The Digital Renaissance of Work - Webinar Slides
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Overview of the book "The Digital Renaissance of Work - Delivering Digital Workplaces Fit for the Future", by Paul Miller and Elizabeth Marsh. Slides from the webinar February 25, 2015. More information about the book: http://shar.es/1gefHn
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The Digital Renaissance of Work - Webinar Slides
- 1. The Digital Renaissance of Work Delivering digital workplaces fit for the future February 2015
- 2. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Today’s webinar 2 Authors of The Digital Renaissance of Work • Paul Miller, DWG CEO • Elizabeth Marsh, DWG Director of Research Topics: • Changing nature of work • Digital workplace strategy #drwbook
- 3. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Twitter 3 Twitter hashtag #drwbook Follow us on Twitter @DWG Tweet questions/comments with #drwbook for the Paul & Elizabeth.
- 4. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Audience poll 4 How would you rate the maturity of your digital workplace strategy? 1. Advanced: Implementing a clear vision and roadmap 2. Good: Leadership & resources in place 3. Fair: Working on it in earnest 4. Poor: Initial thinking only 5. None: Not even a twinkle in our collective eyes
- 5. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Who we are 5 Member Forum Consulting Three elements: • Benchmarking evaluations • Peer learning • Expert research Sample projects: • ‘What does good look like’ • Define vision, strategy, roadmap • Facilitated workshops
- 6. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Presenter 6 Paul Miller Founder & CEO Digital Workplace Group (DWG) • Technology and social entrepreneur • Founded DWG (as IBF) in 2002 • 20+ years working within the technology revolution • Started work life as a journalist & speech writer • Has written three books • Spoken at Google, Microsoft, Adobe, IKEA, many more Fun Fact: Currently writing a novel with a good friend and journalist based in Hollywood. @paulmillersays #drwbook
- 7. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Presenter 7 Elizabeth Marsh Director of Research Digital Workplace Group (DWG) • Lead’s DWG’s best practice research programme • Works closely with DWG’s Consulting business • Previously intranet manager at T-Mobile and at Reuters • Community management, internal comms & research • An accomplished flautist Fun Fact: A recent convert to barefoot style running, after shunning running for many years. @digitalsanity #drwbook
- 8. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com The book that defined an industry 8 The Digital Workplace: how technology is liberating work • Published in 2012 • Paul’s personal investigation • Future of work • Digital changing how we work • Changes to where work happens • Pioneered DW industry
- 9. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com The Digital Renaissance of Work 9 Two main parts: 1. an exploration of how digital is changing our lives and work, and 2. guidance for large organisations rethinking the digital workplace • plus a preface by Brian Solis.
- 10. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Plentiful work we enjoy – a first in human history 10 Chapter 1 Digital renaissance Digital work ethic Transforming work 1% digital connectivity Artists & artisans
- 11. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com The human-centred digital workplace 11 Chapter 2 Built for humans Favourite place? Fragmented worlds Our need for beauty Digital experiences
- 12. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Where will we work in the physical world 12 Chapter 3 Where will we work? More options Office fighting back Reinvigorating the office New ‘third’ spaces
- 13. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Collaboration – why “teamwork” needs a makeover 13 Chapter 4 Industrial age teamwork More fluid teams Building trust Collaborate & connect Digital literacy
- 14. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com There are no jobs – but there is lots of work 14 Chapter 5 Automation of jobs Digital skills gap Greater fluidity Freelancing the org Outputs not inputs
- 15. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Leaders need followers 15 Chapter 6 80s ‘walking around’ Digital presence Who are you leading? Low trust in leaders Authentic messages
- 16. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com The price we pay 16 Chapter 7 Benefits & downsides “I’m by myself” Digital addiction Adapting work practices Training & policies
- 17. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Education – the revolution starts here 17 Chapter 8 Image source: Computing.co.uk Industrial age system Lack of digital skills Digital innovations New formats for learning Flipping the classroom
- 18. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com A future fit for work 18 Chapter 9 Recasting of work Us at the centre Digital future Designing our future Work matters
- 19. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Your digital workplace journey 19 Chapter 10 communication & information community & collaboration services & workflow structure & coherence mobility & flexibility Every org has a DW Not a bigger intranet Not one thing Heuristic assessment Pressure to adapt
- 20. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Making the business case 20 Chapter 11 Cost optimisation People and productivity Business continuity Accelerating innovation Increased revenue Corporate social responsibility
- 21. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Designing for a flexible workforce 21 Chapter 12 Standards Branding Application development Content quality & lifecycle Accessibility Ownership Procurement checklist. UX interventions: designed DW UX strategy User research Mental models Personas User scenarios Workshops Wireframes Testing Iteration. UX interventions: non-designed DW Structure Personalisation & customisation Data feeds/ APIs Enterprise search Content Branding Working with procurement.
- 22. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Setting up the digital workplace programme 22 Chapter 13 Strategy and approach Stakeholders and buy-in Governance framework Implementation and measurement
- 23. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Measuring progress and performance 23 Chapter 14
- 24. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com Measuring progress and performance 24 Chapter 14 ‘digital’ will become almost invisible as it becomes embedded in every aspect of our lives
- 25. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com 25 What does the Digital Renaissance of work mean for your organisation?
- 26. Twitter: @DWG www.digitalworkplacegroup.com 26 Thanks for joining!
