With the new emerging COVID-19 variants in 2022, workplaces have temporarily gone remote again as hybrid work creates uneven work schedules that are layered on top of longer-term technological transformation. With this article come 7 tips to ensure you are on the front lines of office digitization for your strategic business goals, according to the American express article.
How can you digitize your workplace?
The tips we listed below target answering the above question with the intention of giving you insight on how best you can digitize your workplace. Our focus is on the effects that came with the COVID-19 pandemic and how best you can prepare your business or company to handle such situations going forward.
1. Eliminate the fear factor in Office Digitization
“Solve the ‘FUD’ problem, which is fear, uncertainty, and doubt,” says Sean Beard, vice president of emerging technology at Pariveda Solutions, a business consulting firm.
He adds that if employees fear that technology is replacing some part of their job, they will resist, so there is a need to show that you’re using digitization to augment your workforce and not replacing it.
“Ensure employees that their jobs aren’t going to evaporate,” agrees Nicholson. “Explain that the company is using office digitization and automation to augment existing staff and enable a kind of digital assistance that allows employees to focus on more important work.”
2. Be candid and communicate.
“Be clear about what the company is doing by digitizing,” says Miklusak. It’s important to tell employees how office digitization will affect their lives, jobs, and daily tasks. Also, let them know what assistance will be provided during the transition.”
3. Provide forewarning.
“Over-communicate about the move to office digitization and include the underlying rationale,” says Scott Schoeneberger, managing partner at Bluewater, a meeting and event technology company. He adds that the step ensures people are aware that change is coming, gives them time to prepare for it, and lets them understand why it’s important for the company’s continued success.”
4. Ensure complete leadership adoption.
“It’s critical that the full executive team is on board and clear on digital and technological initiatives,” says Miklusak. “Without leadership alignment, adoption stands a poor chance.”
Including stakeholders and organizational influencers in the office digitization process is important to help with adoption across the board, as everyone feels more connected and shows buy-in to the change.
5. Provide training.
“Offer ample training and ongoing support during the transition,” says Schoeneberger. “Multiple training sessions, open-door training, and access to experts all ensure changes don’t cause productivity loss.” Ongoing training shows your employees that you’re committed to their office digitization.
“Continual training, such as regular demos, prepares your organization for the next level, and that motivates employees to be excited rather than hesitant about the transition.”
6. Involve your employees in office digitization decisions.
“Just as you seek feedback from clients while in beta with a new product, ask your employees for feedback on best practices for office digitization in a way that will empower their results and efficiency,” says Miklusak.
This helps produce effective digitizing processes and gives employees a sense of involvement, so they don’t feel isolated from what’s going on. Also, this helps in creating a fun and yet productive culture in the workplace environment. Learn more on how you can achieve such an environment.
7. Take it one step at a time.
“Some of the best office digitization campaigns are rolled out one step at a time,” says Schoeneberger. “Going slowly alleviates concerns over technology use, allows for processing change, and shows potential impacts to positions.”
“It should be a long-haul strategy, to digitize your workplace” adds Beard. “Start slowly, especially with cultural transitions, and give employees ownership every step of the way.”
All the above steps help to improve the efficiency, consistency, and quality of employees’ output.
Share This
