Is Your Organization Digital-Friendly?

Ever thought that the place you are currently working, how well is your organization digitally equipped? Being a work agency or a freelancer, have you ever thought of your client’s health?

Well, here it is not about any latest technology that you have built like a responsive website, a digital brand identity or a mobile application; it is about the organization which has taken a back seat behind all these techno-tools. At the end of the day, you have all the latest technology resources but your organization isn’t digitalized, the best of what you have will end up not working.

Being digital professionals ourselves, we like to squirm and whine about the place we work, its environs as a potential gridlock in everything we do. But before all that one has to first understand where does the organization originally lack?

When a client comes to you for help in the process of digital transformation in spaces, the primary need must be to understand the key holes to real problem, which is usually hidden. You will have to conduct a digital health check where you will have some questions in mind and your investigation will answer those questions.

There has to be a way to decipher the organization’s loop holes in its structures.

 Is the structure of the Organization digitally friendly?

The digital spectrum comprises of several disciplines that an organization has to prepare a check list of. Not just IT or communications but the whole lot of designers, developers, content writers, marketers, project managers and all other experts in several fields. And you need all of them to work productively in sync.

However, these several departments I am mentioning of are like an immovable rock hindrance within organizations. People are usually restricted to their spaces, are limiting networking and any kind of interference in their respective cells causes tension.

Let’s see whether this is true for your organization:

• How do the individuals who work with digital operate? Whom do they report to?
• Who manages the key digital assets, like email, social media, the website, the intranet, etc.?
• How is digital overseen? Is there a steering group or does everyone report to their respective department?
• Do specialists come together in working groups to work on particular projects?
• Is there a good working relationship between marketing and IT?

If the response is quite a limited cooperation, then you should know that digital use in your organization is a challenge.

 Does Digital come first for your people?

 If you look around organizations today, their primary focus is to digitalized along length and breadths, to the farthest reach. As a result the employees are so routed with the fact that they are unable to look at digital as a solution. There are better ways of connecting like live chat instead of a call center for customer support or in fact build a blog replacing those endless boring and forgetful media releases.

Unless digital is what people think as the first help in hand, it will never be utilized with its complete potential.

To know if this hold true for your organization, ask these:

• What kind of updates appear in the organization’s social media channels? Are they just lists of announcements and news?
• Does senior management have a good grasp of digital?
• Is the website invested in on an ongoing basis?
• How does the organization’s investment in digital compare to its investment in traditional communication methods (such as offline advertising)?
• Is digital isolated to a single department, or do people use digital across the whole organization?
• How much do employees use digital as part of their daily jobs?

If digital is rarely considered, problems must arise.

 What does The Company think of Its Digital Team?

The best way of knowing whether your organization is digitally healthy is how the digital team is perceived on organizational level. The digital team is not just a service department that will only realize other people’s vision. This is a point where the person who has the authority will only set the digital priorities and the experience and understanding of digital becomes secondary.

To have an in-depth perception of the digital team, look into the following questions:

•  Who oversees digital?
• Does the digital team have the authority to say no to digital projects?
• Who initiates new digital projects?
• How senior are the members of the digital team in the organization’s hierarchy?
• Are the members of the digital team considered experts in their field?
• Does the digital team understand the business’ broader goals, or is it just a technical resource

The digital team must own what belongs to them i.e. Digital, else the final result with lack consistency and will certainly be erratic.

 Is there an adequate provision of training and support to the Digital Team?

There is a rapid evolution in the digital world which is not unknown. The people associated to this field must stay updated with any latest development for it takes time to learn and experiment. There has to be similarly upgraded equipment as well as an environment to function within. The digital space is evolving rapidly. There has to be a management team who facilitates such requirements on the basic understanding. The constant focus must not only be on the productivity else their skills might disintegrate.

Sadly, many organizations fail to understand how important it is to invest in their digital teams, which makes the team only maintain the standards of work but not elevate the organization forward by a level and that makes the organization incompetitive.

To prevent this problem, know these:

• Does the digital team have a training budget?
• Does it have time to experiment and learn?
• Does it have its own dedicated workspace?
• Is it equipped to do its job, or is the digital team expected to work with the same equipment as other staff?
• Does it control its server environment?
• Does the IT department place limitations on the digital team’s access to the web?

The lack in investment shows the uninterested approach of the organization in digital.

 Are people adopting Digital across the Organization?

A digitally healthy company will never enclose themselves within a silo. They will make digital the core substance of everything, it is simply ubiquitous. To encourage the people to adopt the same everywhere there has to be a continuous process of education, which becomes a primary responsible of the digital team.

To know the extent of adoption, ask these questions:

• How often do you use tools such as social media, the intranet, the website and mass email as part of your job?
• Have you received training to use digital beyond the content management system?
• Are you subscribed to updates on what the organization is doing with digital? Do such updates exist?
• Do you often speak with the digital team?
• Do you read any technology or digital-related content online?

Much negative answers to these questions would lead to a conclusion that digital is a restricted part of the organization.

 Does your Organization observe A Culture Of Iteration?

There can be this one misconception that an organization perceives that digital could be a series of discrete projects. Things get revised and redesigned and only minimal maintenance takes place between such changes. There must be a constant investment in digital, through a simultaneous process of testing and iteration.

To find out whether your organization thinks of iteration in digital, ask these:

• Is the website updated and tested often, or is it redesigned every few years?
• Does the digital team spend most of its time on maintenance, or does it have time to develop its tools?
• Does the digital team follow some form of agile methodology?
• Does it carry out split testing and usability testing regularly?
• Does it monitor analytics and look for ways to improve them?

A continuous iteration will ensure digital efficiency.

 

Is your organization Customer Friendly?

Digital significantly has an impact on customer behaviour. For that you should be thankful to the mobile technology through which people are now 24/7 connected digitally. Social media has proven to be their face and voice. And of course the web has made it easier for competitors to know the whereabouts of each other. Hence all these factors make customer service of prime importance than ever. But on organizational level, things shape around internal processes than customers’ needs. There is a lack of commitment. Make these questions your root to understand how healthy your organization is in this area:

• Have you mapped the customer’s journey?
• Do you test usability regularly?
• Who manages the customer experience?
• Who answers customers’ questions in social media?
• How do you ensure a consistent customer experience across all touch points?
• Do you have a database of answers to common questions?
• Is there a style guide that defines your tone of voice with customers?
• Do you have a customer relationship management system?

The one which does not calculate the importance of customer service must always remain in a disadvantage.

 Why is A Digital Health Check necessary?

So after understanding and reading through why should you carry a digital health check, would it really make a difference? Well, the answer is no. But you will see how your management will improve, and this change is much required if it isn’t yet being observed yet. Because just like people organizations as well fall into the habit of some mischievous constant behaviour that is hard to change.  Business would no longer be an option in the digital age, and a health check will definitely highlight the whys.