digital transformation-arkiv

22 February, 2022

What I learned from a Digital Transformation Theater

Have you ever realized the amount of time you spent in worthless meetings and how easy it is to get caught up in busy work...so this is one of those stories.

It´s noon and your stomach says you need food, your brain is trying to wake up. You have just spent four hours in a weekly meeting that you will never get back.

The weekly meeting began at 08.00

We are about 30 digital experts sitting in a traditional boardroom that holds 25 people, on the projector screen we see a classic PowerPoint with the text "ResultMeeting v45" with a "sexy" PowerPoint slide with people cheering. Guessing the purpose of the slide was to make the numbers more "engaging". 🎯

Our boss enters the room with rapid steps and calls out while moving toward the whiteboard:

- Good morning everyone, hope everyone is doing great, we don´t have that much time today so I hope everyone is psyched and ready to go!

Then a four-hour number medley began🤓 , when the participants were done presenting their numbers, they sat down, with empty eyes 😵‍💫, slowly sinking down into their chairs.

There is always someone who falls asleep at the meetings, sometimes several(me myself once after a late client meeting the day before), it usually happens when you "rest" your eyes a little too long if you understand what I mean. 🥱 😴

But this day I met the eyes of others who have already checked out. It's like being back in school again, you know that feeling when you lost focus after 10min and you count the seconds until the clock strikes 12.

The meeting finally ends, you stand up, you have since 30 minutes ago started texting with other participants where you should go and eat, everyone takes their things and goes out on the town.

You feel heavy in your head, irrelevant figures on outcomes and budget, figures that do not say anything about what customers think or think, figures that are compared to last year and do not take into account new behaviors or events.

The rest of the day was very inefficient as you were trying to get back to that focus and energy you had before going into the meeting.

What the hell happened I asked myself!? 🤯 Should work be like this? You have spent over 16 years at various start-up and scale-up companies, met ill-run entrepreneurs, constellations of people who create monster growth machines with just a few resources, and now you are stuck in meetings talking about meetings when your time to market is getting slower by the meeting. Yeah and running the numbers in the business case you by easy figure out this wasn´t really effective or created any value for the co-workers or the business.

We were there to digitally transform the business, but we were stuck in the act of a traditional number at the transformation theater that did not lead up to anything else than lost productivity. What could have been a Chat update and a 15 min stand-up became so much more of a culture killer.

Btw. There was nothing wrong with the people in the room! This was just one example of the wrong environment, culture, context, management styles that we all have experienced some time in our life...

For me, this was one of those experiences that gave me the wake-up call, that things needed to change. I was wasting time and energy, and so did everyone around me in the room. So I asked myself, how could we skip the busy work and focus on finding the moment of truths that really matter in a rapid phase so all of us can become highly effective, aligned, and collaborative. Yeah, and have fun doing so!

That's why WilburFlow was founded, WilburFlow is a design-driven innovation firm that helps companies create new businesses and products in a rapid phase. With unrivaled expertise in both product and experience design, we partner with industry leaders to create bold products, experiences, and digital platforms that are designed around the needs of their customers and the contexts in which they use them.

And by now you are probably wondering why I am sharing this story...

Long story short, this is my first of several upcoming series on how to build Great; - Leaders, -Teams, -Experiences, and -Products. Followers will be getting access to Insights, Challenges, Experiences, learnings as well as valuable treats, guides, canvases from our product, business, and team development programs at WilburFlow.

So stay tuned and follow me, subscribe to your monthly newsletter, and follow WilburFlow in our social feeds.

Yeah, and don´t forget to smile, it looks good on you!
/ Joacim Alm
Founder of WilburFlow

Published by Joacim Alm in Customer Centricity, Design Thinking, Digital Transformation, Innovation, Lifelong Learning, Microlearning, Okategoriserad, Teamwork, The WilburFlow Story

Tags: digital transformation, Doing your best work, Great leaders, Product Experience, Team developement, WilburFlow

29 December, 2020

COVID-19 and the Increased Need for Innovation

2020 has been a difficult year for many people, and our thoughts go out to all those affected by this terrible pandemic. This field note's focus is not on the catastrophic consequences of Covid-19 but on how behaviors and needs have changed in its wake.

The current pandemic has had an enormous impact on society and the economy. During these uncertain times, technology has been an enabler for many companies and communities.

Innovation is a solution to the business crisis in times like the Covid-19 pandemic. Digital transformation and exploring digital technologies are no longer diffuse concepts. They have become fundamental strategies for any business to stay ahead of the competition and succeed in a digital-first world.

