Transforming a business is often a necessary thing – especially when it means new technology, new processes, and even a new structure. While many organisations, from financial and law firms to retailers and NPOs are interested in getting the benefits out of a digital lean approach, it’s easy to get bogged down without the right mindset. Here’s how to approach digital lean in your business with the right mindset to support a culture change as well as a technological one.
Think value, not technology
I bet that’s a surprising thing to hear from a tech company! It’s actually one of the reasons we call ourselves a people-first tech company because our culture focuses on the value we create for our customers and staff. So don’t dive right into the technology side of things. Instead, focus on how initiatives can be implemented to best capture value. This gives you a clear idea of what KPIs you should set and track to solve the biggest problems wastage is causing in your company.
Start on the right foot
No more waste means cost-efficiency and happy customers, but where exactly do you start? Not only does this mean creating a lean leadership approach to support staff buy-in, and understanding, and how it will reward them, it also means identifying where your biggest wase-related challenges lie. Is your production line producing defects? Are your customers waiting a long time for delivery? Is there stock taking up space for too long in your warehouse? Are your staff spending a lot of their time on routine or repetitive tasks? A thorough audit of processes will help identify your most important areas for lean digitisation, and you can spread out from there.
Get buy-in
From the board and external stakeholders to the C-suite and staff, everyone must be on board with a lean digital approach. This is because it ultimately aims to transform every aspect of how your business operates. Open communication on what lean digitisation would achieve in your business, backed up by case studies. Talk to your staff about how it makes day-to-day work easier and more rewarding (no more time-intensive routine tasks everyone!), and how they will become an engaged part of the continuous improvement process.
Don’t focus on the very short-term
Yes, using a digital lean technology like digital twins will empower your teams to analyse workflow or process performance and optimise it for real-world implementation. No, they will not be able to do it overnight. This is a process of continuous improvement, a step-by-step process that allows changes to be made in a considered way, that involves learning and experimentation, and through that drives long-term change. Set expectations from the start about how the way things work will change, how employee roles will evolve, how decisions will be made, and how the implementation will work.
Digital lean takes lean methodologies to the next level, allowing data processing, automation, and integrated virtual technologies put these principles into action in a way that is simple, focused, and ROI-driven.
At Otto, we work with NPOS, businesses of all sizes, and organisations in all sectors to create rewarding digital change. From IT strategy consulting to customised IT systems and infrastructure maintenance, we help you drive the benefits of lean digital in a way your employees, customers, and stakeholders will love!
Jordan is the Chief Commercial Officer at Otto. Jordan is here to help clients remove roadblocks and achieve the business goals they’ve set out. Jordan’s biggest focus is Customer Experience, Business Relationship Management, Risk Management and Strategy.
