The Role of Low-Code Platforms in Digital Transformation

Low code
Introduction 

The world of business has undergone a drastic shift in recent years, driven by the relentless march of technology. Digital transformation has become the mantra for companies seeking to remain competitive and relevant in a constantly evolving landscape.  

This journey towards digital maturity requires businesses to embrace innovation and leverage technology to fundamentally reshape their operations and customer interactions. In this context, low-code platforms are emerging as a powerful force, empowering organizations to accelerate their digital transformation initiatives and unlock a world of possibilities. 

The Rise of Digital Transformation

Even before the global pandemic, businesses were recognizing the critical role of digital transformation in driving success. From automating mundane tasks to creating personalized customer experiences, the potential benefits were undeniable. However, the pandemic acted as a catalyst, forcing organizations to rapidly adapt and embrace digital solutions to ensure business continuity. 

The global digital transformation market is expected to grow to $1,009 billion by 2025 from $469.8 billion in 2020, at a CAGR of 16.5% during this period.   This rapid shift highlighted the need for agility, flexibility, and scalability – qualities that low-code platforms are uniquely positioned to deliver. 

The Benefits of Digital Transformation 

The potential rewards of embracing digital transformation are manifold. Studies by Gartner reveal that over 56% of CEOs attribute increased revenue to digital improvements. The benefits extend beyond just revenue generation, encompassing areas like: 

  • Increased Efficiency: Automation and streamlined processes lead to improved efficiency and productivity across departments. 

  • Enhanced Customer Value: Tailored experiences and personalized interactions build stronger customer relationships and loyalty. 

  • Risk Management: Data-driven insights and predictive analytics help businesses identify and mitigate potential risks. 

  • Profitability: Reduced costs, improved efficiency, and increased revenue contribute to a healthier bottom line. 

Challenges of Digital Transformation 

Despite the undeniable benefits, digital transformation journeys are not without their challenges. 28% of companies report that digital transformation is still often perceived as a cost centre according to Brian Solis.   

Some of the potential pitfalls include: 

  • Lack of Workforce Buy-in: Resistance to change from employees can slow down initiatives and hinder progress. 

  • Skill Gaps: Identifying and acquiring the right skill sets across the organization can be challenging. 

  • Measuring ROI: Quantifying the return on investment for digital initiatives can be complex and time-consuming. 

The Role of Low-Code  

Low-code platforms are revolutionizing the way businesses approach digital transformation. They offer a compelling alternative to traditional development methods, empowering organizations to: 

  • Democratize App Development: Business users and domain experts can contribute to the development process, reducing reliance solely on professional developers. 

  • Reduce Costs: Rapid development cycles and minimal hand-coding lead to significant cost savings compared to traditional methods. 

  • Accelerate Development: Visual interfaces and pre-built components enable faster application development, allowing for quicker response to market changes. 

  • Improve Agility and Innovation: Low-code platforms facilitate rapid experimentation and iteration, fostering a culture of innovation and agility. 

  • Simplify Scalability: Platforms are inherently scalable, allowing businesses to easily adapt to changing needs without significant code rewrites. 

Conclusion 

The confluence of digital transformation and low-code development represents a fundamental shift in the way businesses operate. By leveraging low-code platforms, organizations can break free from traditional limitations and embark on a journey of rapid innovation, enhanced efficiency, and sustained growth. This is not simply about building applications faster; it’s about empowering businesses to become more customer-centric, and adaptable in a rapidly changing world. 

The low-code revolution isn’t a fleeting trend; it’s a permanent fixture in the future of business. It’s a tool that empowers businesses to harness their full potential, enabling them to innovate, adapt, and thrive in a digital world characterized by constant change. So, embrace Low-Code, chart your digital transformation journey, and unleash the full force of your organization’s capabilities. The future is here, and it’s time to seize it.

 

CTA

A zero-jargon perspective on digital transformation

Digital transformation

In the last five years, who has been your ‘digital transformation’ catalyst? Was it the CEO? The CTO? Or, quite unexpectedly, was it COVID-19? 

In 2020 and 2021, a virus did all the selling for IT vendors. Organizations  – for a change – did true digital transformation, even though they did not know it. The happy (though short-lived) change occurred because during COVID-19 lockdowns, you – the decision-makers, inverted the tech buying process. Rather than being swayed by sales pitches, you set clear expectations. 

You demanded solutions that were fast, efficient, and user-friendly. You challenged vendors to deliver results not in months, but in days. You stood firm in your requirements. And as a result, you got your first taste of what digital transformation truly means. For a change, salespeople were silent, you had clarity, speed and cost were all that mattered, and real work got done. However, it’s disheartening to see the market reverting to its old ways.

 

Digital transformation

                                                                               Source : Marketoonist

 

Sadly, now that the urgency is gone, digital transformation is back to being that proverbial pot at the end of the rainbow – a pot nobody can see, and for which CTOs are on journeys that never seem to end. 

Why is Digital Transformation Perceived as Complex?

Two reasons. 

