What are some of the best practices for leading and managing digital transformation projects?

One needs to understand the objectives and goals, the final picture, and the journey to reach there. Some of the project management tools that can be used are Agile, Iterative, etc. to manage a project that is dynamic and evolving. The most important step is to understand the in-scope and out-of-scope requirements and get them signed by all stakeholders.

Digital transformation requires restructuring products and services around existing digital capabilities. DT should not be glorified and applied in all and any circumstances. Most local businesses might only need some digital capabilities without undergoing a digital transformation project to be successful. Two characteristics of a product or service can be used to assess the need for a digital transformation. 1. Where are the customers coming from? 2. How would you like your customers to interact with your business? Companies have to undergo a cultural shift and adapt agile workflows to thrive in the new digital reality. Digital transformation requires a lot of tactical level decision making in a constantly changing market.

Encourage a culture that embraces change, experimentation, and learning from failure. This cultural shift is often one of the biggest challenges but is critical for a successful digital transformation.

While defining scope, expected benefits, risks, cost, and key stakeholder expectations are critical - they are table stakes. What is going to make for a focused execution and ultimate success is to understand and be clear about what matters most - and what tradeoffs you're willing to make. Almost every decision on a digital transformation is a tradeoff between impact and time/cost, or between benefits for one stakeholder group vs. another. Knowing and imparting to the implementation team how you want those choices to be made will avoid a lot of drama and give you with a cohesive team working towards the same outcome.

While I agree that agile methodologies offer significant benefits in flexibility and customer focus, it's important to note the challenges. Agile can lead to scope creep and requires high customer engagement, which might not always be feasible. Teams need a high level of maturity and discipline to thrive in this structure, and the shift can be culturally challenging for traditional organizations. Moreover, the reliance on technology and tools can sometimes overshadow the human aspect of project management. Organizations must carefully navigate these challenges to fully benefit from agile.

Identify and understand your stakeholders You need to know all your stakeholders and get to know them perfectly. What is there education level?, what are their needs and desires? what are there worries?...In order to do that create a stakeholders map and them, use tools such as persona or interviews to know more about them.

Engaging senior leaders in change initiatives is crucial but challenging. Effective engagement requires aligning the vision and strategy with organizational goals and demonstrating clear benefits. Leaders must actively participate, embodying the change to set a powerful example. Balancing short-term pressures with the transformation's long-term vision is key. A communication strategy that resonates with leaders' strategic priorities and sense of purpose is essential for sustained commitment. This approach secures their buy-in and empowers them to champion change, ensuring it's led from the top.

Very important for senior leadership to actively support digital transformations and communicate that frequently to the organization.

Most of the times you will have one or more people that are not "aerodynamic", the will make resistance to change...That is not important. What is important is to identify and neutralized them. They will end up embracing change or leaving the organization.