How To Organize The Digital Workplace

The workplace of the future is more important than ever in 2021. But to work digitally and efficiently, and successfully, the right organization is required: adapted models for collaboration, business processes, and working methods. We have identified three levels on which you must act when implementing the Digital Workplace. 

As a central portal, the Digital Workplace is intended to bundle information and processes to be used as required. This requires that the right tools, content, and resources are provided. But a: e user: in must also be able to use the right training, processes, responsibilities, contact persons and, last but not least, requires the right motivation.

Since 2020 it has become clear what changes from home office / remote work means in terms of collaboration, information access, and the control of processes. The procurement of collaboration software, cloud solutions, and mobile devices is not enough; working is changing. At the same time, however, the potential became apparent, and it was proven that a more digital and networked way of working is possible. 

To successfully implement the Digital Workplace, existing structures must be critically questioned. Departmental thinking and classic hierarchies prevent us from looking at the big picture. Therefore, an overarching, process- and result-oriented way of thinking is required when analyzing the actual structures and especially the definition of the target working methods. Decision-making paths have often grown over time; there are many options for decentralization or complete revision. It is important to meet security and traceability and flexibility, and practicability. 

Communication and the needs of those involved must not be disregarded here. A lot has been said about customer-oriented thinking and acting for years, but implementation still poses challenges for many organizations. In addition, the partners and, last but not least, the employees are essential to process participants, whose interests and preferences must be considered when designing the structures.

The successful organization of the future workplace is based on three levels. 

Corporate Culture

The first level is the corporate culture and corporate mission statement (How you want to do it). A clear vision of the digital workplace must specify how work should be done in the future. This includes guidelines for internal processes and communication and communication and interaction with partners, customers, and other institutions. The fast, flexible, and, in many cases, more responsible processing of tasks requires the creation of an open, communicative, fault-tolerant corporate culture as the basis for all activities.

Digital Workplace Governance

The second level comprises the different facets of digital workplace governance (how). This includes the various internal and external requirements for corporate actions and the management and control systems for compliance with them. Examples are laws and regulations, contractual obligations, organizational guidelines, data security, data protection, sustainability, and protection against discrimination / equal opportunity. These rules and guidelines provide the framework for designing the processes and structures. At the same time, they offer the security of action where clear rules apply.

Project And Change Management

The third level is project and change management (how to solve and implement specific tasks successfully). The focus is on the planning, management, control, and communication of a specific measure (e.g., implementing a deployment scenario or targeted further development).

Clear objectives, realistic time and resource plans and regular reviews, and, if necessary, corrections are required since the implementation of the Digital Workplace usually change different facets (tools, type of work, processes, etc.) at the same time. Successful change management includes clear and open communication of the measures and the associated potentials and tasks. The employees should be involved at an early stage to address wishes and fears quickly – and last but not least, to benefit from the employees’ ideas.

The Digital Workplace is an opportunity for many companies and, last but not least, employees to rethink existing processes and find new solutions. In many consulting projects, we see how important the measures’ organizational preparatory work and constant, competent support are.

And we see how much it is worth going this route. Across industries, topics, age groups, and other characteristics of the employee groups, it becomes clear how quickly the users adopt new ways of working when the personal advantages become clear. This can be described as job enrichment, job enlargement, knowledge work, employee empowerment, etc. – or simply as being able to work easily, better, and with more fun.

Also Read: New Tools And Digital Trends To Manage Human Resources