Media consumption changed in 2020, with organisations pivoting accordingly. But there’s more to be done...
According to McKinsey, 70% of large scale transformations don’t work. They report that this is down to people and culture, not technology. Being part of the successful 30% depends upon getting the right people in the right place to roll out the change you need.
If crises are the motor of innovation in 2020, we should try to continue that momentum as some sort of normality slowly returns. An obvious tactic is to demonstrate the progress that’s been made. If employees can clearly see improvements, they’ll buy in to what you’re doing.
Leaders need to gauge employees’ reaction to change and keep or discard what’s working or what’s not.
One of Gartner’s top strategic technology trends for 2021 is ‘total experience’:
Media companies employing total experience will be able to capitalise on post-pandemic realities, such as remote work, and virtual or distributed customers.
Funding is increasing for digital initiatives
2020 has increased leaders’ understanding of technology’s strategic importance to the business. This has led to funding for digital initiatives increasing more than any other area during the pandemic. That’s more than increases in costs, the number of people in technology roles, and the number of customers.
Employees have reported appreciation of some changes the pandemic has brought to the work environment. Companies need to hold on to these positive changes during unpredictable times. Leaders need to look ahead and potentially refresh the company’s purpose to take their people along the same journey.
Changes might include agile corporate structures, omni-channel digital experiences or remote working. This demands a change in the way we work. We have passed a technology tipping point and will not go back to the way we worked before.
The pandemic has given sales and marketing teams the greatest leverage in pushing transformation initiatives with the C-suite. This is the time to seize the moment and digitally optimise customer engagement.