Many companies are already making the switch to digital tools. In 2024, businesses worldwide were estimated to spend $2.5 trillion on digital transformation. By 2027, that number is expected to reach $3.9 trillion. With such rapid adoption, understanding how to navigate digital transformation is crucial.
In this guide, you’ll learn the essentials of digital transformation, the most common barriers to success, and how to overcome them. By the end, you’ll have the tools you need to implement a digital transformation strategy in your organization.
What is digital transformation?
Digital transformation is the process of integrating digital technology in all areas of an organization. It changes how your business operates, helping you stay competitive.
A strong digital transformation strategy boosts efficiency, cuts costs and enhances customer service. It also improves communication and collaboration across teams, leading to smoother workflows and increased productivity.
Clear goals and good leadership are vital to the success of your digital transformation efforts. By combining company and industry knowledge with modern tools, leaders can ensure a smooth transition from analog work to digital best practices.
Strong leadership is the foundation of successful digitalization – driving about 80% of the results. Effective leaders in this context can show the team where we're headed digitally while valuing our manufacturing roots. A common mistake is thinking digital change is a one-time task, not an ongoing effort. We've found that staying ahead means always checking and updating how we use technology. We don't just set up new systems and stop there – we're always looking for better ways to work and serve our customers.
David Primrose
President of Metal Marker Manufacturing
The simple answer: no, but there are overlaps.
While digital transformation is the big-picture strategy that reshapes how your business operates, digitalization is the step-by-step process of putting that strategy into action.
Think of it this way. Digitalization is like switching from a physical menu to a QR code menu in a restaurant — you're making one part of the process digital. Digital transformation is like turning the entire restaurant into a smart dining experience, where orders, payments and customer preferences are all managed through a seamless digital system.
Learn how Arnsberg District Government in central Germany ensured a smooth transition to digital work with MeisterTask.
The final component of a digital transformation strategy is digitization. This is the process of converting analog data into digital assets. It might include scanning and uploading work schedules, financial data and project information into a digital workspace. Bringing these documents online improves accessibility and transparency, and helps you manage data more efficiently and securely.
Why is digital transformation important?
In 2023, over 90% of people in the EU used the internet at least once a week. As this number continues to grow, expectations placed on organizations to digitalize are increasing, too. In fact, according to the EU digital decade targets, all key public services for businesses and citizens should be fully online by 2030.
But what about digital transformation in business? Currently, 45% of businesses use cloud computing services, including 44% of SMEs. Among those users, 83% primarily use these solutions for email, and two-thirds use them to store or share files.
As digital transformation becomes the norm, digitalization is not a question of “if” but “when”. It has its challenges — which we’ll dive into later — but there are also many ways in which your organization can benefit.
The benefits of digital transformation
Meet customers where they are. Digital technologies haven’t just changed how businesses operate — they’ve also reshaped customer expectations. Today, people demand fast, reliable, and consistent service. As a project manager, your role is to ensure your team delivers on those expectations every time.
Become a leaner, more efficient team. Technology helps your teams work more efficiently. By embracing digital transformation, you can automate manual workflows and boost productivity. Operational efficiencies often have a direct impact on business growth and profitability.
Maintain a competitive advantage. Companies are constantly looking for distinct competitive advantages to carve out a niche space in the market. Having the means to better serve customers helps you win their hearts and minds.
Reduce operating expenses and improve margins. The time, money and resources you save on operations go a long way to reducing business expenses. Utilizing digital processes helps you directly improve profit margins for the entire business.
Enhance security for sensitive information. With growing privacy regulations, data security is non-negotiable. Digital transformation ensures your sensitive information is protected with advanced security protocols, keeping your business safe from legal and compliance risks.
Build a more agile and responsive team. Efficiencies you introduce through your digitalization technologies make you faster, more agile and more responsive. Your resources go further, which means greater ROI and customer satisfaction.
7 common digital transformation challenges — and how to overcome them
Not everyone will rush to embrace a digital transformation strategy. Some people welcome changes as new opportunities, while others see change as an unnecessary hurdle. In fact, the most common digital transformation pitfalls relate to misalignment among team members, as well as failing to redesign workflows and processes.
Here are 7 of the most common digital transformation challenges you can expect to face while implementing a digital transformation strategy:
Resistance to change
Resistance to change can come from all levels of your organization, including your project team members, fellow project managers and even executive leadership. Winning over your internal stakeholders is one of the most common obstacles on the path to digital transformation.
We recommend using a change management template to build a framework that aligns all stakeholders around the importance of embracing change. Your change management template provides a clear roadmap for how digitalization will be implemented and evaluated. This way, everyone understands the reasons for the proposed changes and how to measure their impact.
Change fatigue
Change fatigue is very common if multiple, unsuccessful changes have been attempted in the past. Signs to look out for include frustration, a lack of engagement and noticeable employee burnout.
