Atmosphere Ways of Working Part 3 The Case for a Culture of Collaboration

WAYS OF WORKING / info@weareatmosphere.com
WAYS OF WORKING SERIES
3. THE CASE FOR A CULTURE 
OF COLLABORATION
Burke Turner  
We Are Atmosphere - 2016 
weareatmosphere.com 
@weareatmosphere
Image credit: https://nathalik.wordpress.com/page/9/

PRESENTER
Burke Turner
Digital Workplace Consultant
We Are Atmosphere 
https://uk.linkedin.com/in/burketurner
- Passionate about helping organisations unlock latent talent to achieve
heightened efficiencies, greater depths of creativity and true agility
- Designed & Delivered staff training in Australia & the UK for the fastest
growing retailer ever
- Digital workplace for click & mortar retail
- Team level adoption of digital transformation programs

WHY BOTHER?
Is our culture too slow to win?
Are we attractive and competitive in the (global) talent war?
Do we leverage technology for what our people want to do or is
technology an IT remit?
Do we understand the business case for collaboration?

38%
Average of employers around the
world reporting talent shortages1
92%
companies believe that redesigning
the organisation is very important or important2
39%
UK employees that report positive
employee engagement3
PREPARED?
1 manpowergroup.com 2015
2 dupress.com 2015  
3 cipd.co.uk 2015 
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/petereed/1392536563/

n = 3,300 Business and HR leaders. International 
Source: http://dupress.com/articles/introduction-human-capital-trends-2015/ 
Image credit: http://www.beacontranscript.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/skydiver.jpg
YOU ARE NOT ALONE

SERIES: WAYS OF WORKING

3. THE CASE FOR A CULTURE 
OF COLLABORATION

Ok to have a laugh at ourselves 
Image credit: http://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineImages/softwarequality_releasemgmt_2013_05.jpg

Clearly silo’d
• talent organised by function or division (budgets and fiefdoms)
• heavier on reporting and meeting targets
• ideas dependant on management to surface
Structural inertia
• reduced agility to form and disband cross-functional teams
• rigid mid to long term business planning
• reporting/target focus
Corporate hierarchy dictates which initiatives or projects to tackle
Meeting-led culture, diaries always full
A degree of protectionism over information
Somewhat bleak perhaps, however not an unfair evaluation
A TYPICAL WORKPLACE CULTURE?

Ok to have a laugh at ourselves
Image credit: http://www.quickmeme.com/Junior-Art-Director/page/27/

With the right energy and environment, ideas DO come from anywhere
Richard Box, Field 2004 
Image source: https://collidecolludecollaborate.wordpress.com/2016/01/12/field-by-richard-box/
LEADING A CULTURE OF COLLABORATION

+ 45% over budget
+ 7% over time
- 56% less value  
than expected1
+ 200% cost
+ 70%2 schedule
IT problem = IT solution
Shared ownership needed
DIGITAL = IT?
1Project Management Institute 
2HBR 
Image credit: http://8-ball.pw/d777d8bb0720bb0f-server-rack-cable-management.html
The average large IT project
One in six IT projects

Customer
Need
Cross Functional  
teams of talent
Agile development cycles 
Tested & repeated as needed 
2 weeks - 3 months
Ship Product
Feedback 
&
Improve
DIGITAL = APPROACH!
Simplified workflow of many software businesses

Customer
Need
Cross Functional  
teams of talent
Agile development cycles 
Tested & repeated as needed 
2 weeks - 3 months
Ship Product
Feedback 
&
Improve
LEADERSHIP?
Prioritisation 
Resources 
Stakeholder 
Business wide activity
“Getting out of the way”
DIGITAL = APPROACH!

Technology is a tool to enable and empower
- No longer ‘an IT problem’
- Supported by HR to select, embrace, and embed
- Functions as a Strategic (human) competitive
advantage
Digital is an approach
- Customer needs drive activity
- Talent decides
- Leadership gets “out of the way”
A DIGITAL APPROACH TO THE WORKPLACE - 1
Image credit: https://www.flickr.com/photos/gilgongo/2255803718/

DIGITAL = APPROACH!
Image credits: https://www.groupon.co.uk/deals/uber-33 https://transferwise.com  
https://www.wearedesignstudio.com http://lbbonline.com/news/this-new-giffgaff-campaign-is-bursting-with-unexpected-fun/

Silo’s broken down
- Customer needs replace fiefdoms
- Personification brings the customer to life
- Leaders = mentors; available, supportive, facilitating
- Team over individual
Organisational agility
- Cross functional teams form and disband on a project basis
Ideas come from anywhere and are actively sought out from
customers and employees

Would your CEO stand behind this statement?
Would your employees agree?
CAN YOU AFFORD FOR THIS TO NOT BE THE CASE?

Technology is leveraged to facilitate
- Work/life blend, workplace flexibility
- Multi-channel, physically ambivalent communication
- Reduced burden of reporting
- Increased transparency 
- Reduced time to market
- Cultures of collaboration

“Working out loud” simplifies reporting to updates
Allows stakeholders to observe and intervene quickly if needed
TRANSPARENCY ENABLES EFFICACY & EFFICIENCY
Invitation to
contribute
Ability to stop
wayward activity
Agile and scrum
methodologies
-
Cherry picked and
applied to wider
business

63% believe “a lack of collaboration hurts the ability to
understand the impact of emerging risks on business
strategy”1
What is the value of unlocking 5% productivity through an
effective collaboration strategy?
350 * employees
Avg wage 37k
£647,500 value / year
A DIGITAL APPROACH TO THE WORKPLACE  
- FORMING A BUSINESS CASE
1 Marsh 2016 risk executives webinar respondents n=200 

SERIES: WAYS OF WORKING 
READ THE WHOLE SERIES AT SLIDESHARE.NET  
weareatmosphere.com

We are a business futures practice
We provoke new thinking and inspire positive change; helping you succeed in the
face of growing complexity and a more digitally connected world
Proven methodology delivering strategic programs of change
- Digital strategy & planning
- End-to-end digital transformation
- Innovation programs
- Workshops and programs of engagement
WE ARE ATMOSPHERE

Burke Turner 
Digital Workplace Consultant
1st floor, c/o PrettyGreen 
48-50 Farringdon Rd, London, EC1M 4DG
t. 0208 2424 954
weareatmosphere.com
@weareatmosphere

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