Drop us a line and we’d be happy to explore how we could help you design the transformational project that your university needs.