How to Succeed with Digital Transformation
I recently read that “only 30% of digital transformation projects met or exceeded their target value.” I read that line over again, and thought to myself: How? In a time where digital adoption is so top-of-mind for literally every company, how is it only 30%?
However, like any other large undertaking, there are right and wrong ways to implement. It’s no different when it comes to digital adoption in the world of corporate real estate. When you’re implementing solutions like BenchCore and RefineRE while working toward a holistic data-driven approach, it can be easy to lose sight of the big picture.
If you want to be part of the 30% that succeeds in digital transformation, consider the following:
Do you have a clear strategy?
While strategy seems like a no-brainer, it’s easy to forget in the midst of the action. Wait a second, take a step back, and think about what you’re doing, why you’re doing it, and how you’re doing it.
Do you have buy-in from upper- and mid-level management?
Support from peripheral team members and leadership is key. If you have allies in the process of digital transformation, there are a lot more people with skin in the game.
More people involved means more people invested in the initiative’s success.
Are you able to monitor progress and adjust accordingly?
How will you measure the success of your new initiatives? When adopting tools like BenchCore, we often see success measured by the Cost Driver Tree. Within this BenchCore report, members are able to see the connection between Cost per FTE, Cost per SF, and SF per FTE. As you can imagine, all things that are top-of-mind for a CRE executive.
Monitoring progress is both a matter of regular assessment and access to the right tools. This leads me to my next question…
Do you have the tools?
Benchmarking allows you not only to compare your portfolio to that of your peers, but also to track your own progress over time. Provide your team with the necessary solutions to monitor what’s happening with regards to headcount, occupancy, costs, and footprint. Taking your portfolio’s pulse is a crucial element for ongoing strategy.
It’s also important that we don’t understate the importance of having one centralized platform to work from; one that tracks the things you’re interested in, that visualizes findings in a way that’s easy to understand, and that brings all team members closer to the numbers that matter.
