What tools do I need in my digital workplace?

As digital workplaces continue to be developed and adopted, organizations are faced with a plethora of choices for their digital workplace technologies. With a focus on improving employee experiences and increasing productivity, enterprises must choose and leverage the right tools when they’re deciding how to create a digital workplace.

Technology has given people the power to do things that they never imagine before. Whether it be instant communication across oceans, updates on the latest news, or merely the ability to work from anywhere at all, digital technology holds the key. As a result, digital tools have become something that people cannot live without, in both their daily lives and work lives. 

Building a connected digital workplace

There’s no doubt that employees believe digital technology can transform the way they work for the better. Social media, instant messaging and more have been analyzed, fashioned and leveraged for the betterment of the digital workplace. Knowing the large number of technological advancements made available for the digital workplace, how can you be sure that you’re integrating the right digital tools?

What to expect from a digital workplace

In today’s world, work takes place mostly remotely. Because of this, the way people communicate and collaborate is changing. A recent SHRM study shows that 64% of workers at multinational companies work with virtual teams.

With all of the people crucial to your organization scattered across the world, creating a successful digital workplace is the natural next step. 

The digital workplace delivers on these objectives by fostering a strong sense of culture and community within the workplace. It forces us to reexamine how we collaborate and takes into account the growth of new trends, workforce demands, and other variables.

The digital tools we know of today, and also the ones in development now, are crafted with the purpose of making employee lives easier. This means quicker collaboration, faster solutions, mobile support and more opportunities for employees to work the ways they prefer. 

However, they also bring with them a series of challenges, like the distractions of social networks on productivity, or the difficulty of managing multiple applications or sources of data. Due to the time commitment and costs of integrating a large number of digital tools, organizations should choose the tools they feel bests suits the needs of their staff when building their digital toolbox. 

Define what’s going to be in your digital toolbox

Your digital toolbox will be comprised of all the tools, tech and programs that you feel are necessary to help your employees do their jobs more efficiently. Now, this toolbox will not have the same ingredients for every organization.

Depending on a variety of factors such as industry, job function and organizational structure, the components of your toolbox will be tailored to the needs of your workplace and workforce. While a digital workplace is made up of tools that integrate and complement each other well, they can be broken up into four common categories:

Each section serves a unique function and role. For the success of your organization, you must focus on the digital tools that close the gap between employees and leaders, increase efficiency among employees and encourage employee satisfaction. Here are 4 tools that ensure you’re getting the most value from your digital workplace.

Mobility Tools

There’s no denying that the old ways of working are gone. 20-25% of the global workforce telecommutes on a regular basis (Global Workplace Analytics).

With the mobile workforce on the rise, organizations need technologies that travel with their needs. Allow your staff to work remotely by giving them access to the necessary tools and information from anywhere. Knowing that 77 percent of Americans own smartphones, most digital workplaces are operating apps that staff members can access anytime, anywhere from any mobile device.

Leveraging tools like intranet mobile apps can help streamline the digital workplace and create a central point of access for critical applications, content, and updates. 

Social Applications

Collaboration, instant communication, customization – these are all the future of the workplace, and your staff needs it. Without workplace access to the tools that they are accustomed to in their daily lives, your team will suffer in engagement and productivity. To put it into perspective,69% of U.S adults use at least one social tool (PEW).

Workplace access to more popular sites like Twitter and Pinterest, and business social apps like Slack, Yammer, Trello connect your distributed employees and take us further away from the old method of face-to-face communication. 

Artificial Intelligence

Improving collaboration and streamlining business processes are significant goals for any organization, However, even implementing the usual automation tools can be challenging to coordinate for a remote and dispersed staff.

The next step into the future shows us solving this problem with nothing other than artificial intelligence (AI). Automated bots and chatbots who can talk, get information quickly and share it to the right routes are ideal for the mobile digital workforce. 

You may be familiar with AI helpers Alexa and Siri. These automated personas complete with speech recognition tech have become such a vital part of the modern tech industry that it almost feels like personal assistants. According to a 2016 study from AYTM Market Research, 89% of users prefer information discovery through bots to information discovery via website search. Those who are exposed to these AI helpers in their daily lives may feel crippled without them introduced to the digital workplace.

An intranet

Rather than finding a way to add all the tools and programs that you need to your digital workplace, wouldn’t you rather have what you need balled into one? This is where the intranet comes into play. 

The intranet has evolved and is going through its own process of digital transformation, making it crucial in the successful management of the digital workplace.

The modern intranet design has disproved the outdated idea of an intranet being a one-way information tool. Instead, the intranet of today gives a single place to access necessities such as search function, integration functionality, productivity tools and more.

Your intranet can link to the everyday business tools like HR systems, CRM, payroll systems and more, taking some of the pressure of adding separate and excess digital tools to your workplace. This is an easy way to support your organization’s goals while driving a positive employee experience.

Understanding the Digital Workplace

Every organization will approach digital transformation differently. Before you begin to fill in the blanks of what your organization needs, you must have a clear idea of what your workplace and workforce entails.

There are no finite guidelines, the completion of your digital toolbox is entirely up to the needs of your organization. Starting with behavior and following with analysis of your current workplace ensures that when you get to the right tools, they will take your organization to the next level.