This document summarizes the key findings from the 9th annual survey on the digital workplace conducted by Jane McConnell. The survey gathered responses from 373 people from 280 organizations in 26 countries. It found that while digital workplace capabilities continue increasing, challenges related to organizational mindset have not improved over the last year. The document then examines three groups of organizations that reported 1) a strong, shared sense of organizational purpose, 2) openness to external influences, and 3) an enabled customer-facing workforce. For each group, it identifies correlations with other organizational characteristics and lower reported challenges. It concludes by providing recommendations for addressing common challenges.

1. The Workplace
in the Digital Age
Key findings 9th annual survey
Jane McConnell
Enterprise 2.0 Summit, Paris, 2015
373 people from 26 countries
representing 280 organizations.
Participants responded to an in-
depth online survey of 140
questions.

2. 2
Strategic Advisor 16 years > 60 large, global
organizations, management briefer and
workshop leader netjmc.com
Researcher on digital workplaces for 9 yrs
digital-workplace-trends.com
Facilitator of IntraNetwork, workgroup of digital
practitioners in Paris intranetwork.fr
American-French living in deep Provence for 25
years

3. 3
Clients who have taught me so much!
•! Air Liquide, Paris
•! Amadeus, Madrid
•! ArcelorMittal, Luxembourg
•! Arup, UK
•! Alcatel-Lucent, Paris
•! Alstom Group, Paris, Switzerland
•! BASF, Germany
•! Ericsson, Stockholm
•! IKEA, Sweden
•! Nokia, Helsinki
•! Novartis, Switzerland
•! UNHCR – United Nations High Commissioner for
Refugees, Geneva
•! United Nations Peacekeeping Operations, New York
•! United Nations Secretariat, New York
•! ….
2014
2013
199620042007-2012 2011 1998
2015

4. •! What is the digital workplace?
•! Status in 2015: good news, bad news
•! What can we learn from 3 groups of organizations
that report…
•! A strong, shared sense of organizational purpose
•! Openness to the influence of external
environment
•! An enabled customer-facing workforce
•! How – what you can do

5. Tools
Organization
People
The digital workplace lives at the intersection
of people, organization and technology.

6. Creating, sharing, interacting,
belonging, contributing,
learning and growing.
Serving clients, customers or
users of the organization’s
services and products.
Collaboration and cooperation in all
directions throughout the whole
organization.
Enterprise
Business
Individual
Tools
Organization
People

7. Creating, sharing, interacting,
belonging, contributing,
learning and growing.
Serving clients, customers or
users of the organization’s
services and products.
Collaboration and cooperation in all
directions throughout the whole
organization.
Enterprise
Business
Individual
Tools
Organization
People
New and improved processes
integrating social collaboration.
Virtual operational units, teams,
communities and networks.
Equal, relevant, interactive access for
the entire workforce. Connecting
everyone anywhere, anytime.
Structure
Process
Reach

8. Creating, sharing, interacting,
belonging, contributing,
learning and growing.
Serving clients, customers or
users of the organization’s
services and products.
Collaboration and cooperation in all
directions throughout the whole
organization.
Enterprise
Business
Individual
Tools
Organization
People
New and improved processes
integrating social collaboration.
Virtual operational units, teams,
communities and networks.
Equal, relevant, interactive access for
the entire workforce. Connecting
everyone anywhere, anytime.
Structure
Process
Reach
Managing the digital workplace as
strategic and essential for the
organization.
Influence from any level and
from any part of the
organization that results in
change.
Attitudes, behaviors, expectations
in an open, participatory work
environment.
Leadership
CultureAsset

9. 0 20 40 60
0.0000000
33.3333333
66.6666667
100.0000000
Individual
Business
Enterprise
Process
Structure
Reach
Leadership
Culture
Asset
Maturing
Developing
Starting
Capabilities Enablers Mindset
Maturing
Developing
Starting
Capabilities Enablers Mindset
The digital workplace scorecard

