How to Digitalize Anything

Walking to the store. Buying an ice cream cone. Driving to work. What do all of these seemingly disparate things have in common? They all involve some sort of process, or a series of steps that can be replicated to reach a certain goal. 

I believe that everything in life can be considered a process, and what’s more, I also believe that there’s also a way to digitalize any process out there. 

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the digitalization of processes at work was a “nice to have,” but now, it’s become a necessity for most industries. But change does not always come easily, especially when it involves altering processes that have been in place for decades. 

There are ways to make the transition smoother and more effective, however. 

Here’s my philosophy on how to digitalize anything, broken down into four key points:

Understand that people are resistant to change.

If you were to change a process for a machine, it wouldn’t care. But humans are not machines, and we are sensitive to our histories. We have biases towards the way we’ve done things and build up a lot of resistance when it comes to changing. 

What makes us so resistant? Maybe it’s because in the past we had a bad experience with a change in process, that resulted in more work for less benefit. Or maybe we just don’t want to learn something new. Whatever the reason, companies need to understand that when it comes to replacing manual processes with digital ones, it needs to be done in a way that accounts for human tendencies in order for the digitalization to be successful.

Embrace substitution instead of changing behaviors.

The message here is to keep things simple. Rather than try to change behaviors that have been in place for a long time, make every attempt to substitute them with their digital counterparts instead. 

For example, let’s say we wanted to digitalize the process of inspecting a car. Currently, the inspector prints out a blank inspection report and physically fills it out to do the inspection. After it’s finished, he brings it to the office to be processed by the administration team.

How can we quickly digitalize this process? By simply swapping out the physical piece of paper for an iPad. The inspector doesn’t really need to change anything he’s doing. He completes the inspection the exact same way, only now, he doesn’t have to do the added step of going back to the office and handing over the paper to be processed. That entire last step is substituted with a simple click of the “Submit” button. 

Make sure the digital solution is an incentive in itself to employees.  

Businesses know how to talk to the consumer but often treat employees much differently. Digitalizing a process at work is simply made a requirement: This is how we’re doing things now.

Instead, industry should look to the consumer market for inspiration and make sure the benefits for the digital change are so great, that employees will be excited to adopt them. 

Let’s look at ordering groceries online, for instance. Who knew so many of us would jump on this trend so fast? It’s become the new normal. But when you see the value proposition of the time saved (for me it’s a difference of 60 minutes a week!), it becomes a no brainer. The incentive needs to be communicated to employees above all else in order for digitalization to be successful. 

Digitalize the entire process, not just part of it. 

If you really want to get the full benefits of digitizing a process, you have to go all the way. You need to look at the entire process and not just a piece of it. I talk about this in detail on the Digital Oil and Gas Podcast with Geoffrey Cann. Otherwise, you won’t make enough money or save enough time to make it worthwhile.

Let’s use the grocery store app example again. Do you think as many consumers would have adopted ordering groceries online if they still had to pick up their order at the store? Definitely not. It’s just not as convenient. 

At the workplace, if only one part of a process is digitalized, there won’t be that much time or money saved compared to the rest of the non-digitized process and it’s more likely to fail. People won’t see the value in it. If you want to really make it work, you have to do the whole thing. 

How has your company gone digital due to the COVID-19 pandemic? And is it working? Tell me in the comments below or tweet @theomarproject on Twitter.