If you’ve watched Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares you’ll know that the standard approach is:
- Clean the kitchen and the fridge
- Introduce a new, simplified menu
- Cook good food from scratch
- Talk to each other about the things that matter
- Refit the dining room
Let’s put that into the context of an organisation that’s struggling to survive in a digital world…
Is there a standard approach we could use?
First off, where are the typical pain points?
- Messy data, files and processes
- Trying to do too much
- Using tools without knowing how to get the best out of them
- Poor communication
- Disconnect between what’s on offer and what the customer wants
See the parallels yet?
Digital nightmare troubleshooting
- Identify the hidden problems with data, files and processes, show them to those who should take responsibility, and take time to do a deep clean.
- Go back to first principles - looking at your vision, your customers and your offer. Simplify as much as possible.
- Coach people to use their tools more effectively, or remove the tools that aren’t adding value
- Instigate practices (not just tools) that aid communication, such as regular 1-1’s, team stand ups, lessons learned workshops and visual task management
- Listen to customers, employees and volunteers - and make changes accordingly
Turning a complex organisation around is probably going to take more than a week (unlike the restaurants in Gordon Ramsey’s programme). But, given the will from senior leaders, digital transformation is possible, and can be done in a short time, as demonstrated by many organisations this year.
Posted: 26 December 2020
Tags: Coaching Solutions architecture