The ability to work from anywhere, at any time, and always updated
What we define as Digital Workplace is the ability to work in a digital work environment 100%. To not use pen and paper, print and scan. This applies to all aspects of our work, both internal processes and tasks, and with customers and other members of your enterprise ecosystem.
Many companies “convert to digital” by onboarding new solutions or software to replace old ones. But they still work in the old way. To adopt a digital workplace is more than just acquiring applications and software, it is a mindset that brings significant benefits. Some of those benefits include:
- Faster time-to-market for customers,
- Streamlined processing of purchases and invoicing,
- Customer records are always up-to-date and can be updated by multiple people simultaneously,
- Transparency to processes and responsibilities
- Flexibility to work when people can work anywhere and anytime
- Etc.
My story and how I struggled with “going digital”
I have always thought of myself as someone who appreciates new things, new technologies, and ways of working. I have always been looking forward to finding ways of being more efficient and hated when notes got lost. Or because I spoke with a customer who told me someone had already called them, but the only way to find out what was discussed was by asking the customer. I was very prudent in taking notes, on paper with ink. I find writing therapeutic and meditational.
So switching to a completely digital way has not been easy for me. And you could argue I am not 100% digital, because I still enjoy scribbling some things on paper to help my brain flesh it out. But I transfer it to digital when I’m done. And it comes with huge benefits! For one, not many people do it. So it gives me a competitive advantage. I noticed it helps me be efficient and fast when I can draft things (mindmaps, sliders, keypoints) on paper first. And it took me some time to find the digital tools that fit me and my way of working. Now I can say that in 2019 I printed exactly 12 pages of paper during the whole year (where an average colleague prints 350 pages a month). In 2020, I printed a total of 1 page.
I now work in a global setup across multiple time zones with people from different countries. My tools are Office 365 applications, MS Teams, MS Whiteboard, JIRA, Confluence, webpages, and all those social media platforms that we can’t live without. I have cut down on travel in normal circumstances (prior to COVID-19) by 70%. Online meetings and tools are a must. And working with 100+ people weekly across the globe, well, it is just easier when documents and presentations are updated at all times.
I love it, and I want to help you make it work for you too.
The digital workplace is a cultural shift as well as a psychological change to how we work daily.
Interested in learning more?
Get in touch and learn more about how others are implementing a digital workplace. Let’s find the ways the work for your business, every day.