10. 0 20 40 60
0.0000000
33.3333333
66.6666667
100.0000000
Individual
Business
Enterprise
Process
Structure
Reach
Leadership
Culture
Asset
Maturing
Developing
Starting
Capabilities Enablers Mindset
Serving clients, customers
or users of the
organization’s services and
products.
Creating, sharing,
interacting, belonging,
contributing, learning and
growing.
Collaboration and
cooperation in all
directions throughout the
whole organization.
New and improved processes
integrating social
collaboration.
Virtual operational units,
teams, communities and
networks.
Equal, relevant, interactive
access for the entire
workforce. Connecting
everyone anywhere, anytime.
Attitudes, behaviours and
expectations in an open,
participatory work
environment.
Managing the digital
workplace as strategic and
essential for the
organization.
Influence from any level and
from any part of the
organization that results in
change.
Maturing
Developing
Starting
M i n d s e t
E n a b l e r sC a p a b i l i t i e s
Enterprise
Individual
Business
Capabilities Enablers Mindset
Process
Structure
Reach
Asset
Leadership
Culture
The digital workplace scorecard

11. •! What is the digital workplace?
•! Status in 2015: good news, bad news
•! What can we learn from 3 groups of organizations
that report…
•! A strong, shared sense of organizational purpose
•! Openness to the influence of external
environment
•! An enabled customer-facing workforce
•! How – what you can do

12. 12
Evolution from end 2013 to end 2014
Digital Workplace Scorecard total scores on the 3-level maturity
chart, showing the full range from least to most mature.
Maturing
Developing
Starting
1
7
13
19
25
31
37
43
49
55
61
67
73
79
85
91
97
103
109
115
121
127
133
139
145
151
157
163
169
175
181
187
193
199
205
211
217
223
229
235
241
247
253
259
265
271
277
283
289
295
301
307
313
Early Adopters Top 20%

13. Maturing
Developing
Starting
Capabilities Enablers Mindset
Majority
Early adopters
Data end 2014

14. 14
People capabilities in the digital
workplace increasing over last 6
years
% deployment “enterprise-wide” or “in some parts”
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80
Sharing info & knowledge
Co-creating content
Reacting, commenting
2014
2013
2008
%

15. 15
Enterprise social networking in over
60% of organizations today
% deployment “enterprise-wide” or “in some parts”.
Data collected
end of each year
0! 10! 20! 30! 40! 50! 60! 70!
2008!
2009!
2010!
2011!
2012!
2013!
2014!

16. 2014
Too many competing priorities 51%
Slow decision-making, often consensus-based 42%
Too much focus on the tool, not enough on people
and change
36%
Politics, inside the organization 36%
Hesitation or resistance to rethink how we work 37%
No strong business case, ROI or proven value 26%
Percentages of responses saying “Serious challenge, holds us back”
Mindset is where the challenges
are.
Percentages do not include the responses “Manageable challenge, requires special effort”
Data collected at the end of the years listed.

17. 2014 2013
Too many competing priorities 51% n/a
Slow decision-making, often consensus-based 42% 38%
Too much focus on the tool, not enough on people
and change
36% 37%
Politics, inside the organization 36% 36%
Hesitation or resistance to rethink how we work 37% 38%
No strong business case, ROI or proven value 26% 26%
Percentages of responses saying “Serious challenge, holds us back”
No progress in Mindset over the
last 12 months.
Percentages do not include the responses “Manageable challenge, requires special effort”
Data collected at the end of the years listed.

18. •! What is the digital workplace?
•! Status in 2015: good news, bad news
•! What can we learn from 3 groups of organizations
that report…
•! A strong, shared sense of organizational purpose
•! Openness to the influence of external
environment
•! An enabled customer-facing workforce
•! How – what you can do

19. Jon Husband www.wirearchy.com
Wirearchy, an organizing principle
“A dynamic two-way flow of power and authority, based on knowledge,
trust, credibility and a focus on results, enabled by interconnected
people and technology”.
At the heart of the
digital workplace

20. Let’s take a look at some very specific groups:
1.! Strong, shared sense of organizational purpose and identity
(n=58)
2.! High degree of openness to the external environment
(n=48)
3.! High degree of ease for customer-facing workforce
(n=10)

21. Value-driven culture and
inspirational purpose
“A strong shared culture is the
glue that keeps empowered
organizations from falling apart.
Frontline employees are trusted to
make the right decisions guided by
a number of shared values rather
than by a thick book of rules and
policies.”

