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Current Filter: Document>>>>>Opinion> Forward thinking works Editorial Type: Date: 11-2015 Views: 1773 Key Topics: Document Management Strategy e-commerce Collaboration Internet of Things Key Companies: Storetec Key Products: Key Industries: | |||
| 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 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 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
THREE STEPS TO SMARTER WORKING 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.
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