[Two-Minute Read] Why Your Company Needs a Modern Digital Workplace Initiative

The term 'digital workplace' tends to generate a lot of definitions and interpretations. Most at least have one concept in common though - technology can help people be productive from anywhere. At its extreme, an employee's need for traditional office space could practically be replaced with a laptop. Cloud file shares instead of file cabinets, social apps instead of water coolers, chat tools instead of cube visits, intranets instead of display boards and paper forms, digital workspaces instead of conference rooms, docking stations instead of parking spots, etc. Even where it's still best or necessary to have employees in a physical office, digital systems should mean much less time finding things, and much more time actually getting them done.

You can easily create a basic modern digital workplace initiative for your organization just by imagining how your employees would continue to work if you had to close the office for a week. Make a prioritized list of what tasks could no longer be accomplished, then start implementing systems that would allow an employee working from home with a laptop to get those things done. Over time, you'll have digitized old manual processes, made improvements, learned a few things, and life will be better. You'll recoup your investments through increased productivity, office space growth control, and for the bold, maybe even some new flexibility in hiring, opening possibilities to add remote talent you otherwise would have missed out on.

Stop there, though, and you're going to miss the best part - real work culture change. Getting to this part takes some commitment though. You'll need someone accountable (can be internal or partner); they'll need to set goals and desired outcomes regularly, then promote and guide the adoption of technology to achieve the target results. Taking this step should result in things like deeper employee connection to organization direction, better production through more frequent and focused communication, faster and more successful project completions, and lower staff turnover rates. Moreover, if this resource consistently positions technology to develop new interactions between currently disconnected staff members and partners (external, cross-departmental, or geo-distributed, for example), your company will become more innovative in a relatively short amount of time as new ideas emerge and develop more quickly. And of course, in a competitive market, ideas and innovation win.

Becoming a truly modern digital workplace won't happen on its own - you'll need to define this effort as a real initiative with roles, responsibilities, and relationships. Doing this successfully, though, will absolutely take your business to the next level; and assuming you don't wait too long, maybe even before your competition gets there!