Digital Organisational Trends for 2017

I know we are only 9 months into the year and I'm already talking about 2017, but for most companies, this is a pivotal point in the year when budgets, roadmaps and strategy talks take place so it's worth knowing what will be hot for 2017!

Some organisational roadmaps will include elements of Digital Transformation but for many, it may be the foundation of their change programmes altogether.

Digital transformation reshapes every aspect of a business and as consumer technology continues to evolve, as does the nature of businesses and they way they operate. I'm a strong believer that a successful digital transformation programme requires collaboration, right across any business with inclusion of every department!

So with the changes we have seen in the last 5 years, what should be expect to see in 2017, from a organisational structure, technical and skills perspective?

ADAPTABILITY- BOTH FOR EMPLOYER AND EMPLOYEES

Change is going to happen whether you pursue it or not! You only need to think of cloud computing and how its transformed businesses in the last few years! Modern businesses succeed when they adapt to industry and marketplace shifts as well as incorporating new technologies into the companies culture, DNA and regular operations. BUT digital transformation isn’t only about technology, it’s about bringing together the power of tech with a culture that embraces change and leads a business!

Digital transformation reshapes every aspect of a business. As digital technology continues to evolve, the successful businesses, appreciate that it requires careful collaboration, planning, and the inclusion of every part of the business.

In the last five years we have evidently seen shifts in how traditional leadership teams operate. Silos are being broken down and the scope and responsibilities of roles within businesses widens and changes. Organisations are becoming more about breadth as opposed to specialisms, especially higher up the organisational charts. This change in abilities has been reinforced by Digital Transformations, morphing trends to being central components of modern business strategy!

USER EXPERIENCE - Yes I've been talking about it forever. Because we won't ever be satisfied and it will be one to watch forever more- customer experience. What I think will be different for 2017, will be the inclusion of employee UX.

Businesses often forget as much as they need to consider external consumers and touch points, they need to think about their employee branding and attraction models, which are just as important as the outward facing digital piece. I think this will be a major growth area with much more innovation in the coming months and years! On the consumer front, we need to consider the fact that our customers are more cautious now than ever before. Consumers will turn away from brands that don’t offer seamless experiences, aligning brand touch points with their values and needs. The omni-channel / multi-channel buzz theme in retail has yet to fully come to fruition and I have yet to see a retailer really get it 100% right, however, I can see many companies have plenty planned for 2017 so watch this space!

ANALYTICS No top-flight user experience function is worth while without a strong, all singing and all dancing Analytics team, it's essential in keeping customers involved and engaged with your brand. Many companies have an obsession with aggregating data, but not not all businesses, align the analytics and UX teams together to make an impact! This is 100% something that is taking shape more and more across businesses, the digitalisation of company structures, which either means teams working together, or the hiring of those with a larger breadth of experience and knowledge.

Remember, anywhere and everywhere customers interact with businesses, and every touch point matters, those leading the transformation should constantly be asking how are we removing friction and enhancing the experience for every customer regardless of where they are in the journey.

SPEED OF INNOVATION MODEL I'm stating the obvious on this one, but... Most businesses are proactive with innovation, enabling them to stay one step ahead. New technology needs to be created, implemented, assessed, tested, analysed and then judged more quicker than ever before! Which means businesses can no longer afford to waste time and resources implementing tools offering no real value. Which means a “Fail fast, to succeed faster,” mentality and picking up the pace massively.

Obviously this is far more risky and those with the larger financial backings that can afford to make mistakes will evidently be those who survive.

Creating an environment where projects will be groundbreaking straight away, or failing with significant learning curves and the faster your business can go from idea to implementation the more it can embrace opportunities to transform and even disrupt markets and internal business models. I have already mentioned adaptability, which stems to working in a more agile way and this plays a major role in ensuring success. If a company has an agile, nimble and adaptive culture where new tech can be easily integrated you are instantly creating an environment for success!

REMOTE WORKING Attracting young talent is a task in itself, but keeping the millennials is another question all together (but one I will write about about again soon). professionals prefer flexibility to compensation. Mobile technology and bandwidth proliferation allow businesses to connect with (and retain) top talent anywhere in the world. I have seen an obscene increase in Contract and Freelance employees globally enabling flexible working and the ability to work from anywhere.

Companies benefit from having the ability to hire the most talented employees available in any location or time zone and as the telecommunications markets continue to support businesses, the digital evolution of remote working will continue to boom! I expect that we’ll see exciting new developments on the remote operations front.

AUGMENTED REALITY (AR) & VIRTUAL REALITY (VR) I have to mention it (mainly because I am a massive fan) but the success of the Pokémon GO AR app was a wake-up call to many businesses that hadn't evaluated the potential of AR and VR. These technologies were once limited to the gaming realm, but they’re now easier to implement than ever before. The mainstream shift toward AR and VR was revolutionary for Burberry instore, and demonstrated how as a retailer you could provide a new way to connect with customers and offer unique, memorable interactions.

The popularity of AR and VR also open up the gates for workplace gamification especially through the use of social platforms such as Snapchat and Twitter. I predict that by next year gamification will go from a footnote to a bolt-on stream of business strategy. I'm convinced it will be the best ability for businesses to engage with employees and work on retention and customer experience.

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND SMART MACHINES Like AR and VR this this is something people have talked about for a while, however, more recently it's taken off in a big way. Our relationships with technology continues to evolve and soon machines will be able to learn and adapt to their environments. AI has long been considered the realm of science fiction, but as technology improves, AI becomes more of a reality. While advanced learning machines begin to replace low-skilled jobs, AIs will be able to work collaboratively with human professionals to solve intensely complex problems and stands to become one of the most disruptive forces for technology space in coming years.

API's (APPLICATION PROGRAM INTERFACES) APIs are a secret weapon for embracing true scalable and manageable digital transformation. eBay and PayPal are two companies that have relied significantly on these technologies in the past, it’s enabled them to manage an incredibly high volume of transactions and data globally whilst remaining ahead of the curve with customer engagement. As businesses, particularly consumer focused ones seek to synchronise their systems and implement the best breed of technologies, APIs will play a big part in making this possible. Instead of being forced into a marriage with a platform, the world of API's will open doors for multiple platforms to tie together in an ecosystem that is fast and flexible, encouraging rapid deployment models and paving the way for faster paced technologies!

Certain companies may resist this change and continue to sellotape larger traditional systems together, but for companies looking to deploy at a fast pace and ahead of the game whilst creating technology with seamless user experience, they will be forced down this route sooner rather than later.

DESTROYING SILOS The role of the Chief Information Officer CIO has changed dramatically in the last ten or so years. With rise to new roles such as Chief Digital Officer and the Chief Customer Officer, and we are seeing a rise in the importance of digital transformation which is changing working practices, structures and careers. With traditional solutions being phased out, the industry is favouring innovation, nimble methodologies that encourage change at pace as well as far more nomadic ways of working- all with a focus of breaking down silos and encouraging more fluid and transparent environments.

I think in the coming years we will see traditional roles and hierarchies phased out, with flatter structures emerge in businesses, lending emphasis on breadth of knowledge, experience and vision at the top and true specialists in middle management.

There is no question that digital transformation is no longer an option, it's a needs must, in order to build a business model that is agile, adaptable and designed to thrive into the future where change is the only constant.