Flipping the digital switch: lessons from the COVID-19 lockdown

Sandra Sieber, professor of Information Systems at IESE, highlights key takeaways from the IESE experience, similar to what many other organizations went through when COVID-19 forced everyone to shift their businesses online and work remotely in record time.

As COVID-19 forced the world into lockdown, many companies found themselves going completely digital overnight. What are the keys when undergoing radical digital transformation? Sandra Sieber, professor of Information Systems at IESE, highlights three takeaways from the IESE experience:

1. Empower a pilot group

Empower a small group who are directly connected to the senior management team or board to give them organizational cover but they don't interfere in the day-to-day details. Keep the rules loose, allowing people to play within the sandbox. Participants should spread out, then come back together, in quick succession. Take the lean startup approach of fail fast, learn, move on. Know when it's time to stop, disband and hand over: the people good for the pilot may not be the right people for the next iteration. Let everyone find their new role as the new normal takes shape.

2. Take an outside-in perspective

When deciding which technology or platform to choose, acknowledge that not everything can be done by your own internal teams. There are times when you may have to go outside your own IT department. Start with trusted providers with whom you already enjoy good relationships. Longer term, you will have to weigh whether it's worth relying on an external provider for a key piece of tech. But in the short term, the transformative impact of outside expertise may be required.

3. Prepare early for relevance later

Establish good protocols from the very beginning. This will help when rolling out, scaling and involving other relevant communities in the change.

Watch: "Digital Reinvention in Disruptive Times" with Sandra Sieber.

For more tips like these, go to www.iese.edu/open where you will find a host of open-access resources, including links to online sessions, to help the business community and others work together to overcome this unprecedented crisis. #NowMoreThanEver