22. Where there is a “strong, shared
sense of organizational purpose”, we
observe…
Distributed
decision-
making
High involvement of
management in the
digital workplace
Communities and
official community
management
Correlations

23. Shared sense of purpose and identity
Strong Weak
73% Topic-based learning communities 49%
46% Personal interest communities 19%
38% Problem solving communities 21%
23% Community management: responsibility
formally included in some job roles
8%
54% Single enterprise social network 30%
N=58 N=48
Communities, community
management and social networking
% of the segment reporting “yes”

24. Strong Weak
Management: “Vocally supportive
and active: resources, visible
participation”
% of the segment reporting “yes”
32% Customer service/support 13%
42% Marketing 23%
21% Operations 11%
37% R&D, Engineering, Development 19%
28% Sales 9%
28% C Level 11%
N=58 N=48
Shared sense of purpose and identity

25. 0
20
40
60
80
100
Very distributed Distributed Neither one nor
the other
Centralized Very centralized
%
50% of organizations with
distributed decision-making
report a "strong, shared sense
of purpose and identity"
10% of organizations
with very centralized
decision-making
report a "strong,
shared sense of
purpose and identify"
“Strong, shared
sense of
organizational
purpose and
identity”
Shared sense of purpose and identity

26. Where there is a “strong, shared
sense of organizational purpose”, we
observe…
Distributed
decision-
making
High involvement of
management in the
digital workplace
Communities and
official community
management
Correlations
We also see greater clarity on priorities, faster
decision-making, fewer political games.

27. All Purpose
Too many competing priorities 51% 35%
Slow decision-making, often consensus-based 42% 22%
Too much focus on the tool, not enough on people
and change
36% 28%
Politics, inside the organization 36% 11%
Hesitation or resistance to rethink how we work 37% 31%
No strong business case, ROI or proven value 26% 24%
Percentages of responses saying “Serious challenge, holds us back”
Greater clarity on priorities, faster decision-
making, fewer political games
-25 pts
-20 pts
-16pts
Shared sense of purpose and identity

28. •! What is the digital workplace?
•! Status in 2015: good news, bad news
•! What can we learn from 3 groups of organizations
that report…
•! A strong, shared sense of organizational purpose
•! Openness to the influence of external
environment
•! An enabled customer-facing workforce
•! How – what you can do

29. Arie de Geus,
1997
“Surviving and thriving in a volatile
world require, first of all,
management which is sensitive to
its company’s environment.”
“Only after seeing that something
is about to change (or has already
begun to change) outside the
company will management be
ready to deal with the effects of
that change.”

30. Where organizations are “open and reactive to
the influence of the external world” we observe…
Higher
importance of
external
sources of
information
High involvement
of all levels of
management in
digital workplace
decision-making
Communities
including external
members
Correlations

31. % of the “open reactive” segment vs. the “closed environment” reporting “yes”
Twice as many communities that include external people
•! Communities of practice and project-based communities (approx. 30%
vs. 15%)
Open & reactive to the influence of the external world
External sources of information more frequently rated “of high importance”
•! Clients: 35 vs. 16%
•! Partners and suppliers: 47 vs. 29%
•! External websites: 28 vs. 11%
Higher management involvement in decision-making for the digital workplace
•! C-Suite: 22 vs. 5%
•! Middle management: 40 vs. 18%
•! Operational management: 33 vs. 15%
N=48

32. Where organizations are “open and reactive to the
influence of the external world” we observe…
Higher
importance of
external
sources of
information
High involvement
of all levels of
management in
digital workplace
decision-making
Communities
including external
members
Correlations
We also see that they are ready to adopt new work
practices, and less need to “prove” business value

33. All Open
Too many competing priorities 51% 29%
Slow decision-making, often consensus-based 42% 24%
Too much focus on the tool, not enough on people
and change
36% 27%
Politics, inside the organization 36% 27%
Hesitation or resistance to rethink how we work 37% 22%
No strong business case, ROI or proven value 26% 13%
More ready to adopt new work practices, and
less need to “prove” business value
-15 pts
-13 pts
Percentages of responses saying “Serious challenge, holds us back”
N=48
Open & reactive to the influence of the external world