Editor's Notes
- In his preface, Brian stresses the size of the gap between how employees want to work and how organisations manage them; he shows this as an urgent problem and the need to adapt tools and systems to pave a way for a more engaging and productive future for all. He says anyone in the organisation can become a digital leaders if they have a vision for what is possible…
- CHAPTER ONE IN A NUTSHELL? We’re living in a remarkable time in which how we live and work are being transformed by digital technologies. Paul has coined the term for it “the digital renaissance” and for our new way of working “the digital work ethic”. If you’re in doubt just look around: think Watson, or Uber, or Jake Andraka, or remote mining operatives. It’s also about a transformation of work – we’re all becoming more like artists and artisans. We know, all that can feel a long way away when the intranet has just gone down and you just logged in remotely for the fifth time in an hour. It is early days (Padmasree Warrior: 1% of potential connectivity of the internet of things) but it’s moving fast. Individuals and organisations need to understand what it means for them. The pioneers are: Barclays, Zara, M&S, Addison Lee to mention just a few! AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE… In this first chapter Paul suggests that we’re experiencing a second – digital – renaissance comparable to the Renaissance of the 15th Century. He compares the internet and digital tools we have today to Gutenberg Press in terms of providing the communication medium or infrastructure for sweeping change and disruption across all walks of life. He talks about the third transformation of work: from the crafts and trades of the Renaissance, to the Industrial Revolution, to this digital transformation we’re experiencing now. Paul asks us how we would know if we were alive in a remarkable time and urges us to just look around us. And when we do we see… a mainstream industry like travel where Uber is completely changing the taxi industry; IBM’s Watson passing a medical exam with 100% accuracy in 3 seconds; or an operative 100s of miles away using heavy mining equipment; or a teenager in his bedroom with all the knowledge on the internet inventing an early diagnosis tool for pancreatic cancer. Really? On a grey Tuesday in February when the intranet has just gone down, your iPhone won’t sync your latest appointments, and you’re yet again explaining to a publisher the importance of metadata – it doesn’t much feel that way, or at least those things can feel a long way away. But we’re just at the start, even with the advances that we already enjoy and are easily amazed by. Paul often quotes Cisco CTO Padmasree Warrior who said that in 20 years we’ve achieved just 1% of the potential connectivity of the Internet of Things. So we’re really just at the beginning. And that also goes for our work practices… One of the themes of the chapter is the shift from Industrial Revolution style working and the “Protestant Work ethic” (work as duty and drudgery) to a new digital work ethic based on passion and fulfilment. He makes parallels to how artists and artisans work, which may seem fanciful, but the point is its about work being more meaningful and having the ability to fashion our working lives in the way we want. It isn’t all plain sailing certainly flip side of this are issues like work addiction, always-on culture, where will the jobs be – all apparent as we adapt and learn. Choice, flexibility and a wealth of knowledge – all brought to us via digital innovations – are driving a groundswell of change in how we work. Barclays digitally empowering the frontline; Zara embedding digital connections into all aspects of the staff experience mean they can be fast and responsive to customer demands; M&S connecting directly with supply chain staff in Sri Lanka to ensure conditions are appropriate; Addison Lee call centre workers at home. All of those examples are very much about the people rather than the technology…
- CHAPTER TWO IN A NUTSHELL? Building digital workplaces that are human-centred is very close to our hearts at DWG. It can be helpful to take a step back and use the physical world as a starting point to understand how we experience. Favourite place? The reality though is many digital spaces would be condemned buildings if they existed in the physical world Steve Jobs pioneered beautiful digital spaces in the consumer space, now we need to create digital workplaces that attract and thrill us. And we are seeing examples of this: we look at examples from Bouyges Telecom (BOO-EEG) and Heine Brothers in this chapter. We need beautiful, amazing experiences in the digital world just as we do in the physical. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE… Building digital workplaces that are human-centred is very close to our hearts at DWG. But because the digital world is intangible Paul invites us to take a step back and use the physical world as a starting point to understand how we experience it. So if you think of your favourite places in the physical world – your home, a particular road, a museum or café – we inhabit them because they are enjoyable and pleasurable. But what happens when we enter the digital worlds we increasingly inhabit? Are we creating digital worlds that are worth working in? So far we don’t seem to be faring that well. Paul suggests that many digital spaces if they existed in the physical world, would likely be condemned buildings. At the moment we use many of the tools because we have to in order to live or work, but they aren’t pleasurable for the most part. Steve Jobs very much pioneered beautiful digital experiences in Apple in the consumer space but the reality in most organisations is that the digital workplace landscape is fragmented and unintuitive. We need to start creating digital worlds that attract and thrill us so that we can get away from, as author Peter Hinssen says, work being ‘the brief period during the day when I use old technology’. And we are seeing examples of this. Bouygues (BOO-EEG) Telecom has created B.Desk a highly immersive mobile digital workplace, which is optimized for tablet use and touch screens. It brings together a range of tools and delivers over a range of devices, including employee owned with access to a private cloud for storage. It’s been a hit with employees in the office and on the road and also extended to sister companies in the group. Kentucky based coffee chain Heine Brothers were getting just a 20% email open rate for frontline staff. They introduced the Red E App that can be used on employee phones and now have 98% open rates on messages. It’s had a dramatic impact on speed of communication and engagement. What these examples show us, as Steve Jobs did, is that the digital world isn’t simply a technical or functional space – it is more akin to the physical environment in our need for beautiful and amazing experiences. Paul also warns us in this chapter of the pitfalls of poor digital workplaces which can range from lost productivity and lower engagement to making it harder to retain and attract staff as they assess companies on their digital as well as physical workplace offerings.
