Productivity through collaboration, communication, and connection

The digital workplace ushers in a cultural change within organizations. Younger employees are digital natives who have never known a workplace without cloud technology, mobile devices, and WiFi connectivity. Employees work both in the office and remotely, and they need to be productive and innovative anywhere and at any time. A successful digital workplace must put the tools and processes in place to support the 3 C’s: Collaboration, communication, and connectivity. 

Collaboration

To meet the challenges of the future, companies need employees to work in collaborative, dynamic teams. The challenge in the digital workplace is that those teams will not always be together in the office. To set the stage for greater collaboration, companies should consider adopting:

• Open Design – For employees working within your offices, open design is the best way to encourage greater levels of team collaboration.
• Collaboration Tools – A new class of collaboration technology is rapidly evolving for the digital workplace. Beyond email and instant messaging, fully functional collaboration platforms have evolved, including Microsoft Teams, Workplace by Facebook, Slack, Chatter, and Stride. Knowledge management solutions can help collect, retain, and distribute institutional knowledge.
• Better Integration – One barrier to effective collaboration is poor integration of collaboration tools such as knowledge management into traditional front- and back-office business applications. When there is a lack of smooth integration, it is more difficult to get users to adopt the new technology.

Communication

Collaboration cannot occur without the means to ensure natural, easy flow of communication. In the digital workplace, that means that assembling the right communication technology—from phones and email to messaging apps and video conferencing—should be a top IT and Human Capital Management priority.

• Telephone – Phone calls are still an important and easy way to communicate one-on-one or in small group conferences. In the digital workplace, most telephone networks operate over the Internet (VoIP). If you want remote employees to have the same telephone feature set, you will need to provide them with a secure IP telephone networked to your corporate system.
• Email – Email is still one of the top ways for business teams to communicate and share documents, but in the digital workplace, the emphasis is shifting toward more real-time collaboration tools.
• Remote Conferencing – Leverage video and voice conferencing in order to save on meeting costs and ensure a frequent level of communication among teams. Web conferencing solutions are an affordable way for companies to enable teams to ‘get in a virtual room’ together as if they were meeting in person. Teams can use screen sharing to collaborate and video cameras to see each other.
• Messaging Apps – Employees can chat in real-time, rather than composing longer, more detailed emails.

Connection

According to Deloitte, “Self-sufficiency no longer guarantees effectiveness. Employees need tools that allow them to connect across the organization, leverage intellectual property and gain insight from one another.” Companies need to promote a culture of teamwork, corporate community, and personal connections.In the digital workplace, employees need to be able to be connected to each other and to your business systems any place within the office and beyond in their mobile or remote locations.

• Strong Wi-Fi – Mobile connectivity for laptops and devices should be available throughout your corporate campus.
• Remote Access – Remote employees need reliable, secure procedures and technology for accessing the company network and the systems they need in order to be effective.
• Lots of Bandwidth – To build the digital workplace, “corporate networks need to be equipped to handle simultaneous voice, video, and data communication, both in and outside the company network.”

Look for ways to build a digital culture that facilitates collaboration, communication, and connection among all employees, whether they work in the office, on the road, or remotely at home. These three C’s will help your organization become more effective and competitive. Asure Software’s Workspace Management solutions help organizations create a more open and collaborative digital workplace.