Digitalisation – Seamless integration of technology and doing
Digitalisation, or more precisely, work process digitalisation, has become a buzzword that is often met with skepticism after years of hype around similar concepts like big data and disruptive innovation. While countless articles and books discuss its importance and potential, its true meaning can get lost in the noise. What is digitalisation, really?
“Digitalization is the use of digital technologies to change a business model and provide new revenue and value-producing opportunities; it is the process of moving to a digital business.”
Gartner IT Glossary
The concepts of digisation, digitalisation and digital transformation are distinct yet complementary. Digitalisation, for example, is impossible without any digitisation.
| Concept | What it is | Primary focus |
|---|---|---|
| Digitisation | Converting analog to digital | Data or signals; scanned documents and digital records |
| Digitalisation | Using digital technology to change how work is done | Work processes and workflow |
| Digital transformation | Enterprise-wide reinvention enabled by digital | Operating model; new products, new revenue models |
Why digitalisation is hard
Technology operates on precision and complex binary logic, while human work is inherently multi-faceted and often imprecise, at least in its explicit description. Work processes are a mix of both. Simple, steap-by-step tasks are easily automated. However, true digitalisation must account for the nuances of human work, which is filled with tacit knowledge, complex decisions based on competing values, internal politics and constant exceptions.
When the richness of human interaction is ignored, implementing new technology in work can merely exasperate current work inefficiencies and can create previously unseen problems.
“Automation applied to an inefficient operation will magnify the inefficiency.”
Bill Gates, Co-founder, Microsoft
For digitalisation to deliver value, it must be a seamless integration of technology and action—the quiet removal of friction where work actually happens. This requires a deep understanding on how work is done and an innovative for how it could be improved, augmenting human processes without disrupting what already works.
Pillars of successful digitalisation
1. A clear, human-centric vision
An unclear overall vision is a sure-fire way to derail a digitalisation project. Worse yet is if the vision is purely technical. “Let’s implement this digital tool” without understanding the human aspect is a sure to create a plethora of problems that pop up after implementation.
With a narrow focus and a simple tool, such as a booking system, the problems might not be that wide-spread. Perhaps a required field is missing, creating extra work; perhaps the time slots are too wide or too specific, under-utilizing the worker’s time; perhaps the UI uses some terms that do not precisely fit this industry, creating confusion in customers. Changing perspective from technical tools to human interactions (even when mediated by tech) helps prevent these problems. The larger the organisational change, the more critical a human-centric vision becomes.
2. Well-defined and transparent operational processes
Digitalisation is about managing controlled change. Altering something as simple as a booking system has cascading effects; it changes how a company engages with its customers, which in turn changes how the customers interact with the company’s other departments, such as the helpdesk; perhaps even necessitating changes to PR and advertising.
The inseparability postulate, articulated by Markku Nurminen, has remained relevant and true for decades in information systems development:
It is impossible to change one aspect of an information system and its function is without changing the whole organisation and its function (and vice-versa).
Nurminen, M. I., & Forsman, U. (1994). Reversed quality life cycle model. Human factors in organizational design and management-IV, 393-398.
While it is impossible to foresee every consequence of a digitalisation project, success is more likely when you map the current work processes with a rich understanding of how work is done by humans, and attempt to map a similarly well-defined picture of the target. Communicating with all stakeholders is key to understanding how the proposed changes will affect different aspects of their work.
3. Engaged working culture
When navigating large organisational changes, which digitalisation projects are by their very nature, committed people are a necessity. People need to embrace change willingly to learn a new way of working, figure out the new best way of doing things, and consolidate the new information system into a resilient workforce.
To unify people behind a shared purpose, one needs to empower collaborative teams with values that they share as individuals and as teams, and nurture habits that value openness and growth. A clear vision helps, as does a well-defined plan that shows understanding of how people do their work and how change would benefit them; but it is not enough. Fostering a committed working culture takes continuous effort in holding a view that focuses on the human element of information systems, instead of quarterly profit margins or never-ending efficiency optimizations.
The human core of digital success
Ultimately, successful digitalisation is not about implementing the latest, flashiest technology. It is about the thoughtful and seamless integration of tools into the complex reality of human work. By prioritizing human-centric vision, holistic mapping of work processes and true communication, digitalisation can evolve from a buzzword into real, sustainable value.