- CHAPTER 3 IN A NUTSHELL? If we’re working primarily in the digital workplace, does that mean the “death of the office”? No, the DW is present everywhere, it gives us options. We’ve seen a high profile backlash from the likes of Yahoo, HP, Google; interestingly it’s more traditional companies like Unilever, GSK and Citi that are offering more flexible offices. One of the case studies in this chapter is USPTO – interesting good and bad news. Good: ‘gold standard for telework’/ Bad: abuses to the program in the last year > not about the tech, about how it’s managed and they are dealing with by training and guidance. We still need to meet physically and so we’ll see new hybrid spaces springing up locally for work, community, recreation etc. The DW is actually reinvigorating both the office (by challenging it) and face-to-face meetings (by making them rarer, more valued). AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. We sometimes hear headlines about “death of the office” and there are many questions about where we will work physically in the future if we’re working primarily in the digital workplace. But when we talk about the digital workplace we see it as something that is present everywhere: in the office, the factory, the café, at home, or some other third place. The digital workplace doesn’t replace the office, but it does bring options about where we work. We’ve seen a high profile backlash with, ironically, technology companies like Yahoo and Google demanding that staff come into the office. And these companies are able to offer every conceivable service and funky space in their physical offices. Interestingly, more traditional companies like Unilever, GSK and Citi are offering more flexible options. They are investing in great office spaces with diverse areas for different types of work, as well as offering flexibility. In fact one of the case studies we look at is in the public sector: the US Patent & Trademark Office who have been lauded in the US for their ‘work-at-home program’ which enables two thirds of agency staff to telework and helps them to recruit the best examiners. They’ve taken a big hit in 2014 in terms of a story that has emerged about abuses to the system albeit by a small number of employees – what’s interesting here is that it’s not the technology that’s a problem but their management practices and they’re actually providing additional training and support to managers in response. Meeting physically is still extremely important, it always will be. As organisations plan for this we’ll see more hybrid spaces, smaller offices or meeting spaces – making meeting up more easy and fluid rather than a massive commute into a head office. New kinds of “third spaces” will spring up such as co working space Impact Hub or café Ziferblat which charges for time spent in the café (with WIFI and coffee on tap), or Regus hubs for more confidential meetings. So far from the office dying what we’re seeing is that the digital workplace is providing a good challenge to physical workplaces, which are needing to adapt to become more imaginative and varied. It’s also reinvigorating our attitude to face-to-face meetings which become highly valued and meaningful encounters as they become less frequent.
- CHAPTER 4 IN A NUTSHELL? Many of our practices for teams are relics of the Industrial Age with its rigid idea of man-as-machine playing a part in mass production. In the digital age the team is undergoing yet another wave of change: working in multiple teams that form and disperse as needed; across geographies/ timezones; face-to-face and virtually; collaborating and connecting continuously. We’re all forming new habits as we work in this way, but we also need to provide the right training and guidance to all parts of the workforce, from digital literacy upwards. Shell is a great example with digital collaboration very much part of their “DNA” – the practices are deeply embedded in the organisation. We also have to learn how to build trust in this new way of working, which we find can be done very well in the digital environment. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. In this chapter Paul talks about the way that teamwork is changing in the digital era and again points out that many of our practices for teams are relics of the Industrial Age. Teamwork goes right back to the hunter gatherers working together to survive. In the Agrarian age it was more fluid with teams forming around seasonal needs or war. In the Industrial Age teams became more rigid with the idea of man-as-machine playing a part in mass production. In C20 work was progressively done to understand what makes teams work, including interventions by psychologists and management scientists. What we're seeing in the digital age is team undergoing yet another wave of change that is breaking apart the rigid idea of the team. Most people work in multiple teams that form and disperse as needed, stretch across geographies and timezones, working face-to-face and virtually. We all collaborate and connect continuously and relentlessly with a wide network. We're all starting to form new habits as we work in this way, but this isn't really enough we also need training and guidance. Companies like Cisco and Coca Cola given employees multiple choices of how to work digitally and they accompany this with varied options for training and guidance from Genius bars to online self help. We can't just assume that everyone will "get" digital - that includes so called "Digital Natives" who find that professional collaboration is very different from social networking. At Shell digital collaboration is very much part of their "DNA" with successful knowledge sharing practices dating back to the 60s. What's interesting when you hear the Shell story is that it isn't really about flashy technology but it's about technology that works for people and that has been embedded thoroughly - discussion boards, wikis and communities. It's also about significant multi million dollar savings that have resulted. Becoming adept in these environments is also very much about building trust. Our experience in DWG is that trust can be developed as well in the digital world as via face-to-face meetings. Trust comes more from the ways in which we collaborate and communicate digitally, and from the reputation we have in the mind of the person with whom we are in conversation. At Automattic, the 220 person company behind Wordpress, they use the Wordpress P2 theme to collaborate internally. “To P2 it” has become a verb that speaks to the process and discipline of documenting decisions and collaboration online. They ensure tight virtual collaboration including training and hand holding in best practices.
- CHAPTER 5 IN A NUTSHELL? 47% of jobs may be automated in the next 20 years according the Oxford University. The big question is whether the pace of automation will outstrip new jobs being created by digital. The challenges are actually more nuanced as we also face a digital skills gap. Various interventions are needed such as changes to education. It may be less about a lack of work and more about the changing nature of work with fixed notions of jobs being eroded. Shift to ‘freelancing the organisation’ with more flexible work options and ‘insourcing’. In all of this the digital workplace is the enabler for a more fluid workforce with a focus on outputs not inputs. Take the example of Motley Fool partnering with Elance to create a freelance management system to manage the extended workforce. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. Technological unemployment has been a concern in various ways since the early C19, there seems to be added anxiety around the impact of digital technologies because of the speed at which it is changing the job market and resulting concern that the automation of jobs may outpace the creation of new jobs. An Oxford University study from 2013 predicts that 47 per cent of all jobs may end up being automated within the next 20 years, and this includes knowledge fields such as legal work, accounting, real estate agency and technical writing. There are various potential avenues to explore: education and skills; shorter working week; policy decisions relating to potential redistribution of capital. [The challenges are also more nuanced than the headlines as we also face a global labour shortage by 2030 with the Baby Boomer generation leaving the workforce – between this and automation it will be the skills gap that is likely our biggest issue, rather than a lack of work]. There is also the idea of ‘freelancing the organisation’ with more flexible work options for employees, and greater fluidity in job roles and skills. It includes insourcing – harnessing talents of employees that may not be part of the day job. In all of this what we’re faced with is a refashioning of work and the digital workplace is the enabler – whether through managing a more fluid workforce with a focus on outputs rather than inputs or enabling that workforce to collaborate around projects. Financial services multimedia company, Motley Fool, partnered with Elance to build a platform that enables them to easily tap into their freelancers for content, manage work and contracts/ payment.
