What is a Digital Workplace?
A digital workplace is less of a thing and more of an idea, one that is most aptly described by DWG founder Paul Miller as the “virtual, digital equivalent of the physical workplace.”
It’s important to make the distinction between product and concept because a digital workplace isn’t something organizations can just purchase off a shelf. Every organization inherently has a digital workplace. The differentiation is whether it’s a digital workplace that was designed on purpose to support the highest levels of productivity and communication, or one that has developed organically over time, an unintentional collection of disparate technologies that often causes frustration and drives down efficiency.
The digital workplace provides an organization with services or capabilities across five main dimensions:
Communication and employee engagement
Collaboration
Finding and sharing of information and knowledge
Business applications (process-specific tools such as CRM, and ERP tools, as well as employee self-service)
Agile working — the ability to be productive any time and place
It is comprised of all the technologies employees use to get work done in the workplace. This includes HR and other core business applications, e-mail, instant messaging, and enterprise social media tools, as well as virtual meeting and collaboration tools.
When done right, the digital workplace should be designed to address an organization’s unique needs. It should integrate the disparate business applications from across the organization, making it easier for employees to access the business data and tools they need from a centralized location. The digital workplace should also increase engagement and improve the employee experience, using the technology to provide access to the tools and resources employees need - on any device, at any time, wherever it’s convenient, delivering a seamless, consumer-like digital experience.
Additional goals of the digital workplace include:
Breaking down information silos, creating a single source of truth for internal information and communication
Increasing operational efficiency
Driving company culture
Enabling better business decisions by making it easier for employees to find the information they need
Connecting and aligning the goals of the organization
Facilitating collaboration among dispersed teams to increase innovation and productivity