34. •! What is the digital workplace?
•! Status in 2015: good news, bad news
•! What can we learn from 3 groups of organizations
that report…
•! A strong, shared sense of organizational purpose
•! Openness to the influence of external
environment
•! An enabled customer-facing workforce
•! How – what you can do

35. “Very easy” for our customer-facing workforce to find
what they need to do their jobs when with customers.
The top 3 influential factors
•! Information management
•! Real time communication
•! Peoples’ individual digital capacities
Means of evaluation: “Time saved” followed by
“customer satisfaction metrics”
Top strategic driver: Business and operational performance.
80% vs. 50% of the full survey
N=10

36. All Customer
Facing
Too many competing priorities 51% 10%
Slow decision-making, often consensus-based 42% 20%
Too much focus on the tool, not enough on people
and change
36% 20%
Politics, inside the organization 36% 20%
Hesitation or resistance to rethink how we work 37% 30%
No strong business case, ROI or proven value 26% 10%
Percentages of responses saying “Serious challenge, holds us back”
“Very easy” for our customer-facing workforce to find what
they need to do their jobs when with customers.
Top strategic driver: Business and operational performance.
Digital workplace strategy focused on a business goal

37. •! What is the digital workplace?
•! Status in 2015: good news, bad news
•! What can we learn from 3 groups of organizations
that report…
•! A strong, shared sense of organizational purpose
•! Openness to the influence of external
environment
•! An enabled customer-facing workforce
•! How – what you can do

38. So, how do we deal with the challenges?

39. Competing priorities
Slow decision-making
Too much focus on the tool
Politics
Hesitation to rethink how we work
No strong proven value
Build / support communities of all
sorts, even non professional ones.
Formalize community
management.
Work on distributed decision-
making within your sphere of
influence.
<
<
<
Shared sense of purpose

40. Competing priorities
Slow decision-making
Too much focus on the tool
Politics
Hesitation to rethink how we work
No strong proven value
Build communities with external
people.
Bring the client’s voice inside
your organization.
Make access to external
information sources easy.
Expose your management to
their peers outside your
organization.
<
<
Open to the influence of the external world

41. Competing priorities
Slow decision-making
Too much focus on the tool
Politics
Hesitation to rethink how we work
No strong proven value
Define / clarify goals, in particular
regarding your customer-facing
workforce.
<
Business goals for the digital workplace

42. 42
Thank you!
Jane McConnell
Get in touch
jane@netjmc.co
m
Twitter: @netjmc
Where are you on the digital workplace journey?
Consider organizing a collective diagnosis of your own
digital workplace!

43. •! Ana Bulgar, OMV Petrom S.A. (Romania)
•! Bjoern Negelmann, N:Sight Research (Germany)
•! Brian Holness, Knowledge Management Programme Manager, GDF SUEZ Energy International. (UK)
•! Claude Monnier, HR Director Sony Music (France)
•! Dan Pontefract, Chief Envisioner, TELUS. (Canada)
•! Daniel Pankatz, Deutsche Post DHL, (Germany)
•! Dany DeGrave, Sr. Director Strategic Alignment, Expertise & Innovation, Sanofi. (US)
•! Darren Whitelaw, Department of Premier and Cabinet (Australia)
•! Emanuele Quintarelli, Social Enterprise Leader, EMEIA Center of Excellence at EY. (Italy)
•! Ernst Décsey, Communication Specialist, Digital Workplace, UNICEF Private Fundraising and
Partnerships (Switzerland)
•! Jean-Paul Chapon, Head of Digital Communications & e-Reputation, Société Générale (France).
•! Luke Mepham Aviva, (UK)
•! Matt Varney, Intranet Manager, Kentucky Community and Technical College. (US)
•! Rawn Shah, Director & Social Business Architect at Rising Edge, Blogger at Forbes (US).
•! Rebecca Jackson, Melbourne Water. (Australia)
•! Richard Martin, Writer, Editor, Consultant IndaloGenesis Ltd. (UK)
•! Rick Cantor, Vice President, Commercial Strategic Marketing, Knowledge Management Practice
Leader, Chubb & Son. (US)
•! Stefan Kruijer, Employee Portal Manager, Corporate Communications, Airbus. (Germany)
Advisory Board Digital Workplace Research 2014 - 2015