- CHAPTER 6 IN A NUTSHELL? Leaders need to make their presence felt in both the physical and digital workplace (the old idea of walking around needs updating). Consider also how digital is blurring the divide between inside and outside, and leadership needs to extend beyond employees to a much broader group. In all of this it’s clear that digital leadership is becoming essential yet many CEOs don’t even have a social media account. Leadership isn’t about having a Twitter account but if your employees and customers are there, but you are absent then ‘how can you be a leader if you don’t have followers’. Digital is bringing disruption for leaders but also unprecedented opportunities. Take the example of Dow Chemical CEO (Andrew Liveris who has blogged in his own voice to employees since 2007). At a time when (according to Edelman) trust in leaders is at an all time low, the digital workplace offers the opportunities to talk and listen directly with employees. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. In the 80s the management concept of ‘Management by walking around’ became popular and strolling through offices or factories to chat to staff was considered by some one of the arts of leadership. Leaders today have to think about both the physical and digital workplaces and ‘walking around’ is also about their digital presence. In addition, and as digital is blurring the divide between ‘inside’ and ‘outside’, their challenge is not just to lead employees but a much broader group including partners, freelancers, supply chain and even customers. Digital leadership is becoming essential, and yet many CEOs don’t even have a social media account. Certainly leadership isn’t about having a Twitter account certainly but if your employees and customers are there, but you are absent. As the Economist put it ‘How can you be a leader if you don’t have followers’. While the digital workplace is creating turmoil and disruption for leaders, it’s also creating amazing opportunities for CEOs and other leaders to communicate, engage and connect with employees instantly and continuously. Dow Chemical’s CEO, Andrew Liveris, has written a popular blog to employees since 2007. It is in his own voice, he doesn’t avoid difficult topics and it garners huge engagement from staff, including comments. Other high profile examples of great digital leaders, who have a big presence externally, are Richard Branson, Marissa Mayer and Marc Benioff. According to Edelman, only 20 per cent of people surveyed trusted business leaders to tell the truth, just 7 per cent higher than for the constantly derided government leaders; but regular, self-generated communication from CEOs can build trust and at least the appearance of accessibility. In the previous chapters we saw the level of change that is already coming in terms of where, when and how people work – leading in this new world will need new leadership formats.
- CHAPTER 7 IN A NUTSHELL? It’s not all plain sailing of course. We’re experiencing issues such as isolation for homeworkers or work addiction through constant connectivity and the inability to switch off. The digital workplace gives us great flexibility and autonomy but it can also (like any tool) be misused by employees or unscrupulous employers. Organisations are trying to address these issues with a mixture of training and new policies. Volkswagen switched off email outside of workers’ shifts – however this removes the flexibility while not evolving work practices. Deutsche Telecom introduced a ‘Smart Device Policy’ – employees can declare communication free times outside normal working hours. We have to weight up the benefits and pitfalls and find ways to mitigate these issues, rather than resisting the technology. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. This isn’t a techno-utopian account of our digital age and so in this next chapter Paul takes a look at some of the downsides to the ‘digital renaissance of work’. Isolation is one issue that can arise with homeworking; IBM became known as “I’m by myself” after a decade of homeworking, it’s been shown that many homeworkers actually crave more interaction and face-to-face contact. Another issue is work addiction, with so much time spent online and connectivity to our work tools extending into our homes, we continually hear headlines about the inability to switch off and the impact on our family lives. In fact, digital addiction clinics have even sprung up in South Korea and the US to try to help with this. There is a paradox here: the digital workplace gives us great flexibility and autonomy; and yet can also lead to work addiction as well as abuse by unscrupulous employers. We have to learn how to switch off from work so that valuable personal and family time isn’t eroded; and business leaders and managers need to model this behaviour. Organisations are trying to address these kind of issues with a mixture of training and new policies. One example is from Volkswagen who in 2011 turned off email to some workers up to half an hour before and after shifts. Personally I don’t believe that this is a real solution because it removes the flexibility that some workers may want, while also not dealing with the root problem which is about working practices. At Deutsche Telecom, by contrast, they’ve taken a policy approach with a ‘Smart Device Policy’ empowering workers to declare ‘communication free’ times outside normal working hours. We have to weigh up both the incredible benefits we’re experiencing from digital as well as the downsides and then work on ways to mitigate those downsides whether that’s about isolation or addiction inside our organisations or threats to jobs from automation – as Paul points out this isn’t about resisting the technology but about understanding where the pain falls and then adapt education, practices and policy in response. Yet another relic of the Industrial Age is our education system which has changed very little in the last 200 years. Our current system is a product of the British Empire and produces people to be parts of the industrial machine. Its not that teachers aren’t doing a good job, but there is a growing gulf between the skills being taught and those needed by our Digital Renaissance world.
