In Part 1 of our Hero’s Journey, you learned how today’s organisations are preparing for the digital future...by choosing technologies, mapping change, and getting their teams ready. In Part 2, you rode shotgun as our hero hit the road - forging alliances and partnerships with interested parties along the way.
Now it’s time for the third act.
As with the conclusion of any great story, ours concludes with our hero reaching his goals and returning home - changed. Not to continue his or her old life...but to start a new one.
Because, the journey to the digital workplace isn’t a voyage of geography, it’s a voyage of transformation and adoption. And it’s a journey that has more in common with the Greek myths than your daily commute.
Your digital transformation is a narrative of big ideas, strategic planning, and decisive actions that will bring real change. And just as the classical stories gave rise to new organising principles - collaboration across cultures, shared stakes in a joint enterprise, democratic decision making - the improvements of digital transformation are more than incremental. They’re a paradigm shift.
To learn how it’s done, let’s embark on the last leg of our hero’s journey… and learn not just the way digital technology transforms our workplaces and drives user adoption, but how we can make the best of those transformations and maximise on this adoption.
2. In Part 2, you rode shotgun as our hero hit the
road - forging alliances and partnerships with
interested parties along the way.
In Part 1 of our Hero’s Journey, you learned
how today’s organisations are preparing for
the digital future...by choosing technologies,
mapping change, and getting their teams ready.
Now it’s time for the third act.
3. Because, the journey to the digital workplace isn’t a voyage of geography, it’s a voyage of
transformation. And it’s a journey that has more in common with the Greek myths than your
daily commute.
As with the conclusion of any great
story, ours concludes with our hero
reaching his goals and returning home
- changed. Not to continue his old life...
but to start a new one.
4. And just as the classical stories gave rise to new organising principles - collaboration across
cultures, shared stakes in a joint enterprise, democratic decision making - the improvements
of digital transformation are more than incremental. They’re a paradigm shift.
Your digital transformation is a
narrative of big ideas, strategic
planning, and decisive actions that will
bring real change.
5. 95%of people say they plan to use business
communication tools instead of
in-person meetings.
6. The third in a
three-part series
To learn how it’s done, let’s embark on
the last leg of our hero’s journey… and
learn not just the way digital technology
transforms our workplaces and drives user
adoption, but how we can make the best of
those transformations and MAXIMISE on
this adoption.
7. Adoption
When our hero returns from the heroic journey to the digital workplace they come back
changed. This change encourages others to change and emulate our hero. Let’s not
forget, adoption is the reason our hero embarked on their journey in the first place.
8. Adoption is key to the digital workplace - it cannot exist without it. Of course technology
plays a part, but technology is nothing without cultural change.
As Peter Drucker said…
“Culture eats strategy for breakfast ”
9. In fact, user adoption has been our hero’s mantra at every stage in their
journey to the digital workplace, from setting out to rising up right through
to this, the final stage - one of transformation.
10. This mantra means that user adoption is not something our hero just ‘expects’ to happen
but something that has been carefully considered and planned.
Let’s look at how, in our
transformation stage, our hero
has planned for adoption.
11. at the very start of our journey, when our hero began defining
their vision by considering the human factors involved in any
digital workplace.
It all began...
12. At this point our hero asked ‘how open are the workforce
to new ideas?’, ‘what have they invested in their current
processes?’, ‘how might the planned changes impact on their
professional identity?’, ‘how likely are the workforce to push
back against any changes?’ and most importantly
‘how can each of these issues be addressed?’
13. By looking at the challenges implementing a digital workplace
may cause from a human perspective and profiling users
accordingly, assessing what each element of the business
needs and how they can benefit from it at the very beginning,
our hero can drive user adoption with ease at the end.
14. Now our hero has returned and is
ready to transform their workplace.
With their vision clearly defined,
accompanied by guides and with a
clear road map for change they can
begin driving user adoption by…
At the end of
our journey...
15. Steering groups
Before embarking on a transformation project consider setting up a functional or end-
user adoption steering group to ensure that you have buy-in across the organisation.
16. but should also encompass evangelists from that power couple of the digital
workplace - HR and I.T. The group should also involve the C-suite, after all
getting employee buy-in is much easier if the C-suite can demonstrate their
enthusiasm for the project.
These steering groups should
obviously involve our hero and
his accomplices
17. Letting our hero speak
Our hero (or heroes) had the initial vision, they embarked on the journey and
forged alliances. Let them share their knowledge and enthusiasm.
18. By providing the structure for your hero to speak to employees and to give practical hands-
on tuition around the technology that you are encouraging your employees to adopt you
can boost user adoption rates and inspire others to step-up to the mark.
Spawning a whole department,
office and eventually a company
of digital workplace heroes.
19. Don’t forget - this doesn’t have to be in the same office,
same department or even the same region
your heroes can reach out to
anyone, anywhere, anytime -
welcome to the digital workplace!
