It’s November guys and that can only mean one thing – the Christmas diet has begun!

Covid has derailed most of our plans and traditions this year, but our health-kick to look our best for the festive season is one routine not even a global pandemic can destroy. Our fitness journey here at Dee is for Digital this November is one with a difference, and we’re inviting you all along!

Our four-week Digital Fit bootcamp is all about getting in the best shape of our lives for Digital Transformation.

We’ll start Week 1 with our digital gymnastics class focussing on agility and flexibility, before moving onto digital strength training, our one-of-a-kind mind gym, and the beast mode digital speed session.

WARNING: This fitness programme isn’t for the faint-hearted. But we guarantee results and pledge to have you whipped into digital shape in no time.

So let’s get started with our Digital Gymnastics session.

For the warm-up, let’s dive a little deeper into why we need to be flexible and agile for Digital Transformation. And this isn’t just crash-diet, once-off agility and flexibility. We’re talking root and branch culture change that’s at the heart of any successful Digital Transformation.

Managers, employees and the business itself all need to be agile enough to bend and flex in time with the speed of digital and technological advancement.

And that means they need help and support to learn – on-the-go, on-demand, and in bite-size snippets. (Yes, we’re looking at you, Learning and Development Crew!)

The constant state of change with digital adoption requires businesses to keep up. Employees have to be able to learn about these changes and implement them faster than ever.

And that means Communication and Collaboration are ESSENTIAL for success.

As we heard earlier in this series from Digicel Chief Digicel Officer, Aileen Corrigan, there is no magical end destination with Digital Transformation. It’s a journey so your business, and its people, need to be ready, willing and able to change course as many times as the market demands.

There is no room for tradition and fear here – let go of the past, embrace the excitement of change, and like with any tough gym session, prepare to fail, pick yourself up and get back in the saddle!

Now that we’re warmed up, let’s get stuck into our core workout.

Phrases banned in today’s session are: ‘We’ve always done it this way’, and ‘The old way works just fine’.

And by the end of today’s class, I want you all to understand the importance of reinvention to stay competitive, relevant and profitable. And most importantly, to do it quickly and collaboratively. It’s survival of the fittest, and you need to be prepared for every eventuality. Internal processes, external customer-facing processes and your business itself all need to pass the agility test to make Digital Transformation a success.

In contrast to traditional business structures, agile team members are expected to manage their own tasks and often take on several different roles.

In short, they need to be agile.

But without a culture change throughout every level of the company, you’ll fail at the first hurdle. Like we said before, all the bright and shiny new tools in the world won’t make you digital if you don’t have the mindset to match.

Yes, leadership has a greater role to play as they explain, support, and inspire. But they can’t dictate. Just like your gym instructor. They can show you the way but they can’t make you stick to the diet, for example.

You have to WANT to evolve.

Remember, Digital Transformation is a marathon, not a sprint, so don’t get overwhelmed.

There’s no point crying into your Cornflakes reminiscing over the good old days of Nokia phones and dial-up internet. Nor does everyone need to be Amazon or Google.

Creating a more agile workforce means less red-tape and secrecy, greater transparency and access to information, and better learning opportunities for staff to equip them with the necessary skills.

And forget being told what to do by your boss. Agile, digital teams listen to the vision from management and collaborate on the best way to achieve it.

This is where L&D fits in. You can’t begin to foster an agile culture or agile staff without agile learning.

But there’s no time for long build and approval processes. This is the rapidly-evolving world of digital where we learn as we go.

So here’s what’s important:

• On-the-go learning anytime, anywhere, and on mobile.
• Small, bite-size modules that can be easily committed to and completed. The last thing you want to do is overload and overwhelm.
• Dedicated learning time within work hours. Carve out 30 minutes one day a week for the whole company to devote to learning.
• Incentivise and reward! Make it fun, reward people for effort, and incentivise them to want more.
• Staff involvement! Sounds like sacrilege to some, but get feedback from staff as to what training they feel is most relevant to them. Communicate, collaborate, iterate.

Like we suggested in Week 1, creating digital peer mentors is a great way to start this as teams learn better from each other.

And be sure to include our recipe for Digital Transformation success – Confidence, Creativity, Collaboration – into the first round of your agile training agenda.

Remember, it’s actually easy to do the tech bit. But it’s harder to change people and culture, so that’s why we’re here!

A lot of it boils down to learning and communication. And not just generically blasting out the how, but tailoring the why – just like any good fitness plan.

Agility training should help employees recognise and focus on what’s going on in the market, empower them to make sound decisions based on particular issues without the fear of failure, and enable them to move quickly to innovate and outpace the competition.

Here’s another key area to focus on when approaching Digital Transformation. Just like in the gym where you’re not necessarily fitter and stronger because you’re younger, employees and businesses aren’t inherently more digital because they’re younger!

See you all at next week’s class!

By Alana Fearon

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