These statistics show just how much Covid-19 has impacted consumers, the opportunities created by new technology, and how the world is forever changed. When behaviors and needs change radically, you must innovate to meet them and to remain relevant in the market.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Digital Transformation and New Technology

70% of businesses chose to increase or maintain digital transformation spending during the pandemic. (According to IFS)

58% of businesses that had not yet begun a digital transformation program said that Covid-19 has accelerated their digital plans. (According to BakerMcKenzie)

76% of businesses plan on long-term IT changes as a result of Covid-19. (According to SWZD)

More than a third of 2021 tech budget increases will be influenced by Covid-19. (According to SWZD)

While 52% of companies plan to cut or defer investments because of Covid-19, just 9% will make those cuts in digital transformation. (According to PwC)

During the 2020 pandemic, there was a 15% increase in the use of digital tools for health support by consumers. And, 37% of consumers are very likely to use telehealth in the future. (According to McKinsey)

Covid-19 has accelerated healthcare investments within AI and nanotechnology, which are expected to grow at a rate of nearly 50% more a year towards a market set to be worth $1.333 trillion by 2027. (According to Vector Innovation Fund)

The Impact of COVID-19 on Us As Consumers

Sure, the need for new technology-driven by the ongoing pandemic is interesting. Still, something more interesting is to look at the human behaviors that drive change. Many of us have seen impacts in every aspect of our lives during this pandemic.

Here we have found some interesting statistics on how our behaviors have changed that can serve as inspiration for how we should direct our innovation efforts in the coming year.

69% of consumers say Covid-19 has made them more focused on managing their mental health and well-being. (According to PwC)

55% of consumers will prioritize more time with family after the virus has been contained. (According to Accenture)

87% of U.S consumers prefer to shop at stores that have touchless or robust self-checkout options. (According to Shekel)

79% of consumers say they will continue to use self-checkout or increase their usage after Covid-19. (According to McKinsey)

78% of consumers have made a change in where they shop for food. (According to FMI)

31% of U.S. consumers are changing to less expensive products to save money. (According to McKinsey)

39% of consumers say they will purchase more in the future from brands that responded well to the crisis. (According to Deloitte)

31% of global consumers anticipate they will visit movie theaters less often after the pandemic. (According to GlobalWebIndex)

We can look at changing behaviors and needs, driven by the Covid-19 pandemic, from different perspectives. Here we have found some interesting statistics on how our purchasing behaviors have changed.

E-commerce, as a whole, is projected to grow by almost 20% in 2020. (According to IBM)

36% of consumers now shop online weekly, an increase from 28% before the pandemic. (According to Selligent)

Globally, 49% of consumers shop online more now than they did pre-Covid-19. (According to Bazaarvoice)

One of the most significant e-commerce growth areas was over-the-counter medicine, which is expected to see a 44% increase in customers shopping online in 2020. (According to McKinsey)

The number of orders placed online and picked up in-store grew 208% between April 1 and 20, 2020, compared to a year ago. (According to Adobe)

79% of consumers say contactless store pickup is significant to them. (According to Incisiv)

It is also important to know that some things do NOT change. According to Incisiv do 91% of consumers say they miss shopping in stores.

If you are interested in more statistics and trends from 2020 involving digital transformation, new technology, digital skills, and the demand for new customer experiences, we would like to recommend this field note that we recently published: Digital Transformation 2020 Statistics.

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Published by Gustaf Ledin in Digital Transformation, Innovation

Tags: digital transformation, innovation, Statistics

21 December, 2020

Digital Transformation 2020 Statistics

No one could have predicted where 2020 would take us. In these times of unprecedented change it has become even more evident that companies must innovate, digitally transform, and adapt to remain competitive and succeed. If they don’t, they are doomed to fail.

With this field note, we want to share interesting statistics and trends from 2020 involving digital transformation, new technology, digital skills, and the demand for new customer experiences. We’ve collected data we’ve stumbled upon while helping companies take advantage of new opportunities using new technology. These statistics, or at least the underlying trends, are something all companies should know to succeed in 2021 and beyond.

We have divided this 2020 statistics, and trends data dump into four parts; Digital Business Statistics, Digital Skills Statistics, Customer Experience Statistics, and Emerging Technologies Statistics. Read everything or scroll straight to what you think sounds most interesting.

Digital Business Statistics and Trends in 2020

Strengthening the digital business model is a solution to the business crisis in times like Covid- 19 pandemic. Terms like digitization, digitalization, digital technologies are no longer just concepts that businesses have heard of - they have become fundamental strategies for any business to stay ahead of the competition and succeed in a current digital-first world.

Companies need to transform their business models to keep pace with the ever-changing business environment. Otherwise, they will fail to keep up with the changes brought by new technologies or situations like Covid-19. The current market is changing, and the need for new digital services is increasing.

87% of senior business leaders say digitalization is a priority. According to Gartner
91% of businesses are engaged in some form of digital initiative. According to Gartner
51% of digital transformation efforts are fueled by market pressure and growth opportunities. According to Prophet
Up to 93% of companies agree that innovative technologies are necessary to reach their digital transformation goals. According to Forrester
89% of all companies have already adopted a digital-first business strategy or plan to do so. According to IDG
70% of companies either have a digital transformation strategy in place or are working on one. According to Tech Pro Research
Digital-first companies are 64% more likely to achieve their business goals than their peers. According to Adobe
87% of companies think digital will disrupt their industry, but only 44% are prepared for potential digital disruption. According to Deloitte
Only 23% of companies are not dependent on digital products or operations. According to Harvard Business Review
45% of companies reporting a positive business impact of digital transformation also reported higher net revenue growth. According to Deloitte

The benefits of digital transformation are exponential. As the stats clearly show you, the benefits of digital transformation are imminent. Digital Transformation helps businesses to communicate, collaborate, and deliver services more efficiently and effectively.

