The definition of digital transformation.

Digital transformation is the process of using digital technologies to

create new — or modify existing — business processes, culture,
and customer experiences to meet changing business and market
requirements. This reimagining of business in the digital age is
digital transformation.

Analytical tools and applications

These tools and applications are designed to analyze and extract
value from the vast amounts of data available to organizations
today. The difference between this “big” data and traditional forms
of data is related to the three Vs: volume, or the sheer amount of
data; variety, or the many different types of structured and
unstructured data; and velocity, or the speed at which new data is
being created. Oil and gas companies, for example, use
sophisticated geological and historical data to better understand
where to drill multimillion-dollar holes to extract more oil from
existing reserves.

Mobile tools and applications

More people connect to the internet today through mobile devices
such as smartphones and tablets than via fixed devices like PCs.
As a consequence, many companies are pursuing a mobile-first
strategy, whereby application development is targeted first at
mobile devices and then later modified for computers and other
fixed devices. For example, Streetline provides apps to monitor
parking space availability in large cities to save delivery drivers and
consumers fuel and time in locating parking spaces near their
intended destinations.
Platforms to build shareable digital
capabilities
Many traditional systems and processes are proprietary, meaning
that the underlying data and insights cannot easily be shared.
Digital platforms are non-proprietary systems that can facilitate the
sharing of data, applications and insights across different parts of
an organization. Digital libraries of content and applications are
being developed to allow for the sharing and reuse of valuable
business resources. For example, programmer improvements to the
Linux operating system code and applications are freely available in
digital libraries on the internet.

Social media
Social media applications like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter allow
for a two-way flow of information and communication between an
organization and its key internal and external stakeholders. They
can also be used as learning tools to monitor industry trends;
customer sentiment and competitor moves.

Digital business transformation is about

smarter performance

Combining digital technologies with the organizational and people

changes required to build a digital information-oriented culture
allows organizations to significantly improve business performance.
Here, we believe that there are six specific areas of performance
improvement:
Capturing and using real-time data about customer experiences for
smarter sales interactions

Monitoring and tracking information about product, service and

solutions support for continuous improvement

Sharing knowledge and information more effectively to act across

functions and organization boundaries

Applying deeper and more targeted analytics that enable better

decision-making

Deploying more efficient and agile processes and systems to react

to rapid business change

Adopting more innovative and resilient business models to create

disruptive change and innovation in a particular industry.

While most executives would like to measure digital business

transformation in terms of increased revenue and decreasing costs,
we believe these are lagging indicators in most companies. In our
experience, improvements in these indicators will follow from
developing leading indicators for the six areas of performance
improvement noted above.
Adapting to change in a changing business
environment
Supervisors’ job responsibilities are changing. As both individuals
and members of an organization’s managerial team, supervisors
need to prepare themselves to adapt successfully to a rapidly
changing business environment. This article presents a number of
tips supervisors can use to deal with change, to the betterment of
their organization and their own careers. As a supervisor, the
primary measures you can take to adapt to change include:
 Becoming aware of your situation
 Understanding change
 Building your skills and knowledge

BECOME AWARE OF YOUR CURRENT

SITUATION
What is going on now in your job? If you don’t know, you must take
steps to find out! Relevant questions to ask include:
 What is the mission of your unit?
 What is the purpose of your job?
 What are your key responsibilities and assignments?
 What does your supervisor expect of you?
 What obstacles stand in your way?
 What resources do you have at your disposal?
 How well are you performing?
 How do peers and managers view the importance and performance of your
unit?
 What changes are coming?

If you are unable to answer questions like these, you should begin
immediately to “do your homework,” for you are in a prime position
to be overwhelmed by unexpected forces of change.

People often miss important information when they employ

selective perception, habit, and specialization to keep themselves
from being exposed to ideas they might not want to hear. While this
is human nature, it is not a good strategy for handling change.
Instead, supervisors should face their fears and broaden their
sources of information to explore new ideas. By increasing their
awareness of change through a willingness to take in new
information, they will have a distinct advantage over those who tend
to isolate themselves.

While you are gathering information, try to spot the trends which
may be signaling change on the horizon. Look for seemingly
isolated facts that may “fit together” like the pieces of a puzzle.
When you think you have spotted a trend, you should investigate it
in further detail. Don’t just react to change; anticipate and prepare
for it.

UNDERSTANDING CHANGE
Compare your reaction and a small child’s reaction to thunder. You
ignore it, but a child may be anxious and seeks assurances from
the nearest adult. It’s only human to fear the unknown—confidence
comes with understanding. From long experience, you know that
thunder is a natural phenomenon that cannot harm you. The child
does not yet understand it. That is why an important step toward
coping with change is understanding it: what is happening, why,
and how.

