Digital Adoption Mission: How Good Adoption Helps Your Organization’s Purpose

For many organizations, digital is still considered the remit of the IT department.

Of course, that makes sense. The experts in technology are more likely to be interested in its development, implementation, and integration into the workplace.

But the fact of the matter is that digital is now everybody’s business.

Everybody within the organization must adopt it, not just the IT team. And the C-Suite should care about how digital innovations can improve their organization’s ability to fulfil its purpose and mission.

This is the digital adoption mission. Ultimately, technology is an enabler. It’s a means to an end — and that “end” is why the business was founded, why it exists.

For every business, political organization, or nonprofit, the question should always be: how can technology and digital adoption help us to achieve our mission?

How digital adoption impacts your organizational mission

Two-thirds of nonprofit leaders are spearheading the adoption of digital tools within their organizations, believing that it has strategic importance in achieving their mission and objectives. (Accenture Digital Adoption Survey, 2016)

Mobile, for example, allows “mission-based organizations to significantly scale and increase their impact in a cost-effective way”. (Accenture Digital Adoption Report)

88% of non-profit workers identified digital accelerators as a success factor in achieving their organizational purpose.

For example, Girl Power (GPower) uses data to inform its intervention design. The organization’s mission is to connect vulnerable adolescent girls with government services in education, protection, health and nutrition.

The solution leverages mobile, analytics and cloud technologies to track changes in circumstances, provide real-time insights, alert CINI and trigger interventions.

Through the power of analytics, GPower has so far been able to save more than 200 girls from trafficking and child marriage in a single year.

Nuru International is a social venture on a mission to end extreme poverty in rural Kenya and Ethiopia. They’re working to develop a more digitally mature culture by becoming more efficient in day-to-day operations.

Nuru International uses a Google Chrome Extension to reduce superfluous emails, for example. And instead of attaching files for colleagues to download, employees share Google Drive links. This actually provides cost savings in remote regions where internet connectivity is purchased via data bundles.

Mission based businesses

But of course, it’s not only nonprofits that are mission-based organizations.  

Every organization, whether it’s designed to make profit or not, should have a clear mission or purpose. Every employee should know it by heart.

Why don’t you say yours out loud now.

For charitable organizations working for the benefit of their beneficiaries, it’s easy to see technology as an opportunity. But good digital adoption is just as important for enterprises and multinational businesses.

You just have to refer to your digital adoption mission: how can we utilise technology to better achieve our purpose.

Digital adoption mission tips: 5 hacks to align technology with your organizational purpose

1. Seek out mobility opportunities

Mobile continues to grow. Every enterprise should constantly be reviewing how mobility can help them to achieve their goals.

Whether it’s mobilizing your workforce and empowering them to do more on the move, or innovative ways to take payments or communicate with customers, mobile should be a strong part of your digital adoption mission.

2. Use technology to become more agile

Agile is not just an adjective, it’s an approach. In the digital age, it’s more important than ever for organizations to be flexible, holistic, and responsive.

Successful digital adoption can enable your workforce to become more efficient, more collaborative, even creative, and to take more ownership in their work.

It’s these sorts of benefits and capabilities that will set you apart from your competitor and make your organization a great place to work.

3. Constantly review your communication methods

There isn’t just one way to communicate. Far from it. Imagine a world without Facebook, or Slack, or email,  or WhatsApp. The fact is that, in this digital world, there are a myriad ways to communicate. And they continue to grow.

Clear and easy communication enables good collaboration. And good collaboration improves teamwork, productivity, and profitability.

Some organizations are now using tools like Snapchat not only to communicate with their target audience but to provide daily micro-learning too. Digital tools like this lend themselves to small, but constant reminders that are appealing to millennials and other younger demographics.

4. Upskill your staff

In the digital age, with the rapid pace of technological progression and innovation, it’s more important than ever to upskill your staff.

A workforce with advanced digital skills is a happy, productive, and agile one. In fact, digital adoption is now being incorporated into internship programs by many organizations. In this way, business leaders future-proof their workforce.

5. Become digitally dextrous

It’s essential not only to keep your finger on the digital pulse but to cultivate digital dexterity within a modern organization.

Digital dexterity is an aptitude and an attitude; a willingness and ability to embrace and incorporate digital change in the workplace.

This sort of mass cultural shift won’t happen overnight. And it’s important to remember what people go through when they are faced with new technology. Reducing resistance and digital change fatigue are central to cultivating a digitally dextrous workforce.

By applying these five hacks, you’ll find that technology becomes an accelerator and enabler to achieving your organizational purpose — which is what it’s supposed to be. And so, your digital adoption mission is fulfilled.