Digital Skills Statistics and Trends in 2020

Digital skills are becoming even more important, if possible. With businesses increasingly adopting new technologies like Artificial Intelligence, cloud platforms, and data analytics, employees will need to continue developing new skills and adapting to change.

Covid-19 has profoundly affected the demand for digital skills across the labor market. We can see that digital tech roles remain in high demand compared to other sectors.

Without access to the right digital skills, employers cannot drive transformation forward. Digital transformation depends heavily on employees’ capabilities and talents. The lack of crucial skills can significantly hinder business growth and innovation.

Amazon revealed that they will support the future workforce with free cloud-computing skills training for 29 million people worldwide by 2025.
Microsoft launched an initiative to help 25 million people worldwide acquire digital skills.
By 2022, everyone will need an extra 101 days of learning. According to World Economic Forum
54% of all employees will need significant reskilling by 2022. According to World Economic Forum
55% of employers most worried about digital skills say innovation is hampered by a lack of key skills. According to PwC
Over the next five years, the global workforce can absorb around 149 million technology-oriented jobs. According to Microsoft
85% of Americans believe that digital skills will be important to success in today’s workplace. According to Pew
42% of organizations have implemented digital skills training initiatives. According to BrainStation

How To Respond to Changes in Your Business

How can you handle changing markets, the demand for new customer experiences, and the need for new skills?

Book a free demo and find out how we can help you adopt a mindset for change and tools to increase your pace of innovation!

Customer Experience Statistics and Trends in 2020

Customers are at the core of the digital transformation. As businesses enhance customer experiences, they will gain a competitive edge to surpass their competitors in an increasingly competitive marketplace. With the help of digital transformation, companies can keep up with changes in the market and provide customer satisfaction and an increase in profitability.

Customers want the best result from your product and services. They seek the best customer experience from your company - if you can’t offer them something good enough, they likely take their business elsewhere.

Customer experience was marked as the single most exciting opportunity for B2B businesses in 2020. According to Adobe and Econsultancy
Customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator. According to Walker
Businesses that lead the way in customer experience design outperform late-movers by almost 80%. According to Forrester
Increasing customer retention by 2% is the same as cutting costs by 10%. According to SuperOffice
86% of customers today are willing to pay more for a better experience. According to SuperOffice
Some 27% of brands improved their CX this year, which is 13% higher than the previous year. They improved by focusing on core CX competencies. According to Forrester
Digital transformation and a focus on customer experience can generate a 20-30% increase in customer satisfaction and economic gains of 20-50%. According to McKinsey
84% of customers say being treated like a person, not a number, is very important to winning their business. According to Salesforce
70% of customers say understanding how they use products and services is very important to winning their business. According to Salesforce
Customers are 2.1x more likely to view personalized offers as important versus unimportant. According to Salesforce
Customers are 3.7x more likely to view seamless transitions between channels as important versus unimportant. According to Salesforce

New Technologies Statistics and Trends in 2020

The use of digital technologies like AI, cloud computing, big data, automation will help business leaders to make better and faster decisions that result in progression.

At least 90% of new enterprise apps will insert AI technology into their processes and products by 2025. According to IDC
Internet of Things (IoT) had the largest share of the overall digital transformation market in 2019, but AR/VR technology is predicted to have the fastest growth until 2025. According to Research and Markets
88% of all organizations have accelerated their cloud migration, but only 55% are adding security tools to protect it. According to Trend Micro

Top Takeaways From All These Digital Transformation Statistics and Trends

Digital disruption and transformation are fueling change in the modern economy, as these statistics suggest. Digital-first initiatives have become a top priority for the majority of companies, even during the pandemic. Yet, it has also accelerated the need for digital transformation, helping companies stay more resilient and profitable during such difficult times.

The data demonstrates that companies who invest in digital transformation will have a better chance of succeeding, staying profitable, and even leading in their industries. Companies that fail to keep up with digital trends will have a much more difficult time in the years ahead.

Adopting digital technologies and a digital mindset is not just profitable; it is a necessity. As the economy becomes more digital and more dependent on new technology, every organization will need to become digitally mature, or even digital-first. The digital skills gap is widening, so companies must step up to close that gap to ensure that employees remain proficient and productive.

I hope you found this field note fascinating!

If you have comments, questions or just want to have a talk, do not hesitate to contact me.

Gustaf Ledin
WilburFlow

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Published by Gustaf Ledin in Digital Transformation

Tags: digital transformation, Statistics