Digital leadership: the Role of Managers in Organizational Change Initiatives

A while ago during a client engagement, I had the opportunity to explore the topic of digital leadership. Since this was such an insightful journey, I'm happy to share some insights and focus points with you.?

Digital leadership is a broad concept. For our project, we defined it as the desired behavior of managers within the digital workplace, focusing on specific attitudes and actions that drive digital success.

The Manager's Role in Digital Transformation?

To ensure managers effectively sponsor change initiatives, it's crucial to clarify expectations. Whether it’s adopting Microsoft 365, implementing SAP S/4HANA, or embracing (Gen)AI, managers are pivotal in translating organizational digital objectives into actionable team goals. Digitalization is never a goal in and of itself. Managers continuously assess how digitalization can enhance team strategies, emphasizing that digitalization itself is not the ultimate goal but a means to improve work quality. This is where real Digital Leadership can be embodied by managers.

Leading by Example?

Effective digital leadership involves managers demonstrating appropriate digital behaviors. For example, leading by example in the digital workplace is embodied by the ways managers communicate and act during and after office hours. For instance, in Belgium, the legal right to disconnect highlights the importance of work-life balance. Cultural nuances, like email etiquette, also play a role.

Another cultural dimension which relates to this topic is the etiquette used in e-mail communication. I once had a client engagement where the project team explained to me (in detail) that there was an unwritten rule in their e-mail communication. In short, it came down to a hierarchy in the order email address notation. While not openly sharing my astonishment, it made it clear to me that I just absolutely enjoy the field of consultancy. Seeing, experiencing and analyzing different organizations each day is just an exciting path to walk.

I remember when I was first introduced in the field of adoption and change management I had to facilitate basic training on Microsoft Teams. I often think back at the comments made by a couple of my first training participants (from the same team):?

"Margo, we are ready to start communicating in Teams today. We're more than excited to start using the Teams chat in our team. Please tell us how to convince our manager who keeps constantly emailing and refuses to open Teams.

Digital Leadership: Different Roles of Managers in Change Management?

According to Prosci's change management model, there are 5 roles a manager must take on during organizational change initiatives. These 5 roles can be easily remembered by ‘CLARC.’ These roles can be used as a baseline, regardless of the nature of the change:?

• Communicator?

• Liaison?

• Advocate?

• Resistance manager?

• Coach?

These roles ensure managers establish buy-in for the envisioned digital future. A manager (usually) knows the ins and outs of your daily job. Therefore, s/he can best assess in what ways the digital changes coming up will or will not have an impact on one's job.

Key questions to consider for Digital Leadership in your Organization:?

1. What do we expect from managers when a new employee joins??
2. How should a manager respond if a fellow manager complains about digital transformation projects??
3. What does 'active sponsorship' mean for our organization??
4. What’s the narrative we want managers to communicate about ongoing changes? How much flexibility do they have in this communication??
5. How is your organization enabling managers to take on significant roles in the digital workplace?

Digital leadership in the context of Microsoft 365?

Since M365 is the field of Adoption and Change Management I'm most experienced in, I'm happy to name a few concrete examples of how to enable Digital Leadership in this context. First, involving managers with the basic structure and lay-out of how a Team and its channels should look like is non-negotiable. Managers are the ones who should next build awareness among team members to actually start using channel posts as well as Teams chat as a means of communication. Hence, communication can be even more improved by taking into consideration the opportunities for improvement when it comes to team meetings. When looking at the meeting process in the flow of before, during and after the meeting.

Conclusion?

Encouraging digital leadership within your organization requires empowering managers to engage and support digital transformation initiatives. We’ve seen that managers play a pivotal role in engaging and supporting people in digital transformation programs. Whether it's about assessing digital opportunities on a team or departmental level, or the 5 roles of successful sponsorship: provide managers with necessary tools and resources to take this role seriously. By doing this, the journey towards digital leadership within your organization is one step closer.