20. Don’t forget
- user adoption should be approached
as a change management project
and appropriate services should be
deployed accordingly!
21. Now we’ve looked at user adoption and the way that it underpins our
hero’s entire journey, let’s look at the way the digital workplace transforms
businesses, people and processes and how the three are interlinked.
With user adoption
comes transformation
23. Before transformation, a “department” generally occupied a specific place, with as many
desks as people. Post-journey, the department becomes an idea. And ideas, of course, are
the most powerful connections anywhere.
Let’s start at the coalface:
the departmental function.
[Transformation 1]
24. A connected work culture means people in the same function may never meet face-to-face.
Some departments may have no designated space at all. But these people know each other
better - and frequently interact more deeply - than ever before.
“It’s the difference between
going to a conference room
and firing up an app”
Marianne Calder, CBCO
[Transformation 1]
25. 20MUK workers now have the right to ask
for flexible working arrangements. Such
requests used to be a special favour; after
your journey to the digital workplace,
they’re almost a hygiene factor.
[Transformation 1]
26. And it’s energising P&Ls from Beijing to Basingstoke.
This is how departments are
transforming in the digital
workplace.
[Transformation 1]
27. 75%of the workforce - Gartner
By 2030 millennials will make up
[Transformation 1]
28. With secure unified messaging and video collaboration at their laptops, workers can
connect in the ways that suit them - which for many people means ad-hoc, when-it-
suits-them and the business rather than set schedules and slots.
Driving the change?
The explosion of options
[Transformation 1]
29. Once, meeting rooms had to be booked, conference calls scheduled, video
presentations set up on a big screen. That meant friction. So people didn’t do it. But
when those drag factors are taken away… collaboration happens in a thousand little
ways, from a two-person Skype to a self-guided learning experience.
And all those little nudges
add up to BIG WINS.
[Transformation 1]
30. Transformation 2:
Between the teams
[Transformation 2]
From the top-down tyranny of the org chart, to
bottom-up solutions emerging from business needs
31. Departments submit plans to Finance at set times; Heads of Functions get
together once a month; cost statements are collated quarterly.
Historically, there’s been
little linkage between
functional specialties except
on approved lines.
[Transformation 2]
32. As people have access to broader and deeper information, they gain more
knowledge of their peers in other areas.
The second transformation
of the digital workplace turns
this on its head: lower-level
workers connect across silos.
[Transformation 2]
33. “How different generations of
stakeholders understand each
other is becoming an issue.”
Richard Bywaters, Computacenter
That copywriter in London is a perfect match for that technical marketer
in Los Angeles. But they only found out they made a dream team… when
they knew of each other’s existence. Making that connection is what digital
transformation does best.
[Transformation 2]
34. 44%of workers want wider adoption of
communication and collaboration tools.
[Transformation 2]
35. Opening up your laptop now opens you up to the world. A world
where it’s okay to ask questions, and there’s always someone with
the knowledge you need. The tacit knowledge in people’s heads, that
defines your company culture, is all just a click away.
Driving the change?
Cross-fertilised knowledge
[Transformation 2]
36. Mentoring programmes that cross borders? Virtual coffees with nonaligned
managers elsewhere? All these chance connections increase the value-add
for the business as a whole.
So embrace the explosion! User
adoption happens fastest when
people get personal value from
the technology.
[Transformation 2]
37. Transformation 3:
In the customer relationship
[Transformation 3]
Opening up, without losing control
38. In the past, customers were scary people, loose cannons to be treated with kid gloves
and a poker face. In your transformed workplace, customers are more like colleagues,
helping your business increase its sales and profits by working together more
effectively with you - actions which positively impact their profits too.
Our next transformation is in how
you deal with customers.
[Transformation 3]
39. [Transformation 3]
“The younger generation
of workers expect to be able to
have a video conferencing session
on any device, on any network.”
Richard Bywaters, Computacenter
40. Close collaboration - “Hey, Dave, I noticed your shipment was a day late, was there
a problem?” - smooths out misunderstandings and provides teachable moments
for business improvement. These then become best practice, rolled out across your
organisation by the same communication and collaboration tools.
Business relationships
are becoming deeper,
more entangled.
[Transformation 3]
41. The time for treating customers as outsiders is past. Your customers are part of your
business, connected to it with the same technology as your own people.
Driving the change?
Open communication
[Transformation 3]
43. The biggest change is the realisation that customers are “just folks”. They have the
same need for information, the same appreciation of honest dealing, as anyone in your
company. Upgrade the customer relationship, with always-on, always-available unified
messaging tools - tools that let them talk to you the way they want to - and you’ve
nailed the secrets of sustainable success.
So keep that communication open!