The best way to overcome change fatigue is through clear, transparent communication. Involve your employees in the decision-making process and encourage open, honest feedback about the proposed changes. If people feel heard and included, they’re more likely to buy into the digital transformation strategy.
Learn how to navigate organizational change with MeisterTask.
Bureaucratic hurdles
Bureaucratic resistance to change is another common digital transformation obstacle. The public sector in particular is prone to long, bureaucratic approval processes that delay implementation.
Of course, some of these processes will be beyond your control as a project manager. It’s important to recognize these limitations and have a strategy to adapt as needed.
However, there are steps you can take to give your strategy the best chance of success. Start small with a pilot project, which will help you earn buy-in from external stakeholders. You can create a centralized workspace where you can test, monitor and iterate on the project. Give all stakeholders access to the digitized workspace so they can all ask questions or voice their support in a centralized communication hub.
Strict security requirements
If you work in banking, insurance, healthcare, or the public sector, you’re responsible for highly sensitive personal data. Concerns about the legal ramifications of a data breach may cause some stakeholders to dig in their heels. Of course, security matters are incredibly important, well-deserved stakeholder concerns — and why you need to select your digital tools carefully.
MeisterTask is a fast, easy-to-use tool that’s powered by GDPR-compliant data management servers in Germany. These servers maximize security around sensitive organizational data while improving efficiencies with how you use and manage your information.
Good leaders ensure appropriate resources and investment in technology. Proper funding and skilled personnel are critical in overcoming implementation challenges while attaining long-term success. Leaders develop a culture that promotes innovation as well as continuous learning. Encouraging a mindset that is receptive to digital tools and processes is essential in integrating new technologies smoothly.
Dayten Rynsburger
CRO, Niche Capital CO
Choosing the right project management software can make or break your digital transformation strategy. Find out how MeisterTask stacks up against Asana in this comparison guide.
Lack of a clear digital transformation strategy
Digital transformation can be complex. Without a clear strategy, stakeholders may struggle to understand how digitalization will work. To earn buy-in for proposed digitalization plans, people need to understand the process and the impact of those efforts.
The best way to build that strategy is to turn digital transformation into an internal project. From there, use project documentation resources to give your team, stakeholders and fellow project managers insight into the digitalization goals. By documenting your strategy in a centralized location, everyone understands the tasks, the goals and the requirements to make digital transformation a success.
Project documentation in MeisterTask helps you bring clarity and transparency to your organization’s workflows. Learn how.
Resource constraints
Most organizations have a very limited number of resources and must be selective about how those resources are used. Because of this, some companies think they can treat digital transformation like a one-and-done process. The truth is that digital transformation is a continuous effort that requires sufficient time, budget and human resources to manage. That means you must:
Advocate for investments into digital transformation
Document progress to demonstrate success
Report project status updates to other stakeholders
Continue to monitor and improve digital transformation
A digital transformation strategy has many moving parts and competing needs. You’ll need to prioritize the most important tasks and projects, plus map out your project goals and projected impact. All of this strategic planning will help you make effective resourcing decisions for a successful digital transformation process.
Skills gaps
A lack of skills and expertise can set your digital transformation strategy back. A skills audit at the start of your digital transformation project will help you identify where teams need support. This might involve organising training sessions or accreditation for team members. You might also choose to bring in external consultants, or restructure your teams to align with your new digital transformation goals.
When it comes to using specific digital tools, use the following questions to build a training and onboarding checklist:
Has each team member been given a demo of the software?
Do they need to be certified to use the technology?
Are there training courses or modules they can use for onboarding?
Will you require outside consultants to run those training programs?
Do you have the budget to justify all these program requirements? (if not, it’s time to make your case!).
How can you streamline the onboarding process as you scale?
To be widely accepted, employees need to be educated on the new tech with any concerns dealt with. Digital transformation is as much about your people, as it is about technology. You can implement the most comprehensive tech, but if no one knows how to use it, what's the benefit?
Matt Aird
CTO, Custom Neon
Another way to simplify the training and onboarding process? Use a platform that is simple, easy-to-use and built to confidently give your team a place to centralize projects.
Before we implemented MeisterTask, our Managing Director was overwhelmed with a flood of emails and tasks. Emails were sometimes printed out and had to be approved before they could be answered. With MeisterTask, we found the perfect solution to make communication efficient, sustainable, and environmentally friendly.
Helene Heck
Management Assistant, SGW
MeisterTask is your single source of truth, a centralized resource that improves project collaboration, communication and visibility. Best of all is that you don’t need any technical expertise to use it. It’s an easy-to-adopt solution built for efficient end-to-end project management. As your trusted digitization partner, MeisterTask gives you the confidence to implement a digital transformation strategy and reap the rewards that come from digitized project management.
