How can you demonstrate the value of digital innovation to stakeholders?

I remember having this same challenge a while back. The word innovation does not fit well on both sides of the spectrum (Management and On The Field). 1. We establish clear and measurable objectives 2. Review all concerns and priorities 3. Potential benefits: ROI, Cost Savings, Customer Satisfaction. 4. We gathered feedback and testimonials from previous customers. One of the key factors was one-on-one or face-to-face meetings. This was essential to face all the challenges and provided effective communication.

Show stakeholders concrete outcomes – cost savings, enhanced customer experiences, and market growth. By translating tech initiatives into tangible results, build trust and secure buy-in, aligning everyone's interests with innovation's clear benefits.

The crucial point is the alignment between NOW and NEW. It's hard to demonstrate value and benefits if Operations and Innovation are working in silos. Alignment starts with jointly defining 'meaningful search fields' and 'meaningful ideas' from many ideas that are generated there. Validation (in a corporate context!) provides many insights that might also be relevant for Core's 'edge of the box' units such as Strategic Marketing, Business Development or Strategy. One of the most powerful tools is the right choice of the North Star metric(s). There should be at least one metric which pays directly into Core's goals. For example, 'increasing the number of Points-Of-Sales' or 'Multiply upsell/cross-sell opportunities.'

One of my favourite practices is for our teams to create mock-ups of websites, apps and other digital products. Disclaimer: You have to be transparent about the fact that what you're showing is not a finished product. You don't want to mislead your audience. That said, you *do* want to give them the most tangible experience possible of what your product could be in the near future. While minimising the time and effort invest you in creating this experience. This is why it's important to create quick and cheap mock-ups, that you can iterate on, in response to user feedback.

Digital innovation can produce extraordinary benefits for your organization. However, if you do not have "buy-in" from your employees or volunteers, it will be difficult to realize these beneficial impacts because human beings are resistant to change. When introducing digital and technological innovation to your company, it is imperative that you introduce these changes and demonstrate how their adoption and implementation will make life easier for the employee. This is accomplished by taking existing tasks, incorporating the innovative change, and producing a tangible benefit. Once this benefit is realized, it is vital that these successes are shared with the rest of the organization to encourage further adoption.

In a nutshell, Demonstrating the value in digital innovation to stakeholders is a key skill for any leader who wants to drive digital transformation and create a competitive advantage for their organization. Digital innovation can help deliver various benefits, such as enhanced customer experience, increased efficiency and productivity, new revenue streams, data-driven insights, agility and adaptability, and sustainability for all stakeholders.