[Transformation 3]
44. Transformation 4:
Along the supply chain
[Transformation 4]
From a single point of failure, to
multiple options for success
45. The supply chain of an advertising agency or global consulting firm is just as real as
that of a car maker or chemicals giant - and it’s subject to the same pressures.
All businesses have supply chains,
even those not working with
metal or machine parts.
[Transformation 4]
46. “Leverage your existing
investment to support a new and
better way of doing business”
Deloitte
As always, availability and suitability of resources ebb and flow… but when you
can work with resources in New Caledonia as easily as New York, you suddenly
have a lot more choice in how you deliver customer value.
[Transformation 4]
47. Instead of a singular sequence of producers and value-adders - where a weak link is a
constant worry - resources can come together when and where they’re needed in your
business process. Sometimes at a moment’s notice.
In the digital workplace, the supply
chain becomes a supply web.
[Transformation 4]
49. Easier communication means more abundance - in the people you can work with, the
resources you can capture, the transaction costs you can slash. So make sure your
people know they have these choices.
Driving the change?
Superabundance
[Transformation 4]
50. Write video Case Studies and circulate them. Create webinars and sign your teams up.
The more you lead by example, the more they’ll be encouraged to develop new ways of
working with suppliers themselves.
Make sure you highlight success
stories and share them around.
[Transformation 4]
52. A culture of collaboration means a focus away from narrow personal goals, towards
what’s best for the workgroup. In the transformed digital workplace,
making a name for yourself isn’t
about individual struggle.
[Transformation 5]
53. Because with a toolbox of digital wonders, being a great workmate is easier.
When you help someone else, your contribution is always recognisable.
Why?
[Transformation 5]
54. [Transformation 5]
- Cap Gemini
70%of tablets funded by
employees.
66%of workers use two or more
devices… with
55. as are those conference calls you initiated, those video sessions you shared, those
training resources you created as a cool Webinar.
The morning you spent training Michael, or the extra hour you stayed to get Samantha
up to speed on a project, is not forgotten.
It’s recorded and measurable
[Transformation 5]
56. In the digital workplace, credit goes to those with open arms, not sharp elbows.
So that’s our next digital transformation:
a real change in attitudes
towards teamwork.
[Transformation 5]
57. It’s in our genes to seek reward. And recognition of our efforts. The tools you put in
place let people help their colleagues at scale. One hour creating a Webinar may help
a hundred people over the next year. So demonstrate how your people can share their
expertise to the masses… without making a massive effort.
Driving the change?
Basic human nature
[Transformation 5]
58. Transformation 6:
In the metrics and measures
[Transformation 6]
From hard numbers to feel-good factors.
59. Yet these qualities are famously hard to measure… which is
why they’re rarely on the C-suite’s To-Do list.
Everyone knows a happy and
motivated workforce that
feels appreciated is far more
productive than one buried
in red tape and protocol.
[Transformation 6]
60. Soft measures like “how are you feeling, Bob?” don’t sound very Gordon Gekko. But If
a worker saved a one-hour commute with a morning conference call… or completed a
project early thanks to remote collaboration... or felt cheered by an extra bit of attention
from his manager… you can bet your bottom line will see the benefits.
So that’s our last big digital
transformation: a focus on the
measures that really matter.
[Transformation 6]
61. The greatest transformation in your digital workplace may be things that are hard to define:
Tough to put on a spreadsheet. But boy, can you see their effects.
purpose, meaning and the
sense of personal fulfilment.
[Transformation 6]
62. Human fulfilment is a fickle thing. It doesn’t happen monthly or in a performance
review. It’s minute-by-minute, in real time. So work with it - and empower your
people to collaborate; from their kitchen tables, their bedrooms and the airport lounge.
Driving the change?
Real-time information
[Transformation 6]
63. It’s the cumulative effect of a million little changes. Which add up to true
disruption: a break with the old ways, and a welcoming-in of the new.
The digital transformation isn’t
about one big change imposed
on your people.
[Transformation 6]
64. Decisions made as needed, on timelier,
more accurate information whose sources
are connected straight-across and
available to everyone who needs it. That’s
the new world of information sharing
within your business. But the technology
is simply an enabler of something far
greater: people power.
And that’s the culmination of our Hero’s
Journey. He set out full of hope for a
digital transformation of the workplace.
And he found it. But when he succeeded
in his goals and arrived back home, he
realised something else: it was the people,
all along.
Summing up: collaborative
control over our world
65. Takeaways
The journey to a
digital workplace isn’t
of geography, but of
psychology
In any digital
transformation,
empowerment means
enablement
The digital transformation
is all about the people!
66. Your heroic journey to
the digital workplace
is nearly at an end.
Download Chapter Three of
this guidebook and let it aid
you as you as your journey
approaches its end.
Download Now
67. Contact Arkadin to see
how we can help you on
your journey to a digital
workplace.
Get in touch now!