Technological innovations such as the internet of Things (IoT), robotics, artificial intelligence, and virtual and augmented reality are rapidly becoming mainstream. Combined with the creativity of people, these digital technologies have unlimited scale and potential to transform organisations. Businesses need to examine how the human and technical revolution are likely to impact their business in the future and act appropriately to ensure a smooth, rapid and successful transformation. Otherwise, they may end up being left behind by more innovative, agile and forward-thinking competitors.
Companies have much to think about before they implement new technologies, such as anticipating potential governance issues and educating teams well in advance of deployment to prepare them for organisational change. Even if they have no immediate plans to implement emerging technologies, they should examine all the options to ascertain their potential benefits and what capacity their business can use them in going forward, if any. Critical also is the future changes to ways of thinking and working needed to adapt, adopt and act on these technologies to achieve higher business performance.
For example, IoT is already being widely used by Australian enterprises to solve complex logistics, manufacturing, services and supply chain problems.
Augmented reality (AR) is also being used by Australian companies, including enabling expert technicians to assist on-the-ground staff remotely through an AR-enabled headset, rather than having to be on-site. This lets them cover multiple sites without needing to travel.
To fully capitalise on the opportunities presented by technology innovations, organisations need to visualise what a successful project would look like so that the right KPIs can be identified and measured and the behavioural changes are considered early. Creating a task force that includes every part of the business can make this process easier and help to gain buy-in throughout the organisation. It’s also important to identify early on if there are any potential roadblocks that need to be addressed before they derail a project.
One of the biggest culprits of major IT project failure is a lack of preparedness to encounter staff resistance to change or to take people on a journey. Organisations therefore need to have a comprehensive change management strategy in place to take the organisation on a journey that engenders innovation, new ways of thinking and acting so that they are ready to deal with potential issues and more importantly grasp opportunity when it arises and keep moving.
Getting organisational buy-in for any innovative and potentially transformative project takes time. Consequently, businesses should explore the potential of these technologies now so that, if they do decide to implement them, they can act with the agility and acceleration that is needed to succeed.
Grant Barker, Practice Manager Advisory & Project Delivery Services, State of Matter