- CHAPTER 8 IN A NUTSHELL? We are seeing both chronic global unemployment particularly for young people alongside vacancies that simply cannot be filled by the available skill. Our education system simply isn’t preparing people for the new world of work: as well as the right digital skills, it’s about nurturing creative thinking and problem solving. We’re seeing innovations such as MOOCs and Khan Academy as early stage shifts with interesting practices emerging as a result such as ‘flipping the classroom’. An interesting example in the UK if Essa Academy in Bolton with ipads for all staff and children and extensive use of online learning formats. Experiments like Sugata Mitra’s self organised learning movement are showing us new ways to think about learning instead of old notions of rote learning to turn out workers like parts in a machine. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. We are seeing both chronic global unemployment particularly for young people [over 200 million globally according to the International Labour Organisation] alongside vacancies (for example, in the IT industry) that simply cannot be filled by the available skill Last year the Institute of Engineering and Technology found that around 44% of new recruits were not meeting expectations for levels of skills, especially digital skills. It’s not just about digital skills though, the issue is also about preparing people for work by nurturing creative thinking and problem solving abilities. Just as the Industrial age established formal education for the young we again need to redesign how we learn. Paul suggests a few features of that redesign, such as a decline in rote learning in favour of critical thinking and creativity; more personalised learning; more life-long learning experiences. Probably the highest profile early stage shift we’ve seen is in Massive Open Online Courses (or MOOCs) such as Coursera and Udacity and now Futurelearn in the UK. The Khan Academy has been one of the early pioneers featuring thousands of free learning resources – this has had an interesting effect of ‘flipping the classroom’ in some schools that are using the Academy so that teaching can happen online and more personalised work in the classroom. There are also some innovative uses of technology in schools, one example is the Essa Academy in Bolton with ipads for all staff and children and a range of interactive resources and media and courses downloadable from iTunes. Innovative practices like these are changing the role of teachers in education and nowhere has this been demonstrated more dramatically than in Sugata Mitra’s ‘hole in the wall experiments’ in Mumbai which have demonstrated children’s ability for self-organised learning with the right technology and encouragement. So just as we see new formats both digitally and physically for work, we’re likely also to see more new formats emerging for education.
- As we transition to the second half of the book – the roadmap for implementing a digital workplace fit for the future – Paul calls on us to place ourselves as human beings at the centre of our unfolding digital worlds, working alongside our new digital tools and ensuring that they expand us as human beings rather than suffocate us.
- CHAPTER 10 IN A NUTSHELL? We start out in the second section with a chance to step back and take stock of the digital workplace journey in your organisation. We focus in on what a DW is and, in doing so, see that every organisation already has a DW and clarify that it isn’t just a bigger better intranet. A starting point: all of the digital tools that enable work to happen. It isn’t just one thing we also have to look at it (a) via the impact that it’s having on work and (b) the fact that it comes in many different shapes and sizes depending on the organisation, industry etc. For example, Unilever’s Agile Workplace Programme, University of Liverpool’s App Store, Alaska Airlines pilot ipad roll out; Mitsubishi Electric’s augmented reality app for repair operators. What is common across orgs and sectors is that the DW is starting to get more attention at a senior level as the pressure to adapt from both inside and outside grows. How would you describe the DW now in your org? The rest of the chapter sets out a heuristic tool to self-assess on the capability of your DW. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. We start out in the second section with a chance to step back and take stock of the digital workplace journey in your organisation. To do so we have to bust a couple of myths that are common in our industry at the moment… Every organisation has a DW. It’s not a futuristic concept that will finally be reached when all the right technology services are in place. It is happening now – whether it enables employees to work productively and engages them, or is a source of problems and causes frustration – and it is evolving fast. The DW is not a bigger better intranet. In many cases the intranet is acting as a rallying point for understanding this technology landscape. It is not that intranets are evolving into digital workplaces – a common misconception in our industry at present – but rather that intranets form a ‘core component’ of the digital workplace. So when we’re thinking about the DW it’s about all of the digital tools that enable work to happen. This starting point for defining the digital workplace may be accurate but it in fact encompasses a great deal more than just a set of technology services. To understand the DW we have to also look at the impact it’s having on how we work and live: work is not a destination, not constricted to 9-5, unfettered by geography, it’s about output not presence, some work is disappearing even as new jobs are invented, work is more satisfying; traditional concepts about trust and work are being challenged. It’s not just about the Googles and the Ciscos! We’re seeing the promise of the digital workplace being realised in varying shapes and sizes across industry sectors, for example: Through a holistic Agile Workplace programme, Unilever achieves deep cultural change, removing artificial barriers around how work gets done and enabling employees to choose when and where they work, as long as the needs of the business are met. The University of Liverpool transforms its intranet into an app store that enables staff and students more easily to get information, organize their schedules and stay connected from whatever device they choose. Alaska Airlines replaces 5,500 pages of paper captured in three ring-binders with iPads for their 1,500 airline pilots – not only lightening their load but giving them flight manuals, maps and the latest information via a range of critical apps An augmented reality app at Mitsubishi Electric provides repair operators with step-by-step instructions and indicators to assist machine repair. DW initiatives are starting to get significant senior management attention as the pressure to adapt from inside and outside grows, whether that’s about trends such as cloud, mobile, analytics; worker expectations and challenges around work-life balance; or recognition that poor digital experiences are dragging down productivity or reputation. How would you describe the digital workplace right now in your organization as the Digital Renaissance gathers pace? For many organizations the digital workplace has evolved in a haphazard manner, creating a landscape that lacks integration and is difficult to use. The journey from this chaotic state to a cohesive, effective digital workplace needs to be taken one step at a time. Digital maturity has been shown to be critical to financial performance across all industries, both internally and externally. Being able to assess this maturity – in our case, focusing on the internal digital workplace – is key to understanding the current state and desired future state, in order to help shape the digital workplace Programme. DWG’s full digital workplace maturity model takes a widescreen view of the digital workplace, assessing its user experience, strategic management, measurement and organizational context, as well as capability. In this section, we use a trimmed-down version of the model to enable immediate insight into where your digital workplace is now in terms of its capability to meet core employee needs. It is a heuristic tool to help you gain understanding of the digital workplace capability in your organization. The model emphasizes the usefulness of the workplace as a whole, rather than specific features such as ‘travel booking’ or ‘collaboration spaces’. The areas: Communication and information - What role does your digital workplace play in internal communications and as an information sharing tool? Community and collaboration - How well does your digital workplace support peer-to-peer working, including collaboration as a project team or community of practice, and social connectivity (such as finding people, seeking knowledge and sharing ideas)? Services and workflow - How effective is your digital workplace at delivering online applications that support employee self-service, workflow or specific functions, such as CRM or supply chain management? Structure and coherence - Is your organization’s digital workplace managed as a cohesive whole? This includes the extent to which platforms are shared; sites and applications integrated; branding consistent; governance in place; and standards adhered to. Mobility and flexibility - How advanced is the digital workplace in providing access regardless of location and device?
