PRIVATE IN THE 21ST CENTURY | BUSINESS STILL IN THE 20TH CENTURY
Digitization is no longer an abstract term describing something in a distant future. It has long since begun and has already reached everything and everyone in some form. But what does it look like in German companies? And what is a Modern Workplace?
Since the dawn of industrialization, the economy has been exposed to ever new changes. Companies must react to these changes in time, otherwise they will be swallowed up by the competition or simply disappear. The intervals at which changes affect companies have accelerated rapidly since the age of computer technology. At the turn of the millennium, companies were still well positioned with a five-year strategy and rarely had to adapt it, but nowadays it is difficult for decision-makers to keep track of just one fiscal year. This is due to the dynamic technology revolution. Due to globalization, products and services are available very close together. In addition, the preference of customers to remain loyal to a brand or a company has moved into the background. Instead, they are looking for cheaper, better, newer or a product that is simply "different".
DIGITALIZATION AS A MEGATREND
This is also the case with digitization. It is not a passing fad, but an unavoidable megatrend. In the private sphere, this has long been a reality. Here, Facebook, Instagram, WhatsApp and the like are used across generations as a matter of course on tablets, PCs and smartphones. But why are these platforms so popular? They enable users to communicate quickly and easily, exchange ideas and make decisions together quickly. Just think, for example, of the various WhatsApp groups you're in.
IN THE FAST LANE IN THE PRIVATE ENVIRONMENT
But comparable tools and instruments have to be dispensed with unnecessarily in the work environment, even though companies would have had a large number of these tools at their disposal long ago. Instead, employees in companies unfortunately have to resort to communication channels that are simply from the last millennium. We are talking here about good old e-mail. This makes communication within organizations confusing, difficult and complicated. Sometimes it even overwhelms employees. Just think of the flood of emails when you have been out of the office for a few days. With the access to emails from the smartphone, one has tried to do something, but has only screwed on the symptoms and has not yet addressed the real cause.
MICROSOFT 365 AS THE ULTIMATE SOLUTION FOR A MODERN WORKPLACE
As a suggestion for how to solve these problems, here are a few of the many ways Microsoft 365 can transform a workplace into a Modern Workplace.
With Yammer, you have a platform with which, for example, relevant information about the entire company, projects or customers can be made available to all employees or to a selected group. Working with this tool is a bit like a social network, but for the company. You can communicate to everyone and avoid the usual "I know everything" and turn it into "everyone knows and is on the same level of knowledge".
With the Teams tool, departments can work on a project across locations, tasks are distributed directly, progress reports are viewed and all relevant data is stored. It is even possible to invite external partners to collaborate on a project and work together on it via Teams.
Via Delve, Microsoft offers a personal knowledge assistant. This provides information to discover within the Microsoft 365 environment that is probably most interesting for the employee, e.g. documents that are often used.
With the help of Office Graph, employees are shown information that could be relevant to them before they even search for it. It is an intelligent self-learning algorithm that operates in the background of Microsoft 365.
As can be seen from four application examples, a company can provide its employees with a sustainable infrastructure in which to work. Ideas can be created, collected and implemented in this infrastructure. Numerous studies also indicate that these changes lead to an increase in employee productivity and motivation.
MAN REMAINS
However, the central factor is still the person who performs the service, as well as the person for whom the service is performed. The employee must also take advantage of the opportunities offered by a modern digital workplace. Acceptance by the workforce can only be achieved through a tailored rollout concept. Ensuring that all parts of an organization can handle the new applications. Here it is important to have a partner who not only has technical expertise in implementing the new technology, but is also capable of looking at the entirety of a company. Furthermore, an intelligent and individual training concept is important, which enables the service providers to use the tools in order to achieve the required speed. This ensures a smooth transition from the old system to the new one.
SURVIVAL OT THE FITTEST
Even Charles Darwin knew in the nineteenth century, not the strongest or most intelligent species survives, but the one that can change and adapt the fastest. For a company, this requires the right tools and the right concept for implementation. Digitalization as a tool to stay competitive. Then as now, it is still true that those who do not adapt will not survive for long.
Let's start a movement #digitalfueralle #germany
You can also find this article on LinkedIn, among other exciting reports.
