The Importance of Diverse Viewpoints in Digital Transformation Success

Digital transformation is one of the most critical initiatives for many organizations today. It’s more than just deploying a technology; it's organizational change. Understanding the importance of diverse perspectives and experiences in driving that change can help procurement leaders build the team needed to make digital transformation happen.

Why Diversity Matters

It’s easy to get caught up in the technical aspects of digital procurement transformations. However, it’s important to remember that it’s really all about people. By leveraging team members with different backgrounds, knowledge, skillsets, and opinions, you will be able to access a wider range of ideas that can lead to more innovative solutions for your organization’s challenges.

Think of it this way: A team is like a symphony. Everyone knows that a flute sounds beautiful. However, a symphony of flutes is drastically dull compared to one with an oboe, violin, snare drum, etc. The more instruments there are, the more diversity there is. The more variety there is, the more beautiful the symphony will be.

The Benefits

“Companies that embrace diversity and inclusion in all aspects of their business statistically outperform their peers.”
— Josh Bersin, Talent Management Author

At Wonder Services, our mission is to help companies beat the odds and achieve digital transformation success; in essence, to outperform. We look at all aspects of a transformation to help us do so, including the many benefits of diversity.

• Better problem identification - One of the first steps in a digital transformation is having complete clarity on the business problems that you’re solving. Diversity can lead to better identification of those problems. Diverse teams are more likely to challenge assumptions, question the status quo and break away from traditional thinking patterns. This questioning leads to a deeper understanding of the problem at hand, which in turn leads to more creative and effective solutions.
• Improved communication - Organizations that value diversity understand that different people communicate in different ways. As such, they make an effort to create an environment where all voices can be heard and everyone feels comfortable sharing. This type of environment fosters a change management strategy that allows for open dialogue, the exchange of ideas, and varying communication methods and styles. 
• Better decision-making - Diversity helps teams build trust and understanding between members, which can lead to better collaboration and stronger decision-making. Having different opinions and perspectives in the room means that more ideas will be shared and discussed before a decision is made—helping ensure that any decision made is well-informed and unbiased.
• Broader technology viewpoints - The procurement landscape is constantly changing as new technologies emerge and evolve. Having project team members from different backgrounds who are familiar with different technologies and processes will more fully equip organizations to truly uncover solutions that fit their specific needs.

Making it Happen

Organizations should focus on building an inclusive culture when embarking on any sort of digital procurement transformation. This means establishing an environment where everyone feels welcome, valued, and supported, even when sharing differing viewpoints. Encouraging open dialogue between team members while creating space for dissenting opinions is vital in creating an inclusive culture that encourages diversity of thought. Additionally, providing resources, such as training sessions or workshops, can help build trust and ensure everyone has the foundation needed to create digital transformation success.

As procurement leaders work alongside procuretech providers to ensure successful digital transformation implementations, they should strive for diversity in both perspectives as well as experience levels within their teams. Doing so can provide them with unique insights and access to different skill sets that could help unlock desired outcomes faster than ever before.

At Wonder Services, we promote diversity in our hiring process by focusing on finding enthusiastic people who are good at their craft. These limited criteria have allowed us to find and enjoy working with people of all different cultures, races, locations, experience levels, and ages.

Conclusion

With broad talent pools, improved decision-making capabilities, and increased adaptability due to different perspectives, diversity can be a powerful tool for any organization looking for digital transformation success.

At its core, digital procurement transformation is about improving efficiency by implementing new technology and processes. These improvements won't come without a diverse perspective driving them forward. Having diverse teams working together on projects provides invaluable insights into different stakeholder needs and encourages creative thinking and better solutions. Our Wonder team is a mix of procurement experience at different levels, a variety of industry specializations, different personal backgrounds, and a cross-section of operational experience. We bring together this array of talent by leveraging our methodology and blending together with our customer teams to deliver big wins. We are happy to share how we apply our methodology to drive change forward without minimizing the benefits diversity brings.