What happens at the end of a digital transformation? The word transformation implies an ending. Why are so many digital transformation efforts never-ending?

It’s not strictly about semantics. It’s about priorities and what matters to a team and an organization.

The beginning

This type of work starts really big. Big kickoff, healthy budget, maybe new hires, and excitement in the air. We’re going to change, and we’re going to do a lot of good work together.

But here are the things that I’ve not consistently seen in such starts.

First and most critically, a direct sense of why this is happening and what the outcomes are. There may be a vague mission statement or the like, but this is the time to be real. Do we need to be faster? Do we need to be better? Do we need to cut costs? Is a competitor eating our lunch?

The team also needs to know how to determine if things are changing for the better. Sometimes individual metrics may surface (active users, time on site, MQLs) but those are diagnostic and typically not directional. If we’re looking to be faster, say, what are the things everyone needs to have in mind and go for?

Hand in hand with that is providing clarity on roles and responsibilities. Just listing job titles isn’t enough. Who are the teams and people responsible? Who will make the call when there’s a “tie”? If we have a RACI, who will help usher people to the right team members?

And, any digital transformation endeavor must answer the classic question, “What’s in it for me?” What does each person get from this effort?

Starting with the beginning is important because it means we can then have a better read on…

The ending

Even if you have a 3-year roadmap that has a clear “we are done with big stuff” line, that’s procedural. Timelines slip and priorities change. This work must adapt accordingly but unless we have a real reset and say “we’re not doing digital transformation anymore,” we should all be pointed in the same direction.

Many people need to have something to see upfront (in the beginning) in order to imagine what the ending looks like. Visuals, copy, prototypes… those are often essential.

Beyond that, what does an end look like?

First, people are assigned to other work. Teams roll off. Vendor contracts wind down. Then roles and duties change. Once things like CMSes and DAMs are in place, for instance, the marketing team’s work may take top priority. All of that superb effort to define governance, maintenance, and quality gave everyone a set of playbooks to operate from. (You did make playbooks, right?)

Critically at this point, budgets are likely cut. This isn’t bad unless the transformation was truly incomplete or deprioritized. Digital transformation is often about reducing costs and investments in the long-term. We are here. Hello.

I need to stress that I don’t think the ending is bad. Not at all. It’s a sign of maturity and confidence to go through years of work and then say, “We’re good – we can take it from here.”

None of this is simple. But it’s rarely discussed.

What it takes to get there

Change management.

By far, the number one underrated or ignored function of digital transformation in my decades of experience is change management.

When change management is in the picture, it’s sometimes shoehorned into “internal comms strategy”. That’s important work. But change is so much more than that.

It’s identifying what’s on the other side of the transformation and applying rigor and process and empathy to the people who will be affected by it. While digital transformation efforts often impact the teams doing them, this isn’t always the case and in large companies it’s straight up not the case.

That work looks a lot like interviews and discussions and timelines, and coordinating with development on release schedules, and working with department leads on calendars and processes and ways of working, and being alongside tech and content and design for governance.

If change management is not a part of the story, in my experience, the overall work has been far less successful.

Back to the beginning

Before embarking on any digital transformation work, identify what the end looks and feels like. Use that directional guidance to establish the team makeup and define broad-strokes budgetary guidance including potential traps or less-profitable side quests. As you develop what the future state looks like, use it to directly inform how you start the work, and what the goals and metrics of change management activities will be.

If the work is truly transformative, this should be a great and difficult challenge – but it can spark ideas, creativity, and new ways of working that outlive just one long project.

Sway is in its early days. If you found this useful or interesting or both, do me a favor and forward this issue to someone else. Thank you!

Paul