- CHAPTER 11 IN A NUTSHELL? Update and extended business case examples – but before we get into those we pause to look at strategic alignment, often the missing element. Cost optimization: Opportunities to rationalize and reduce operational costs through digital workplace programmes can flow from reductions in real estate, reducing travel through virtual meetings, and consolidating systems. Shell: $1+ million savings through intranet platform consolidation. People and productivity: Increasing productivity levels among staff is a key driver for investment in the digital workplace – as are better retention and reduced absenteeism. Also important here is a range of so-called ‘soft’ benefits such as improved employee engagement and better employee experience. Fife Council UK: 22% productivity increase/ mobile work tools. Business continuity: In recent years, disasters such as the tsunami in Japan in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in the US in 2012 have demonstrated the criticality of employees being enabled to work remotely in order for organizations to avoid shutdown. Many examples have emerged of successful business continuity in disaster situations, which have spurred on the case for further investment in the digital workplace. Corporate social responsibility (CSR): The digital workplace is having a significant positive impact on the environmental footprint of organizations, particularly through reduced travel and real estate. Increased revenue: There are now diverse digital workplace interventions that can be made to better enable sales and frontline staff to increase revenues. These can be as straightforward as better information provision, or as intricate as gamification initiatives designed to spur motivation. AT&T’s My CSP Knowledge Portal > higher sales goal attainmemnt. Accelerating innovation: Where the organizational culture is supportive and the right digital tools in place, innovation is accelerating at an exciting rate. Beyond the traditional boundaries of R&D, the digital workplace is enabling organizations to extend participation in innovation to the whole employee population and even further to partners and customers. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. Former Intel CTO, Justin Rattner, commented on the pace of change: “If you think the past years of digital revolution were pretty amazing, think again. The next 40 years will blow you away, and will make the past 40 years look pretty tame.” Disruption is the norm and for any digital team is bringing a constant barrage of new technology opportunities. We’ve already heard “We have to do social (etc)”. For the digital team it’s about stepping back and understanding how these technologies align with strategic objectives (and, as we see in the next chapter, user needs). Recent research from Gartner has shown that, while social collaboration is now deployed in 70 per cent of organizations, there is only a 10 per cent success rate. It attributes this to a worst practice approach of ‘provide and pray’. The issue isn’t just one that relates to collaboration, at DWG we see this across DW projects. All of that is a long preface to what we set out in this chapter: the many many examples of real benefits organisations are realising from DW programmes – that come with exactly that caveat, needing strategic alignment in place to be realised. So the benefits: Cost optimization: Opportunities to rationalize and reduce operational costs through digital workplace programmes can flow from reductions in real estate, reducing travel through virtual meetings, and consolidating systems. People and productivity: Increasing productivity levels among staff is a key driver for investment in the digital workplace – as are better retention and reduced absenteeism. Also important here is a range of so-called ‘soft’ benefits such as improved employee engagement and better employee experience. Business continuity: In recent years, disasters such as the tsunami in Japan in 2011 and Hurricane Sandy in the US in 2012 have demonstrated the criticality of employees being enabled to work remotely in order for organizations to avoid shutdown. Many examples have emerged of successful business continuity in disaster situations, which have spurred on the case for further investment in the digital workplace. Corporate social responsibility (CSR): The digital workplace is having a significant positive impact on the environmental footprint of organizations, particularly through reduced travel and real estate. Increased revenue: There are now diverse digital workplace interventions that can be made to better enable sales and frontline staff to increase revenues. These can be as straightforward as better information provision, or as intricate as gamification initiatives designed to spur motivation. Accelerating innovation: Where the organizational culture is supportive and the right digital tools in place, innovation is accelerating at an exciting rate. Beyond the traditional boundaries of R&D, the digital workplace is enabling organizations to extend participation in innovation to the whole employee population and even further to partners and customers. Shell saw savings of more than US$1 million through the consolidation of country and regional intranet sites into one global intranet. Savings were realized through reduced infrastructure needs and demand on IT resources. It has also had beneficial effects on information discovery through simplifying the content estate. Fife Council, Scotland’s third largest local authority, measured a 22 per cent increase in productivity in staff enabled to work flexibly using a mobile app platform that helps to streamline workflow. Overall, the programme is on course to save the council £20 million. The United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) avoided US$19.8 million in new real estate expenses through agile working. It has leveraged homeworking and office hotelling to grow its workforce (from 6,000 to nearly 10,000) without increasing its real estate footprint. Sales representatives at AT&T using their ‘My CSP’ knowledge portal to watch ‘Retails Essentials’ videos were found to have 40% higher sales goals attainment than colleagues not using it. American Electric Power introduced an ideas management system on the intranet, which is designed to enable employees to suggest solutions to real problems the company is facing. Within just a few months this helped the company to identify US$8 million savings. The US Government revised its original estimate of the cost of lost productivity from snow-related federal office closures in 2010, from US$100 million a day to US$71 million, to account for the growing number of teleworking federal employees.
