Understanding the new technologies that are available and the challenges of implementation is a necessary step in building a robust Digital Workplace. Read our Trends blog to learn more!
- The Challenges of Building Digital Workplace
- Top 8 Technologies Driving the Digital Workplace
- Digitalization of Workplace – Devising a Unified Technology Strategy
- Creating a Digital Workplace Strategy with Stefanini
The workplace has expanded for anywhere operations, blurring the line between physical and digital office spaces. These digital workplaces promise improved productivity by affording employees new found mobility and agility. According to Gartner research, 30% of competitive advantage comes from the workforce’s ability to creatively exploit digital technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), and augmented analytics.
The realities of 2020 forced many organizations to restructure for remote capabilities. However, this is just the beginning of larger digital transformation efforts and many are finding that implementation bears its own challenges.
To learn more about digital workplace technologies the as well as the challenges faced in implementation, read on.
The Challenges of Building Digital Workplace
Beyond enabling remote work capabilities, the core efforts driving digital workplaces are focused on increasing employee engagement by acknowledging the features that comprise employee experience and discovering how digital tools can optimize tasks. Before these changes can be implemented, there are a number of challenges that need to be addressed:
Organizational Change (aligning corporate and technology strategy
Cultivating digital capabilities demands wide scale process changes. Not the least of these concerns are the changes in company culture that result from new standards such as a remote workforce that operates from separate geographical locations, virtualized workflows, and digital collaboration spaces. In the broad view this means aligning business’s corporate and technology goals so that new tools are acquired and employed at the proper time.
Digital University
With three generations participating in the workforce, all bearing varied levels technological proficiency, it is incumbent for businesses recognize their responsibility in teaching their employees how to operate with digital tools. Applying a rapid series of new technologies can be frustrating when employees are not given the time to develop aptitude. In the short term, it is vital to define the core competencies that make a digital workplace function and consider a strategy for educating employees on new technology. In some cases, business have begun using virtual reality tools to assist in the education process, allowing employees to utilize flexible training schedules that simulate organizational pain points while tracking skill optimization in real time.
Redefining Work/Life Balance
The boundaries between work and home have dissolved over the last year, and it is necessary for business to recognize the strain they can place on employees. It is very easy to abuse the 24/7 connectivity afforded by digital tools, but heighted levels of accessibility can in many cases threaten to exhaust workers. This may mean a restructuring classic business tropes like the 9 to 5 workday or the 40 hour work week into a system that works fluidly around employee schedules while meeting business demands.
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Top 8 Technologies Driving the Digital Workplace
As businesses address and overcome the hurdles of building a Digital Workplace, having an understanding of what leading workplace technologies are and how they can reshape an organization will assist in making sense of when they should be implemented. Here are some of the technologies that make a robust digital workplace possible:
1. Cloud – Beyond the anywhere operations that remote file sharing makes possible, cloud services and capabilities act as the backbone behind many digital workplace technologies on this list. Effectively implementing these services typically demands that legacy systems migrate to cloud storage. Eliminating data siloes makes allows for transparency within and across departments.
2. Document Management – As digital operations expand, the amount of data generated increases dramatically. As these document management systems become more robust, they offer analytics for all structured data as new documents, tracking new files as they are created, and offering more opportunities for insights and collaboration.
3. Workflow Management – While there are many tools that can manage workflow, the challenge is finding the one provides for effective and flexible project management. Virtualizing a business process requires a careful documentation of the smaller steps that make up the larger journey and an evaluation of how those processes change with digital technology. Management tools allow for a unique design for workflows while controlling visibility permissions. Eventually these tools assist in creating mobility by identifying processes that can be automated.
4. Collaboration Platforms – The right collaboration tool allows your team to communicate anytime and from anywhere, accessing remote connectivity tools that allow for video conference calls, the completion of tasks online, and the ability to share data securely. These tools can range from basic messaging platforms to social tools. Teams are more connected than ever and rather than a traditional hierarchical structure, these tools allow for a distributed network of collaborative responsivities, giving employees that chance to take ownership of their own work.
5. Artificial Intelligence – AI technology is becoming a readily available tool for the workspace analytics tools to provide real-time insights of production or workflow processes. AI can further boost workplace capabilities by acting as a Virtualized Personal Assistant. VPAs assist employee productivity by using natural language processing to accurately respond to voice commands and automate repetitive tasks. This applications of this emerging technology are likely expand significantly in the coming years.
6. Internet of Things (IoT) – This series of internet connected devices and sensors allow for a wide range of capabilities. IoT can enable remote work for tasks that would normally require onsite personnel. IoT can also create API’s that track and control the amount of people in a building at a time, automating new digital check-in procedures, improving employee and data security. When employees choose to go into an office, indoor locations services and indoor geolocation will allow them to find desks and meeting locations on the fly.
7. Cyber-security – As remote accessibility proliferates further into the workplace, the risk of breaches rises also. The goals of strengthening security protocols while providing flexible digital access are often at odds. Breaches can occur on both internally and externally. However, breaches can be avoided by implementing basic data restriction polices, implementing VPNs or larger cyber-security meshes, deploying device monitoring systems, and educating employees on basic data security practices.
8. Analytics Tools – In many ways analytics tools are dependent upon the placement of the other technologies seen in this list. Proper data analytics tools provide real time insights on both an individual scale for employees and customers and for the workplace as a whole. This assists in identifying pain points or skill gaps while offering insights on how to improve.
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Digitalization of Workplace – Devising a Unified Technology Strategy
A pervading concern for many business is that the cost of taking on new digital tools can seem limitless, but poor implementation can impede the very efficiency these tools promise. If one department uses a specialized tool a task for but another uses a different tool for a similar task, then reports must first aggregate data from separate platforms. The more efficient option is to implement one tools that is used throughout the organization.
Rather than taking on new tools that seem to address the core concerns of the digital workplace on a case-by-case basis, it is better to devise and enact a broad unified strategy when taking on new technologies. This is more likely to create systems that will last. Instead of just planning for the jobs of today, anticipating and equipping employees to meet the needs of tomorrow is the best strategy.
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Creating a Digital Workplace Strategy with Stefanini
Creating a robust digital workplace remains a large scale challenge that requires the careful examination of a company’s existing employee workflows and processes to create a transformation strategy.
Stefanini is ready to bring the latest and best digital tools needed to boost your digital capabilities.
Our team of experts will examine your organization and use their knowledge to find the technology that meets your unique workplace concerns. Ready to get started?