Is your department being reorganized? Are you worried about the

impact on you? That’s natural. But don’t fall victim to rumors,
speculation, or the inclination to assume the worst. Wait for your
boss to explain why the reorganization is being done, how the new
department will work, and what specific changes will result. It is
likely that the changes represent an improvement of some sort. If
your manager does not explain the change to you, ask about it.

Flexibility and a willingness to embrace change will make you a

more valuable member of your organization—one who can reliably
deal with many different opportunities and circumstances. You may
not like all the changes that are occurring, but you can be sure that
if you resist them, you will not prosper. It is fine to voice your
opinion and make suggestions, but it is also important to appreciate
that competition and technology are constantly combining to force
top management to reevaluate company operations. It is helpful to
look on changed circumstances and the challenges they present
with the attitude of a new employee and, as a new employee would,
take on these challenges enthusiastically and with a desire to learn
all you can to perform well.

When you recognize the possibilities created by change, you’re

more prepared to exploit them. You will find change as not
something to fear, but as something to welcome and turn to your
own advantage.

BUILD YOUR SKILLS AND KEEP LEARNING

Adapting to change frequently requires the effective use of all your
acquired skills. In some cases, adapting to change will call for the
use of other skills as well—skills which you might not yet have
mastered, or even begun to acquire! In a fast-changing work
environment, skills also become obsolete. To be prepared to deal
with change successfully, it is important to build as many skills as
you can before their use becomes essential for organizational
survival. You don’t want to be caught short in a crunch.

You can never stop learning if you want to maintain your value in
the job marketplace. Nor can you wait for your employer to send
you to seminars or pay for additional education. You need to take
responsibility to educate yourself. Doing so will help you keep your
skills current, and it will demonstrate an initiative for self-
improvement that makes you a more visible and viable candidate
for a promotion or new assignment.

You may also want to consider making lateral moves to learn new
skills and become a well-rounded employee. Read trade magazines
and attend conferences, when possible. Take refresher training in
your area of competence. Enroll in a college course that interests
you, even one not given for credit. See if your professional
association offers training sessions and workshops. Look into
correspondence or distance education. If circumstances allow,
pursue an advanced degree. If college is not an option, broaden
your reading and personal study. Join others with similar interests
to form a discussion group or study team. Read a technical manual
or recent review of research in an area of interest to you.

This is the one of the most important tips for adapting to change,
because it places you ahead of the curve: anticipating change and
implementing it before many people think to adapt. It is important to
keep your learning skills fresh; learning how to learn is also too
valuable a lesson to allow it to atrophy over time. The bottom line is,
the more you know how to do and the more current your skills and
your ability to apply them effectively, the more valuable you are to
an organization.

OTHER TIPS
Aside from these major efforts, you can also take smaller measures
to ensure that you are compatible with change and adapt easily to
it:
 Embrace Technology. Embrace technological change and learn how to use
it for your own benefit. Don’t run from new technologies; try them! Some
people are afraid to try new technology for fear of looking foolish or old
fashioned in front of others—particularly younger people who are more
technologically adept. If you are uncomfortable with new technology, try it out
in the privacy of your own home, or in the presence of trustworthy friends and
teachers.
 Increase Your Speed. Greater opportunities come to organizations that can
respond quickly. Customers value speed in providing services and delivering
orders and are sometimes willing to pay extra for a quick response. Employees
who are fast and flexible generally reduce costs by minimizing their expended
time on a project. As a supervisor, you need to continuously review how you
can reduce the time spent on work, either in increments or in quantum leaps.
Always look for breakthroughs, especially in information technology, that will
allow you to get more done faster and with fewer people.
 Learn to Live with Ambiguity and Uncertainty. Most people do not like
ambiguity or uncertainty, which are major sources of anxiety, but they are also
facts of life in this fast-changing world. Often you will have to make decisions
without having all the facts you need or knowing with any certainty what will
happen. But, if you are willing to accept ambiguity and uncertainty and not let
them prevent you from trying new things, you ultimately enhance your value
to the organization. Learning to improvise and adapt to different and
unexpected situations will give you important skills that will help you progress
in your career.
 Act like an Entrepreneur. Entrepreneurs are always concerned with doing
their best and getting the most out of their employees. Why? Entrepreneurs
behave this way because it’s their company, their responsibility to keep
customers satisfied, their reputation, and their money. These factors provide
 them with powerful incentives to perform at a high level. An entrepreneurial
attitude can also serve supervisors and employees well. Having an
entrepreneurial attitude can provide you with the extra push to cut costs,
improve productivity, and go out of your way to keep customers satisfied. As
change continues and organizations begin to use more outside contractors,
you may become one yourself. An entrepreneurial attitude will help prepare
you for that possibility.
 Adding Value to the Organization. The organization should always be
able to make a profit on your work. If you add value, you bring in a return on
your work that is higher than your cost to the organization. If that is not the
case, your job is in peril. This is especially true today, when organizations are
eagerly looking for ways to cut costs. Always ask yourself whether your
activities add value or add costs for the organization. When someone asks
what you are contributing, be able to provide specific examples of what you do
and the difference you are making.
 Know Your Niche. As a service provider, your job is to provide services to
customers, whether internal or external. You need to understand your
customers’ needs and then go out of your way to fulfill them. It is therefore
important to keep in close contact with the customers you serve. As their
needs change, make sure you are aware of those changes and continuously
improve your provision of services—in terms of reliability, quality, and cost. If
there is any key to job security, it lies in taking care of those who depend on
you.
 Be a Fixer, Not a Blamer. In any organization, there will always be
problems that arise from changing circumstances. In noting these problems,
some people get the reputation of being complainers rather than problem
solvers. Those who complain and blame are not helping themselves or the
organization. There are two difficulties with playing the blame game.
 Most problems are due to common causes, meaning no one person or
event can be identified as the cause.
 Don’t treat these problems as though there were an
identifiable cause, which gets in the way of solving them.

