27 May Work 2.0 – Digitally Enhanced Business Performance

Business transformation has been a key topic of conversation for many years now. We’ve all bought into the idea that a more digitally focused workplace or way of working will provide improved business performance.

But now we’ve all experienced an extended period of remote working and have had time to reflect on our own organisation’s performance. Some have performed better than others, yet I think we can all agree we’ve learnt that we need to embrace digital transformation with a new urgency.

An enforced ‘reset’

In the early stage of the lockdown, a huge effort was applied to simply maintain some level of continuity. A sense of ‘business as usual’ even though it was far from it for many of us. 

IT teams have played an extensive part in either enabling the organisation to operate off-premise or creating workarounds. Those that could do, and those that couldn’t figure out a way. Many are still working on more viable solutions and will continue to do so in the coming months whilst many workers remain remote.

It’s been a do or die scenario. Credit is due to all the UK business leaders, employees and IT departments that have pulled out all the stops to make it happen.

The future of work can’t be like the past

All the stress and fears that went with those early days of adopting a new way of working may seem a fading memory. But if we’ve learned anything from all this it’s that the future of work can’t be like the past. We need to ensure we can maintain a high degree of business performance, no matter the circumstances.

As we negotiate the current climate and prepare for the future it’s vital that we continue to adapt and change. We must ensure our workforce, business and country as a whole are flexible, with the tools and technology in place to continue to be competitive on an international stage.

Agility to Digitally Transform

Today, as the world continues to operate in a state of flux, we, as forward-thinking organisations, need to take stock and consider our future business requirements and performance. We need to embrace and harness the agility of the past several weeks. Helping us to shift gears from ‘survive’ to ‘thrive’. To modify our organisations by embracing true digital transformation to gain a competitive edge over those who lag behind.

Experience is how we learn

Recent experience has shown when we face operational challenges that impede our productivity we can quickly address them. Therefore, in that same spirit, perhaps we need to experience some of the operational difficulties which still exist digitally in our organisations? By this I mean the daily challenges your people have with simple software technologies and devices. Are they able to work seamlessly? Do they have connection issues? Are their devices fit for purpose? Can they access all solutions via the cloud?

Understanding exactly how our people work with existing technologies, where business performance can be improved, and what is already working is the first step to true digital transformation. Only then can business leaders make informed decisions to effect positive change. The sort of change we’re going to need to make to have a positive impact on all of us. 

Preparing for the ability to compete

By really knowing the digital workplace experiences of your people. You can then look to address the processes and technology which need to be enhanced. With the right decisions made, organisations can raise their business performance to a new level of sophistication. 

Once in place, these processes and technologies will open up a new world of possibilities and opportunity.

A place where:

• reporting provides multidimensional viewpoints to enable scenario planning in realtime 
• communications become seamless and integrated
• newly discovered efficiencies deliver competitive advantages
• people feel included, valued and have a purpose
• value is created for customers and consequently, profits realised

In short, being able to understand the fundamentals is the first step to preparing your business for a new world stage.

Be digital ready 

We can be certain that our business future will require organisations to be more and more agile to be successful. Failure to respond quickly and with continuity will not be an option. So there is no room for a mismatch between your technologies, the people that use them and the agile approach you need. Now is the time to take stock and be digital-ready.

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If you have any questions, feel free to get in touch with me on LinkedIn.