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Forward thinking works

Editorial Type:     Date: 11-2015    Views: 1773      





David Wilkinson, Sales Director, Storetec Services Ltd offers a view of the work place in a changing world

When you think of the 21st century, chances are you'll think of something digital - it's certainly the spirit of the age, impacting on all areas of life. Within the first decade of the new millennium, the pace of change, technologically speaking, seemed to have increased exponentially.

Fifteen years later, the world is a remarkably different place. Probes can land on moving comets; 3D printers are providing ordinary people with the ability to make more or less anything; and smartphones have become an all-purpose tool from which you can do just about anything (socialise, play video games, read a book, pay bills and so on).

As a result of the digital revolution, entire industries have been turned inside out, with long-established ideas unable to exist against a radically different backdrop. The music industry is a good example of how technology has disrupted the status quo, demanding its leaders adapt and progress their operations to stay competitive, if not survive.

GETTING WITH THE PROGRAMME
For many organisations, the effects of the digital revolution have not been felt that acutely. While it has asked other enterprises serious questions about they way they do things, it hasn't demanded that all make far-reaching changes to their business models. However, new technologies are slowly but surely changing this - they are creating the conditions in which if you don't "get with the programme", it's not so much that it spells the end of your organisation, more that you get left behind. You have to keep abreast of the latest happenings and reconcile your business to break new ground, expand and diversify revenue streams and be part of the pack that sets the barometer of best practice within your sector.

This is smart working, or, as others like Accenture say, intelligent: 'Intelligent processes create a virtuous cycle of constant improvement fed by continuous feedback,' the global management consulting, technology services and outsourcing company stated in its paper Fast and Furious: How Digital Technologies are Changing the Way we Work.

THE PAPER EXAMPLE
Consider the typical organisation that is dependent on paper and non-electronic workflows. Everything seems to be working well to a common goal but without context, an audit of how efficient and effective your approach is, you can't really gauge the positives and the negatives. Yet, an assessment will reveal some shockers. Sticking with the paper example, a standard office relying heavily on conventional workflows risks being inundated with paper - on desks, in meeting rooms and in filing cabinets. It's lethargic, repetitive and unsightly.

Financially, it's very simple - the more paper you have, the more you'll spend. Whether it's the cost of ink or the cost of time spent filing and finding documents, paper en masse is a lavish and unnecessary expenditure. It's not smart and it's highly unproductive.

On the other hand, in a paperless or paper-lite environment, where all documents have been digitised and relocated to a secure and accessible online space, where now empty filing cabinets have gone to a secondhand store, where 'the post' is replaced by digital mailing, and where desks have been decluttered, the benefits are almost immediate.

Employees can continue to work flexibly - they can access documents remotely - space taken up by paper can be better used - creative areas, breakout rooms - and all stakeholders feel better off (work is more rapid, requests more responsive and solutions more immediate). Technology not only makes that happen, it also, through 'rapid iteration', continues improving things. Positive change and development is ongoing.

DIGITAL FIRST
All of this underpins a digital first way of working. Making this your default is still not an obligation but, the more interconnected we become - with the maturation of the Internet of Things - the greater the shift from it being an option to it being a necessity. There's logic to it. Already much of what is done today is digital, more so perhaps in people's personal lives. Movies are watched via the web, groceries are ordered on a smartphone, photographs are enjoyed on a tablet. Food is ordered through an app, local services engaged with on the web and ideas shared on social networks. This becomes default. In the world of work, this digital first approach is inevitable.

THREE STEPS TO SMARTER WORKING
On their own, flexible working, greater collaboration and new technologies will deliver seismic changes to how organisations think about work. As a whole, they offer enterprises an opportunity to bring about groundbreaking developments that will fundamentally reshape their entire business model, which, in some cases, will reinvent their entire base of operation.

The core product/service and ethos will still be intact, but modified, upgraded and refreshed. Getting here will be difficult. While many organisations, such as Google, Facebook and Netflix - note that they are principally tech-focused - have fully embraced non-prescriptive, open and dynamic working practices, many enterprises, big and small, are still stuck in the past, too busy to take stock of the mechanisms propping up their businesses or still cautious about investing in something that will have a huge impact.

It'll certainly be chaotic, tumultuous and divisive, but that's inevitable and immediate. Once the dust settles, and everyone gets into the rhythm of a forward-thinking, agile and tech-savvy way of working, which gives them greater control over their work, it'll be like nothing they have experienced before. For employees, the power of how, where and when they work is devolved to them. For employers, this trust pays off in retention, innovation, more sustainable profits and a business model that responds to the ever changing world around them. That's smart thinking; that's smart working.
More info: www.storetec.net

"On their own, flexible working, greater collaboration and new technologies will deliver seismic changes to how organisations think about work. As a whole, they offer enterprises an opportunity to bring about groundbreaking developments that will fundamentally reshape their entire business model, which, in some cases, will reinvent their entire base of operation. The core product/service and ethos will still be intact, but modified, upgraded and refreshed."

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