"The better companies know the hurdles in advance, the better they can introduce new digital processes such as a digital document management system," says Patrick Penn, founder of docunite, a provider of a central platform for property documents. An analysis by docunite now shows that this mainly fails due to four points.
Firstly: Project manager - alone at home. The person responsible for the digital evolution and the digital strategy in the company is often not given extensive authorisation and personnel resources. As a result, they are unable to set and meet deadlines. He works against resistance from employees from the specialist departments and their habits, because he does not find enough fellow campaigners to support the digitalisation project.
This happens when project management is at IT level and is seen as an administrator by the specialist departments. "According to the PropTech Germany Study 2023, only just over 60 percent of all companies in the sector have a digitalisation officer. Without such a person and their significant competences and powers, the project remains stuck at the beginning," confirms Patrick Penn.
Secondly: Poor communication. Time and again, employees in the specialist departments are not sufficiently informed and involved in the digitalisation project in good time. In addition to the project manager, the management is primarily responsible for this. According to docunite, inadequate communication in turn leads to fears or false expectations regarding digitalisation as a saviour. The end result is frustration and demotivation or a "business as usual" attitude among employees. Existing departments try to protect familiar processes and working habits out of a false fear of the new.
Thirdly: Hasty initial actionism. Time and again, teams start the digitalisation campaign overly motivated, rushed and under time pressure. This leads to typical mistakes such as a lack of awareness of their own obligations to contribute. Good and intensive preparation, on the other hand, saves time and nerves. Penn: "It is also important that fundamental decisions are not scrutinised too quickly. Digitalisation is complex, but a board that can be drilled through."
Fourth: Unclear prioritised goals. What is the priority: Avoid stranded assets? Predicting rental income? Or eliminating the data chaos? Companies looking to digitalise need to prioritise their goals. Only then will the company know where to start to achieve success in digitalisation from the outset. "Without initial, timely measures and successes, many digitalisation projects run out of steam and motivation wanes," warns docunite Managing Director Patrick Penn. This not only costs money, but also jeopardises the entire company.
"In addition, the collection of property data is what makes the use of artificial intelligence possible in the first place." According to Patrick Penn, this will enable property experts to chat with their document portfolio in future, gain deeper insights into their portfolios and make better decisions more quickly. / dpa