Digital factory, accelerating digital transformation
Rapidly acquiring the operating principles that have made digital pure players successful and successfully undergoing digital transformation are both organisational and cultural challenges.
Why is digital transformation so difficult?
The vast majority of digital transformation plans end in failure. This is because executing the strategy is complex, and requires the right methods and culture. Even when managers are aware that their traditional activities or business model are at risk if their companies don’t modernise quickly, they struggle to execute their digital strategy and make the in-depth changes required to achieve it. This is often due to a lack of radical change, but above all it is due to the absence of an overall method. To help them achieve this transformation, the Digital Factory appears to be an effective lever.
What is a Digital Factory?
A Digital Factory is a multi-disciplinary team that reconstructs the entire value chain involved in producing a website or application, while working in partnership with the company’s business functions. It must function as a porous microcosm at the heart of the company. Key here is to get skills that don’t usually collaborate, but whose synergy is necessary, to work together: marketing and IT, sales and legal, and so on.
This tightly-knit team will progress, no longer in project mode, but in product mode. It’s no longer just a question of placing the project in a time frame with a beginning or an end, but of placing digital assets (a website or an application) in a continuous and permanent cycle of design, development, testing, deployment and learning.
The only way to continue to exist and perform is to be able to keep pace with the changes we want to see, and those driven by the market. Moreover, this is all the more true in a complex and uncertain economic climate.
What are the cultural and organisational values of a Digital Factory?
Digital transformation is based on a new operating paradigm: “HARI”. Horizontality, Agility, Retroactivity and Iterativity.
A horizontal organisation
In the Digital Factory, authority and responsibility are evenly distributed among the members of the organisation as a way of gaining speed; there are few if any hierarchical levels and decisions are taken in a collaborative and participative way. Above all, Digital Factory members are empowered to make their own decisions, avoiding the need for reporting or escalation within the organisation. Communication is open and fluid, encouraging collaboration between members. Important decisions are often taken collectively, involving a wide range of the organisation’s members. This can be done through meetings, workgroups or other participative mechanisms derived from Agile methods.
Agility at the heart of the Digital Factory
Agile project management methods are at the heart of Digital Factory operations. They are based on iterative and collaborative approaches, and emphasise flexibility, the adaptability of digital products and user satisfaction. Depending on the size and nature of the project, there are various possible variants to choose from: SCRUM, safe, Extreme Programming, or lean, etc. Agile methods recognise that needs and priorities can change over time, and therefore encourage continuous adaptation. Adopting agile methods can bring benefits such as more frequent delivery of functional products, greater customer involvement and greater flexibility in responding to change.
A feedback culture for continuous improvement
We practice what we call a “feedback culture“, which emphasises constructive and regular communication between team members. It encourages feedback, whether concerning individual performance, current projects or the overall functioning of the organisation. Exchanges are honest, transparent, frequent (several times a day) and based on objectivity (observable facts vs. personal judgments). Feedback is given with the aim of helping team members improve, learn and grow professionally. Feedback between team members is encouraged on a 360° basis. It relies on more or less formal feedback systems and tools to facilitate the collection and distribution of feedback (appraisal interviews, anonymous surveys, specific communication channels, etc.). Feedback is taken into account and used to bring about concrete changes in the organisation. This feedback culture contributes to improving overall organisational performance, strengthening employee commitment and fostering a healthy, productive work environment.
An iterative approach to achieving the best possible product
In line with Agile methods, the Digital Factory is an iterative organisation that divides all projects into tasks (EPIC or User Stories) and a series of repetitive cycles (called Sprint). Each iteration represents a development phase in which sections of the project are planned, executed, evaluated and adjusted before moving on to the next. This process is repeated until the project reaches completion. Instead of planning the whole project in detail from the outset, a more general plan is drawn up at the beginning, then refined as the iterations progress. At the end of each iteration, parts of the project are functional and ready to go into production. These elements are then improved in subsequent iterations. The main aim is to be able to adapt to changes and evolutions that occur during the course of the project. This may be due to changing needs, feedback or discoveries as the project advances. Evaluation and feedback are essential components of every iteration. They guide adjustments and improvements for subsequent stages. Iterations enable risks to be identified and managed proactively. They offer opportunities for correcting errors or problems before they become more complex and costly to resolve. Each iteration aims to improve the quality of the current product or project. This means that each new version should be better than the previous one. Customers or stakeholders are often involved throughout the process, meaning they can provide feedback and influence the direction of the project.
The Digital Factory, a digital transformation graft-on
The Digital Factory is used to organise the gradual spread of this digital culture as a means of acquiring autonomy.
A Digital Factory initially operates in parallel with the company, enabling the latter to transform itself while still safeguarding its business. This distinction is fundamental – because you cannot radically change an organisation simply by decree. The Digital Factory must therefore have its own governance, as well as genuine autonomy and appropriate funding. This will allow it to benefit from a short decision-making loop that is conducive to short iterations, and also allow it to move forward at its own pace.
Gradually, the company’s employees involved in the Digital Factory, including the business teams, will gain in skills and spread these methods and this culture throughout the organisation. The digital partner, who until this point has been steering the tandem, will start by handing the handlebars over to the employees, before gradually withdrawing to let them pursue their transformative journey, from this point on a process of continuous change, but also part of the natural and intrinsic evolution of the organisation.
In conclusion
A Digital Factory is the organisation needed to better adapt and better deliver that also makes it possible to get the best out of each and every employee. To achieve this, we need to adopt and apply the best practices of digital champions.
