Embarking on a digital transformation campaign can turn into a long-winded journey that swerves this way and that, and ultimately costs more than it yields.

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Yet, done right, digital transformation planning can overhaul existing systems and processes and set you up for a significant company-wide operational efficiency boost.

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Read this guide to find out how you can maximize your digital transformation process and leverage planning to make sure you create clear opportunities for efficiency along the way. Discover how a staff tracker like Insightful can help.

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Adopt a Holistic Approach

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One of the most common mistakes in digital transformation efforts is a lack of foresight in one of the several areas involved in making meaningful progress. If you want to push forward as an organization, you need a cohesive approach that accounts for all the relevant factors.

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So what are the core elements involved in effective digital transformation planning?

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1. Company values

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Your company values and strategic goals should be your guiding compass whenever you set out to make big changes in your business.

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Like your north star, they will show you which direction to head in if you stray off course. 

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If your values and strategic goals strongly align with a view of protecting the environment, for example, then you’d be wise to consider that at every stage of the planning process. If you lose sight of your values or goals, that’s when plans fall apart at the seams and efforts go to waste.

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By ensuring everyone in the company is moving in the same direction, everyone should have a clear philosophy to fall back on in times of uncertainty which can allow for greater day-to-day operational efficiency.

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2. Workforce

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Your workforce is the lifeblood of your organization, and as such, should feature prominently in your digital transformation planning process.

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The employees that make up your company are integral to any meaningful change, and it’s important to make sure they feel engaged with their work whenever a big change is afoot. 

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A lack of employee engagement is often a primary factor behind high employee churn rates, so if you want greater operational efficiency when upgrading your technology, you’ll need to keep your employees on board and help them feel connected to your goals.

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3. Systems

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The systems that you rely on in your company can make or break your efforts to execute a digital transformation campaign.

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By systems, we mean the ways in which employees from various departments carry out their daily actions. This could be how they communicate with each other and other departments, how they set up for work, and what their schedules are like.

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If you want operational efficiency to be at the heart of your digital transformation efforts, it’s important to consider how systems will need to change to adapt to new technology.

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4. Processes

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If systems are the overarching frameworks for how employees navigate the work environment, the processes are the specific actions they take day by day to fulfill their responsibilities.

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Change that brings about greater operational efficiency is next to impossible without a close examination and consideration of the individual processes at play. How employees execute the actions that comprise their role will dictate how efficient they can be from one day to the next.

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5. Tools

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Finally, to complete the holistic approach and leave no stone unturned, you need to factor in the tools you rely on.

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For instance, if you use a particular workday productivity solution for project management, you can leverage it to answer the question of how to track employee efficiency. Perhaps you try to automate more tasks with relevant action triggers or build knowledge bases to keep employees up to date on the latest changes to protocols.

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Remote employee monitoring software is an excellent tool to have at your disposal when monitoring productivity and implementing significant change.

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Why?

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Because as the workforce optimization definition goes, any tool or process you can lean on to boost efficiency in the workforce can lead to greater results.

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An employee activity monitor allows you to run the numbers and track online activity to see how each team member is performing, which can inform opportunities for greater operational efficiency. Perhaps apps the IT department uses aren’t saving as much time as you initially expected, or perhaps employees are experiencing a loss of productivity working from home.

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Using the time data you collect with this software can help you plot out before-and-after changes when going through a digital transformation. When asking how to monitor staff, you might question the privacy incursion of software to spy on computers, yet this concern is unfounded with apps like Insightful which protect user data.

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Overcome your Biggest Challenges

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With any significant structural change to your business, including the technology you build your foundations on, there will be several significant challenges to navigate.

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With digital transformation, these could include:

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• Skill gaps - When you implement new tech in your organization, there’s always the risk that you’ll create skill gaps that affect different departments. Whether it’s due to a lack of familiarity with the technology or a hardwired reliance on outdated systems, these skill gaps can put your progress in jeopardy and threaten your operational efficiency.

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• Communication silos - If each team and department emphasizes internal communication over cross-functional connection, digital transformation can create deeper rifts that inhibit efficiency across the board.

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• Misaligned budget - Failing to budget effectively for digital transformation can leave you short in certain areas, or overstretch your finances. Either scenario can limit your potential for growth and the possibilities for improving efficiencies.

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• Heightened security risks - Opening up to new tech can help you scale, but with any new system you can encounter heightened security risks. Greater risks may force you to boost your cybersecurity measures, or else you may be hit with occasional efficiency-crushing cyber attacks.

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Create a Roadmap for Efficiency

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To bring it all together, the best way to plan for all events in your digital transformation planning so as to improve operational efficiency is to create a robust roadmap.

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In this roadmap, your goal should be to outline any obstacles or challenges you may face along the way including shifting scope and changing circumstances. An effective change management process can ensure you stay the course to greater operational efficiency even when disaster strikes.

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A good roadmap for efficiency will lay out how you intend to improve efficiencies across the 5 areas mentioned above, how you’ll combat the biggest challenges, and what you’ll do in the event that not everything goes to plan - which is often a likely scenario.

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Employee monitoring software can be the glue that holds your digital transformation strategy together, as you can use it to audit your current processes and employee engagement levels and identify those opportunities for greater operational efficiency.

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