To become a fixer, you should identify the source of the problem

and suggest direct actions to deal with it. The person who blames
doesn’t solve problems; the person who fixes does, and becomes a
valued member of an organization as a result.

CONCLUSION
Organizational change is not optional to keep pace with business.
All organizations, at one time or another, face substantive
modifications to some aspect of their business. Supervisors can
prepare themselves to adapt successfully to a more rapidly
changing business environment by following a variety of tips, as
outlined above.
This article is excerpted from BOMI International’s Administration. The guide can be
purchased by calling 1—800—235—2664, or by visiting www.bomi.org.

How to improve adaptability skills

Being adaptable and open to change may not always be easy, however, you might consider
the following steps to help you develop and improve your adaptability skills:
1. Be aware of changes in your environment
2. Develop a growth mindset
3. Set goals for yourself
4. Ask for feedback
5. Learn to acknowledge and accept change
1. Be aware of changes in your environment
One key method that can help you develop your adaptability skills is to stay cognizant of
changes in your work environment. For instance, you might observe the finance team's new
budget to stay updated on current allowances if your team's responsibilities involve the use
of company funds. You might also remain aware of policies, procedures and other
operational processes to stay abreast of changes to various company practices.

2. Develop a growth mindset

Being adaptable also means being willing to learn and try new things. Developing a growth
mindset can positively influence your ability to take on new challenges, find new
opportunities to develop your knowledge and contribute to new projects. Your willingness
and motivation to keep improving upon your skills can also show your employer your
commitment to your professional growth.
3. Set goals for yourself
Another method that can help you develop your adaptability skills might be to set goals for
yourself. For instance, if you feel you might be weaker in your nonverbal communication or
you tend to procrastinate when expected to complete challenging tasks, you might set a
goal to work on each aspect of your skills so you can improve your overall ability to adapt to
changes in the workplace.
4. Ask for feedback
As you develop throughout your career, you might think about requesting feedback or
constructive criticism from your managers to help you improve on your weaker skills.
Positive and constructive feedback can be beneficial for setting goals and achieving success
in your career.
5. Learn to acknowledge and accept change
It can also be highly beneficial to let yourself accept change as it occurs. Learning to
acknowledge changes in your career can help you prepare yourself and adapt to differing
circumstances. Additionally, learning how to be willing to accept change can be an effective
step toward recognizing when you need to make adjustments to make transitions smoother
for yourself.
Related: How to Develop Your Skill Set to Advance Your Career

Adaptability skills in the workplace

Here are some additional tips to help you apply your adaptability skills in the workplace:

 If there are changes to processes, procedures or operational practices, you can ask
for clarification from teammates and managers to help you better plan for
transitions.
 You might request opportunities to work on tasks that may be new to you or offer to
take on responsibilities that require creative approaches.
 If sharing your ideas with your colleagues is something that makes you anxious, you
could set a goal to contribute to team meetings and collaborations.
 Try getting all aspects of your work organized, such as documents, required
paperwork, projects and other work information, so you're prepared in case there
are transitions within your job.