This document discusses how digital technologies are transforming the modern workplace. It covers topics like remote working, hot-desking, digital collaboration, and how HR functions can be improved with technology. Remote working allows for flexible hours but can impact team cohesion. Hot-desking saves on office space but impacts personal workspace and information security. Digital tools improve collaboration through real-time document editing and commenting. HR recruitment can leverage social media for cheaper hiring and employer branding, while employee skills and engagement can be better tracked online. Overall, the workplace is becoming more digitally-enabled and remote.
3. The digital workplace
Digital offices
› Remote working and hot-desking
› Efficient working
› Managing information
› People and digital risks
4. The digital workplace
Remote working
› Pros
o Smaller, cheaper offices
o Often very motivating for certain people
o Enables very flexible working hours
› Cons
o Monitoring required: home distractions
o Cost of suitable “office” furniture, laptops & secure internet connections
o Technical problems e.g. broadband issues may be hard to support
o Damage to team spirit
o Feelings of isolation
› Teleconferencing systems required to enable remote meetings
5. The digital workplace
Hot-desking
› Pros
o Some saving in office space
o Information sharing as people work near non-team members
o Storage on the hard drive no longer an option
› Cons
o Personal space: territoriality; desks and chairs; cleanliness
o May be hard to find people
o Increase in emails as people don’t talk face to face
o Team spirit may be damaged
o Failure to log out of apps and sites may result in security problems
6. The digital workplace
Efficient working
› Thinking apps
› Mind mapping
› Note taking and thought organisation: Evernote and Letterspace
› Networking: Humin, LinkedIn and Outlook
› Phone management: ringtones and SMS responses
› Time management: Outlook calendar (used efficiently); apps
such as Workflow
› Email management
› Folders
› Rules e.g. “file without reading”
› Links to projects and calendars
7. The digital workplace
Managing information
› Storing information
o Good desk-top search increases efficiency greatly
o Content management systems enable redundant file deletion as well as
forcing version control
› Creating and sharing knowledge
o Innovation processes, multifunctional teams and work communities
stimulate knowledge creation
o New knowledge must be “codified” so it can be shared as information
o Help people discover what they know and persuade them to share
o Knowledge can be “curated” with tools such as Evernote and Flipboard
› Communication
o Ways of dealing with email overload critical to efficiency
8. The digital workplace
People and cyber risks
› Digital information at risk from insiders
o Trust: people open to phishing and other scams
o Usability: difficult to use systems are simply ignored
o Social and cultural issues can make safe behaviour less likely
o People take data for personal gain e.g. when they plan to leave
› Cyber security needs to go beyond IT Department
o Responsibility of everyone, at every level
o Regular training backed up with “socialising” safe behaviour
10. Digital workplace
Benefits of collaboration
› Rapid innovation and discovery
› Efficient information transfer and ease of finding expertise
› Enhanced teams & improved motivation
› Lower travel costs
› Destruction of work silos
11. Digital workplace
Working on documents
› Screen sharing: people work on a document at the same time
o Avoids version control problems
o Enhances collaborative thinking
› Document collaboration tools: people work on the same
document sequentially or with a final editor
o Benefits include:
Use real-time comment and messaging features enhance project speed
Presence indicators show when others are active on documents
Users can set permissions and manage other users' activity
Users can set alerts to keep abreast of latest activities per file or user
Users can collaborate and share files outside the company network
Security compliance and audit trail
o Tools like Google docs and Office Live offer good functionality
12. Digital workplace
Collaboration on projects
› Project collaboration tools like Basecamp
› Free cloud-based tools like Dropbox and enterprise social
media like Yammer
o Need to ensure security
o May need to add disciplines that are not built in such as version control
› Nascent opportunities to take advantage of “micro-moments” at
work using mobile devices
13. Digital workplace
Workshops
› Digital technology can enhance traditional workshops
o Digitising flipcharts and Post-It’s for recording and analysis e.g. eBeam
and Post-It Plus app
o Multiple screens linking multiple data sources and teams e.g.
Oblong.com
16. Digital workplace
Recruitment and the employer brand
› Recruitment and social media
› Use of social media especially LinkedIn can reduce agency costs
massively
› Use of social media profile analysis can enhance data about
candidates but care need to be taken around privacy and discrimination
› Security issues
› “Public” recruitment can lead to leakage of strategic information
› Social media can be used to enhance the employer brand
› Profiling what work life is like on YouTube
› Public conversations between employees on Facebook and Twitter
› Employer review sites such as Glassdoor need to be monitored for
negative content
17. Digital workplace
Managing people digitally
› Easier analysis e.g. of workforce needs, retention rates, salary
comparison, utilisation rates
› Simpler office processes such as timesheets, expense
management, holiday requests
› Workforce engagement enhanced with surveys and automated
messages or prompts (e.g. congratulatory messages)
› Skills tracking e.g. what programmes are being used
› HR risks (e.g. potential leavers) can be monitored through
network AI and social media activity
› Remote working benefits
18. Digital workplace
eLearning and skill development
› Internal development of knowledge
› Innovation workshops
› Multifunctional teams and best practice groups
› Wikis
› Work-based communities of interest
› Social media with peers outside organisation
› Benefits of eLearning
› Allows community discussions and comparison of answers
› Consistency
› Scalability – no need for individual trainers
› Content is easy to update
› Can be accessed remotely and at any time, at the user’s own pace
› Provision of training on mobile devices