- CHAPTER 12 IN A NUTSHELL? Digital workplace design is lagging behind the needs of an increasingly flexible workforce. Few are looking at the UX of the whole digital workplace, even where it’s considered at the level of individual services. Here we look at the issues caused by poor DW UX, summarised as ‘user experience debt’ and which includes issues such as lower adoption of new services, lost productivity, eroding engagement, impact on attracting/ retaining talent, and encouraging risky behaviours. Addressing the issues means a wider piece around strategy and governance (which we come on to) but here we look at: standards and interventions. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. In chapter 12 we look at the design challenge in the digital workplace. In 2012, IDC forecasted that by 2015 there would be 1.3 billion remote workers worldwide. That’s around 40% of the global workforce. Yet despite the growing prominence of new ways of working, what we see at DWG is that most organizations are not looking at the user experience of the whole digital workplace. And even where UX is considered at the level of individual services, often these have been designed for knowledge workers on desktops rather than the flexible workforce. Most definitions of user experience use words like ‘simplicity’, ‘seamlessness’, ‘fitness for purpose’ and ‘attractiveness’ – Nielsen Norman’s definition goes as far as to say that tools should be ‘a joy to use’. It’s immediately clear that the digital workplaces of most organizations do not provide anything approaching a good user experience. More often than not the digital workplace is a patchwork of different tools and services pieced together over time and through different projects. Although user testing may have been carried out at the level of individual services – such as the intranet site – the user experience is rarely considered more broadly. Most definitions of user experience use words like ‘simplicity’, ‘seamlessness’, ‘fitness for purpose’ and ‘attractiveness’ – Nielsen Norman’s definition goes as far as to say that tools should be ‘a joy to use’. It’s immediately clear that the digital workplaces of most organizations do not provide anything approaching a good user experience. More often than not the digital workplace is a patchwork of different tools and services pieced together over time and through different projects. Gaps in experience left by digital workplace projects will be paid for with the time and frustration of the users. This is the concept of user experience debt. Poor user experience in the digital workplace leads to multiple issues: reduces the adoption of new services causes a loss of productivity annoys users and erodes employee happiness and satisfaction reduces the organization’s ability to attract and retain talent encourages risky behaviours. Improving the digital workplace user experience means addressing wider issues of how the digital workplace is managed and governed, which we look at further on. Here we look at specific UX interventions. Organizations have varying levels of control over different areas of the digital workplace: the designed (e.g. – the intranet) and the non-designed (e.g. – Lync, Yammer). Organizations need to develop a clear set of standards for the digital workplace as part of an overarching governance structure. Areas such as: branding, application development, content quality & lifecycle, accessibility, ownership, procurement checklist. The tools of user experience that are usually applied to individual sites and services can be applied to the digital workplace as a whole. In the designed digital workplace, issues of user experience can be addressed using interventions such as a user experience strategy, user research and mental models. In the non-designed digital workplace, user experience issues can be mitigated using interventions such as universal navigation, branding, personalization and enterprise search.
- CHAPTER 13 IN A NUTSHELL? In chapter 13 (which, frankly, we could have written a book on in itself!) we look at the key elements of what it takes to set up the digital workplace programme. Low level of orgs with formal DW programme (16% in recent client survey) but many at the early stages (40% rise in orgs saying it’s a strategic priority) We start out with a look at scoping the programme and understanding – given how big the programme potentially is – which chunk to bite off first. We also look at key factors for determining the strategy such as strategic alignment and user research. Stakeholder involvement and cross-functional involvement are also critical factors – think about winning hearts and minds. Who should lead the DW? A new role like CDO or existing role(s)? No single answer. PRISA: CDO. Barclays: Transformation Director. Virgin Media: HR & IT. Key thing is strong, passionate leadership. We look at the governance required including roles and responsibilities and structure such as DW steering and operational groups. Also the need for ongoing and local governance. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE.. In chapter 13 (which, frankly, we could have written a book on in itself!) we look at the key elements of what it takes to set up the digital workplace programme. As we’re seeing, ‘digital’ is at the heart of organizational transformation in our current era. Yet many organizations are entering it with little or no idea of how it will impact on their operations. In fact, in our recent client/ member survey only 16% of major organisations who participated said they have a formal digital workplace function or programme in place. This is problematic given the complex nature of the digital workplace. We’ve already seen pioneers such as Virgin Media, IKEA, Unilever ask – and start to answer – critical questions about how to put a DW strategy in place. And it appears that we’re on the cusp of many more organisations embarking on this journey. In the last year we’ve seen a sharp rise in the priority of the digital workplace strategy and roadmap among our clients/members – from 9% to 51% highlighting it as a priority. In this chapter we basically walk through How to scope the programme including the importance of sponsorship and cross-functional involvement Defining the strategy Establishing the governance model Approaches to implementation and change management. When you’re scoping the programme you need to think about making it sufficiently wide reaching, incorporating people, place and technology, in order to leverage the investment required and achieve the kind of significant benefits we looked at in the business case chapter. At the same time you need to decide which chunk to bite off first, as stakeholders are unlikely to want to wait 18 months for delivery. So the scope might be defined by technology (e.g. an upgrade), the area of the business it’s targeted at, a particular process its aimed to improve, or particular sought behaviour (e.g. collaboration). For Virgin Media, the approach of keeping things simple meant that everyday tasks, such as sharing spreadsheets and locating expertise, could be done faster and more efficiently. We also look at key factors for defining the strategy such as alignment with organizational objectives, understanding employee needs through research, the little matter of budget, communication and change management and any third-party suppliers in the mix. And it’s worth noting that in both those examples the team also worked extensively on the stakeholder engagement piece looking carefully at the terminology, using things like visualisation or as one of them described it gaining buy-in ‘one conversation at a time’. In fact, all of the success stories we see have very strong cross-functional involvement both at a strategic level and also within the delivery team. Stora Enso (Scandinavian Pulp & Paper Manufacturer) is a good example. In building the first iteration of the digital workplace their