We are bringing you all the Lessons from the Ground from our latest edition of Wooqer’s LFTG meetup. The 16th edition of LFTG happened in the ever-bustling neighborhood of Jumeirah Lake Towers in Dubai, UAE.
The quorum was full of leaders from Oracle, Americana Group, Mister Baker, Galadari Group, Al Qubaisi Group, Switz Group, Redington, TSG, Auris Ventures, and more.
You can read the note in Arabic here.
Top Challenges with Change Management Through Digital Transformation Journeys
Change management, especially the ones transforming traditional workflows into digital powerhouses, takes a lot of work to manage.
“Management changes with poor handovers are one of the top reasons why digital transformation initiatives fail,” said Omnia Anwar, Ops Excellence at Americana Group.
“A clear roadmap with goals, a few pilots/POC, a review rhythm, and ongoing calibration are necessary to achieve the planned outcomes,” added Kapel Malhotra, MD of Total Solution Group.
The on-ground team always resists change because they are not well-informed by management about what’s in it for them. The team driving change needs to spend time and effort doing the job of the ground team, understand the challenges they are facing, and experience the impact of the change personally. This ensures the right outcomes and also the ability to help the team understand what’s in it for them – added Sri Lakshmi, Group CIO of Switz Group, and Kirti Meghnani from Auris Ventures.
Raja Sekhar Atluri, Retail Practice Consultant at Oracle, underscores the critical role of clear communication in change management. He shares, “Initiating change management without effectively communicating best practices and securing buy-in from all stakeholders sets the process up for failure from the outset.”
Driving SOP Compliance for Success
We discussed the top challenges and best practices around driving SOP compliance, understanding the right time to start implementing SOPs and adapting SOPs to changes in time, shopping seasons, and customer behavior.
The best time to begin implementing SOPs is either at the start of your business (T=0), when you have achieved product-market fit, or when you hire your second employee. There is no fixed timeline for implementing SOPs, such as within 2 years or after opening 10 stores. Once you have finalized your brand, it’s crucial to establish SOPs to ensure consistent brand execution, even if it’s on the Day 1 of operation – said Aditi Gautam, E-commerce and Brand Manager at Zaecy and Mandeep Channa, GM at Mister Baker.
To ensure better compliance, SOPs should have visual guiding elements. Ground staff appreciate less text and more visual cues, especially videos – added Sarika Pandey, Co-founder of Wooqer, Kapel Malhotra, and Nusrat Misty, Head of Marketing at Al Qubaisi Group.
The quorum also discussed the Inclusion of SOP compliances in the Store scorecard and linkage to incentive plans to help drive compliance in the long run.
“SOPs need to be updated more frequently to ensure they become a guiding light rather than a defense mechanism,” added Sri Lakshmi. To ensure this, leaders agreed that every SOPs should have an owner.
Adding to that, given the participants’ recent experiences during the Dubai floods, leaders suggested that there is a need for Emergency SOPs and crisis management teams everywhere. And emergency SOPs must take over at times of crisis, such as the Dubai Floods – added Omnia Anwar, Mohammad Hakim, GM – MENA at Galadari Group, and Sajid Valappil from Al Fardan Exchange.
Wooqer is your One App for All Store Ops, loved by businesses to set expectations, share guidelines, measure compliance, and hold teams accountable. Wooqer helps you create the most consistent experience for customers in-store.
To know more and get a demo: talk to us today.
