Many businesses get lost in the details of launching a digital workplace and forget how important it is to think about long-term success. We understand that managing a digital workplace project can seem overwhelming at times dealing with deadlines, deliverables, and resource constraints. It's important to step back and think about the key characteristics that will set your digital workplace up from long-term success. Our most successful customers have the following characteristics in common:
The digital workplace is where work starts.
When you choose a digital workplace platform that has strong foundations in communications, collaboration, knowledge management, and employee engagement, it helps your employees navigate and make sense of the new digital ecosystem. Your digital workplace should be the first point of entry for your employees. It's a digital destination – the place where employees start their day and the place where they get work done. The more functionality the digital workplace provides, the more important the foundational starting point becomes as a way to ensure that employees can quickly and confidently find what they need.
The digital workplace encompasses all the digital tools of a modern organization.
The digital workplace goes beyond the intranet and collaboration. It’s also email, client & project management systems, human resources, how you communicate, knowledge management, IT ticketing, expense tracking, and all the key functions and processes your employees need to complete their work. Considering how all the digital tools relate to each other, and where there are gaps, the digital workplace puts information into context for the employee and the work they're trying to do. Ultimately, this holistic thinking leads to better decision-making and provides a framework for how the organization addresses employee engagement, culture, knowledge management, and top-down and bottom-up communication.
The digital workplace offers simplicity and fulfilling employee experience.
With all this change, it’s easy for an employee’s experience with workplace technology to become very fragmented and frustrating. All too often, employees can’t find what they need, require a myriad of different passwords, or need four different applications open to complete one simple process. A successful digital workplace offers a great experience for employees, making it easy for them to complete daily tasks and processes. Employees move seamlessly and logically from application to application. Interfaces are intuitive, and there is brand consistency. Ultimately, the digital workplace is a place that employees enjoy working in.
Wherever you are, the digital workplace is with you.
Employees no longer work a set number of hours from a fixed location. They want to be able to work from anywhere – out on the road, from home, or even switching desks within an office. They also work irregular hours to suit lifestyle patterns, to meet the demands of their role, or to collaborate with colleagues in remote locations. The digital workplace enables these modern working patterns, allowing employees to access all the files, content, and applications they need from anywhere, anytime. This should be true for all employees, including those based in retail units, factories, or in front-line locations.
The digital workplace is driving corporate change, not just responding to it.
Employees need to work in different ways, have greater collaboration capability, and be comfortable with digital working. The digital workplace and the related internal transformation can be an important precursor to improving the digital experience for customers. Technology has always been a driver of transformation, but the digital workplace concept is helping to drive and accelerate change inside organizations. Innovating around external digital experiences is often led by changes to the internal digital workplace.