starting point was an intranet owned by Comms and a collaboration platform owned by IT – and they were coming from totally different worlds in how they thought about them. They established a close partnership between IT and Comms underpinned by a steering group with representation from across the company and joint project managers from IT and comms. They had a strong shared vision of what they wanted to achieve and were able to educate each other on business/ IT priorities to achieve a balanced view. The DW programme covers many distinct areas that will already have established strategies and there may be a perceived loss of autonomy so important to get people engaged early: So if we look at IKEA, as an example, when they established their digital workplace programme, no existing work streams were held up and business-as-usual activity continued but realigned to the new vision. Working with the teams allowed feedback to be captured, which in turn enabled wider value to be delivered. So who should lead the programme? We know from benchmarking intranets that gaining senior sponsorship is hard (only about 50% intranets have it) and we don’t expect it to get easier in the DW. The upside is that the DW does attract more senior attention, indeed McKinsey found that more and more execs are supporting and getting involved in digital initiatives with the CEO leading in 31% of the orgs they surveyed. We’re not seeing a single answer emerging, rather a range of leadership formats fitted to the organisations they represent. For some organisations that means a Chief Digital Officer, a role that is as much hyped as criticised, though often this is a primarily externally focused role. Asian Paints, Bechtel and Spanish media giant PRISA have interpreted the role differently with a vision of digital transformation that starts from within. Barclays – Strategic Transformation Director. Has enabled DW team to move through barriers. Senior sponsorship can equally come from an existing role or roles, for example: Virgin Media - HR and IT partnered on the project, with the CIO, Chief Customer Officer and Chief Network Officer established as programme sponsors Unilever – HR, IT and workplace solutions USPTO – CIO and Chief Admin Officer, plus individual business units in the agency. Whichever way it goes meaningful sponsorship – in other words, not just someone who signs of budget but is a passionate evangelist, is essential. The standards we looked out earlier will form part of a governance framework including clear ownership, and roles and responsibilities at all levels. A great example is Cisco who put a lot of focus on establishing robust governance early on in their DW journey, this includes strong local involvement through Sustainable Management Teams (SMTs) for each roll out support the process and work with the central team for example on post implementation surveys to understand what is/ isn’t working. Which also brings us on to rollout and the importance of embedding the change locally with powerful examples of interventions such as advocates at PwC and Barclays; an array of training options from Unilever and USPTO; and identifying ‘super connectors’ at Virgin Media.
- CHAPTER 14 IN A NUTSHELL… Measurement internally generally still immature relative to external, we see this as an ongoing weakness for intranets. Here we look at how to define KPIs and metrics for the programme looking at measuring against desired benefits we looked at in the business case, and against specific types of projects such as collaboration or platform consolidation. We also look back at the heuristic assessment done earlier (or full DWG maturity benchmark) and using this as a baseline against which to measure overall progress. We check back in with one of our case studies – Unilever – to see their holistic measurement programme which tracks and reports results at local and programme levels, also enabling them to communicate externally. That bring us on to story telling as a key tool in bringing metrics/ results to life. And as we draw to the end of the book, we look at using measurement to continually evolve the digital workplace, as IBM have over many years. AND IF YOU WANT A BIT MORE… In DWG’s game-changing research on intranet metrics, Chris Tubb described the state of intranet measurement by saying that most teams “are driving cars with fogged windscreens, no speedometers and no petrol gauges”. And it’s not just an intranet problem, the reporting around digital tools generally is still immature relative to, for example, CRM data used for the management of external clients. Yet what we see in successful DW programmes like Unilever is that identifying appropriate tools at the outset, or making the case for investment in them, and establishing key success criteria and a measurement framework is essential. In chapter 11 we focused on the business case and strategic alignment, and these activities will also drive the measurement strategy which needs to include appropriate top line KPIs plus broader metrics for insight, tracking of overall progress with something like the DW Mapping, monitoring of individual project status as well as effectively using success stories. Unilever are a great example of taking a holistic approach with their targeted set of measures for its Agile Workplace Programme They have an Agile Working Certification for individual sites that gives them a star rating 1-3. The certification includes an assessment of the technology, including how old it is – this is a powerful driver for ongoing IT investment. They also have a Agile Working Global Scorecard that incorporates a range of measures around implementation and utilization of telepresence rooms; identification and implementation of new agile workplace sites; employee awareness of and training in agile working practices plus individual workplans developed; and cost reductions from reduced travel and facility operating costs. And all of this enables them to tell powerful stories within and beyond the organisation, such as this example video on You Tube from their Singapore office. As much as we might fantasize about an ideal endgame for the digital workplace, the reality is that ongoing research, measurement, development and iteration will be required. Proof of concepts, pilots, quarterly release cycles and phased roll-outs are very much taking centre stage in this respect. One of the best examples of this is IBMs in the way they’ve evolved their intranet from the original iteration of W3 in 1996 through to the IBM Workplace of today. And the team are continually looking for new ways to improve.. IKEA and City of Malmo are also good examples: quarterly iteration cycles is reported to have a range of positive effects including: making it easier to communicate about and promote the intranet; the implicit message that the intranet is already good (it doesn’t need to be rebuilt from scratch) and there is constant improvement to it; it bolsters senior management perception that the intranet team is continually delivering value. And of course as the programme evolves so will the metrics needed to understand progress and fine tune performance.
- We started this section of the book by reflecting on where your organization is at on it’s DW journey, and as we arrive at the end of the book we’re reminded that it is very much a journey rather than a destination. As DW professionals its up to us to remain restless and to some extent dissatisfied: always wanting to understand the new frontiers of technology and constantly relating it back to how people really live and work in our organisations. We talk a lot about ‘digital’ right now – as author Tom Standage says, ‘it’s a sign of a medium’s immaturity when on of the main topic of discussion is the medium itself’ – a reminder that we’re at an early stage in this journey and the opportunity to evolve and reinvent what we’re doing in this Digital Renaissance era is truly remarkable.