What exactly is the digital workplace? We frequently identify workplaces with an office because, well, that’s where we perform the majority of our job.
After all, it is our “workplace.” However, like with everything else, technology has disrupted the traditional workplace by allowing people to work remotely. Your office is now wherever you sit, owing to advances in technology.
This always-connected, quick access environment was created by today’s technologies, tools, and applications. Our tools have greatly blurred the distinction between the physical workplace and the location where work is really performed.
The days of sitting in your workplace cubicle for eight hours a day are dwindling. The borders between personal and professional life are also narrowing as a result of remote working.
As the office grows more digital, new methods of workplace communication and cooperation emerge on a daily basis. The digitalisation of our job is profoundly altering how we approach work, relationships, and everything in between.
As a result, it is critical that we learn more about this cultural shift. We must attempt to figure out how to make the greatest use of it before the changes become too large to handle. Let’s start with the fundamentals!
What is a Digital Workplace?
The phrase “digital workplace” is a wide one. As the phrase’s popularity has expanded over the last decade, so have the various interpretations of its meaning.
It’s a constantly linked work environment that gives employees rapid access to every resource they need to get work done from wherever.
Digital workplaces are intended to promote communication, collaboration, content management, document management, and information flow throughout the business, resulting in greater productivity and staff efficiency.
Importance of Digital Workplace
A digital workplace is fundamentally a significant shift in an organisation’s working attitude. Organisations gradually recognise that work is no longer a place we go.
Indeed, it is a modern virtual equivalent to the classic office environment in which work comes to us as a result of technology improvements!
There are several reasons why a digital workplace is very essential for conducting business in today’s day and age. Among them are the following:
1. Improved Internal Communication and Collaboration
A digital workplace provides an incredible amount of options to stay in touch with your coworkers at all times.
People can’t afford to wait for an email response or, worse, let it go lost in your inbox wasteland in today’s fast-paced environment.
To get work done quickly, people choose newer, speedier communication methods, such as instant messaging and real-time collaboration platforms. This, in turn, enhances employee transparency and aids in the development of stronger interdepartmental connections.
2. The Culture of Telecommuting
According to a survey, telecommuting increased by 79% between 2005 and 2012, accounting for 2.6 per cent of the American workforce, or 3.2 million people.
The trend toward remote working is undeniable:
- It aids in the reduction of office expenses such as rent, stationery, utilities, and so on.
- Employees benefit from reduced commuting time, which leads to increased production.
- It eliminates the need for ineffective workplace meetings, water-cooler banter, and office politics.
This surge in telecommuting has been made possible by the growing acceptance of a digital working environment that allows individuals to work from anywhere they desire.
- More than 77% of those who work remotely report higher productivity, and 52% are less inclined to take time off.
- According to a poll of American remote workers, over 91 per cent of those who work from home believe they are more productive than those who work in an office.
- According to a ConnectSolutions survey, 77 per cent of remote employees get more done in fewer hours since there are fewer distractions such as meetings, talks, and noisy coworkers.
Because remote workers are more productive, firms benefit from higher profits.
3. Reduce the Reliance on Paper
If your organisation still utilises paper documents, transitioning to a digital workplace can help minimise dependency on paper and save money on printing, storing, maintenance, and filing, among other things.
Companies with yearly revenues between $500k and $1 million may save up to $40k per year by moving to digital document management, according to hubshare.com.
Based on filing and retrieval efficiency, avoiding misfiling, and process efficiencies, Laserfiche anticipates a 20% time reduction. Increased efficiency and productivity can save up to 6,000 hours per year, or 2.4 full-time staff positions.
Going paperless also helps you save a significant quantity of paper waste from the environment, saving thousands of paper pages each month.
This not only allows you to make more sustainable and ethical decisions, but it also offers you a social mission that clients, workers, governments, and customers all want to be a part of.
4. Improve Overall Office Efficiency
The digital workplace contributes to overall office efficiency. Because you don’t have to go to an office every day to conduct your job, you save valuable commuting time that you can use to do more productive work.
Furthermore, having digital solutions in place helps you to easily access the file, information, or content you need when working remotely, rather than shoulder tapping other colleagues and disrupting everyone’s productivity.
As a result, a digital workplace saves you time and allows you to channel it into more productive work.
5. Knowledge Sharing
According to research, neglecting to share information costs Fortune 500 organisations around $31.5 billion every year. As baby boomers continue to retire, they leave behind a lot of information and experience.
This information is highly beneficial in educating new recruits on the organisation’s do’s and don’ts and swiftly laying the groundwork for far more productive staff.
Knowledge management systems, for example, enable firms to document senior managers’ know-how and expertise, ensuring that the organisation’s knowledge does not disappear when the person leaves.
With a knowledge management system in place, your present or future workers will be able to simply access this material and continue doing their jobs.
6. Information Access
We’re sure you have no clue how much valuable time your employees are wasting since they couldn’t discover the information or material they were looking for.
Because all of your key business papers are strewn among Google Drive, OneDrive, email attachments, PC files, and USB drives, you can’t rely on yourself to discover the precise piece of information you need when you need it!
- According to a McKinsey survey, employees spend an average of 1.8 hours per day, 9.3 hours per week—searching and acquiring information.
- Employees seeking knowledge to conduct their job efficiently squander over 20% of the business time – the equivalent of one day each working week.
- According to IDC research, “the knowledge worker spends around 2.5 hours per day, or almost 30% of the workday, seeking information.”
The ease of access to information is a significant benefit of having a digital workplace framework in place.
A digital workspace serves as a repository for all data, papers, weblinks, and other rich material. This makes it exceedingly simple for team members, regardless of their location, to instantly access information from any device.
Employees are no longer required to save data to their hard drives or on those easily misplaced USB sticks. Simply log in to your virtual office, and you’re ready to go!
7. Provides a Competitive Advantage
Companies that use a digital workplace obviously have a competitive advantage over others that have yet to embrace the change to remote working. There are several advantages for a firm that goes digital versus those that do not:
- They are lowering their supply and storage costs.
- They are saving money by not hiring new employees to manage paper paperwork.
- Digital documents are more precise.
- Employees may have quick and easy access to information, saving them time and effort.
- Employees can give greater customer service and shorter response times.
Employees can focus on the things that are truly important and contribute to the success of the organisation more effectively since they save a lot of time.
Wrapping It Up
As individuals throughout the world seek methods to maintain social distance, the digital workplace is fundamentally transforming the way we communicate, engage, and conduct business in this century.
Though there are several benefits to this always-connected, instant-access, quick and efficient work environment, the sheer quantity of tools we utilise to do tasks negates all of the benefits.
As a result, we frequently give the impression of being active while struggling to locate that critical file that a coworker emailed a week ago.
The ideal digital workplace is one that allows workers to come to you rather than the other way around.
A remote workplace where you can assemble all of your coworkers – regardless of where they are in the globe – to discuss ideas, communicate, collaborate, save files and information, and get work done without having to bounce between tens of hundreds of applications.
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