  1. A business is a complex organism with countless hearts, brains, and limbs. Even the largest tech firms cannot fully comprehend the intricacies of your specific business. Therefore, any solution, strategy, or tool suite they offer cannot perfectly align with your unique needs – it’s simply not feasible.
  2. Vendors lean heavily on jargon. In the business of digital transformation, you’re being sold a journey designed to never end, so the invoices keep on hitting your bank accounts. Asking “When will we reach our goal?” or “What is our destination?” seems almost taboo.

What exactly is digital transformation, for your business?

It’s time for a change. Let’s start by empowering you to define what digital transformation means for your organization, in your terms.

You Decide What Digital Transformation Means

Next time you’re in a meeting with a tech company, try this. Ask them, “What’s your definition of digital transformation?” Bet you, the next time you ask, their answer changes. Confusing, isn’t it?

It seems there’s so much confusion around ‘what is digital transformation’, that researchers find it worth their time to unpack definitions and arrive at a common one. 

Digital transformation

                                                                            Source: ResearchGate

 

Don’t be bothered by this table. It’s yet another attempt at making digital transformation sound like something you’re too naive to understand. Forget everything you’ve heard or read about digital transformation. Only focus on these four things about it. 

  1. It starts from within. No one can sell it to you.
  2. It’s about radical results. Not just 10% or 20%, but aiming for a 10x improvement.
  3. It affects your entire organization.
  4. It’s driven by technology.

Imagine changing the way you work so that everything you do now gets you 10x the results. This new approach applies to everything in your organization, and technology is the key driver here. Do this, and you’re in the middle of true digital transformation. Now, let’s break down what this transformation might look like for you:

  1. A workplace where technology helps everyone do their jobs better.
  2. What if “who does what and when” is decided by logic, not just opinion?
  3. The right info at the right time in front of the right people.
  4. Everyone works towards not just growth but superlative performance.
  5. Every customer interaction is proactive and personal. 

This is what digital transformation is supposed to mean.

Warning: most digital transformations fail. Here’s why.

Think about this for a second. Is it enough to know what digital transformation is? While that’s insurance against being misled by a vendor, it’s certainly not a guarantee that you’ll find success. 

What are the fail rates for digital transformation? 84% fail, says Forbes. 70% fail, says Deloitte. And McKinsey agrees. Surprised? Or if you’ve ever paid an invoice for a digital transformation, perhaps you’re angry. Let’s try to be impartial for a moment and think about this. 

Why Do Digital Transformation Projects Struggle?

The failure is at two levels. 

Level 1 – Processes

CTOs can find themselves blind-sighted and left thinking that it’s about ‘buying a certain technology’ and then waiting for the magic to happen. On the other hand, the organization’s processes are in a shape that just won’t let digital transformation happen. Issues like these.

  1. Each department in a company has its own system, like isolated islands. They’re not talking to each other.
  2. IT folks are up to their necks dealing with tech complexities. It’s a daily grind.
  3. Leaders are often hesitant about tech changes. Why? The cost and time seem too high.
  4. Tech consultants speak a language from another planet.
  5. So many processes and systems are not syncing up, it’s like an orchestra without a conductor.
  6. Everyone’s so busy solving today’s problems, that they miss the big picture. What’s important often gets overshadowed by what’s urgent.

Level 2 – Technology

When the time comes to choose the tech, it’s a mistake not being obsessive enough. Your tech decisions have to be about getting ‘what you want’ and not about letting vendors dictate ‘what they want you to buy’. 

Here, let’s do a thought experiment. Imagine what your organization would look like in an ideal world.

In that world:

  • Work gets done super quickly and at a much lower cost than usual.
  • Your team, even those not in IT, can help make applications. Everyone is an inventor.
  • You can add new apps to manage work without worrying about it taking ages or costing too much.
  • You can try new apps quickly and change them if needed, without being scared of messing up.
  • There’s a single version of truth for everyone; data analysis is minutes away.
  • It’s easier to set and follow goals, making sure everyone’s working on what’s important.
  • New team members can jump in and get going quickly, helping your team grow.
  • You can use the latest tech, like AI, easily, quickly, and without it costing a fortune.

Now that you’ve articulated it, it doesn’t seem like a dream anymore, does it? So there is no need to let any vendor dazzle you with a sleek UI and pretty little demonstrations of ‘cool new features’. 

Instead, insist on getting technology that makes your people more capable. That’s what technology was always meant to do – make superhumans out of humans. So, ignore features, and insist on how it will make your people more capable. Only one question remains. Where can you find this technology?

Amoga — a no-nonsense platform built for people who are serious about digital transformation

When we built Amoga, we were clear on this – businesses want outcomes, and if technology will get them those outcomes fast and cheap, they will want technology too. So we’ve built the technology that does one thing – it empowers everyone in your organization to do more, with less. 

Our happy customers stick to Amoga because of their own. Among these, the most common ones are: 

  1. Build Apps Fast: Instead of years, imagine building apps in months. Amoga lets your team code less, build more, and launch features quicker.
  2. Save Money: Ditch expensive custom coding. Amoga’s drag-and-drop tools slash development costs and free up the budget for other important things.
  3. Everyone Can Build: Even non-programmers can create useful apps with Amoga. This frees up your developers for complex tasks and empowers your whole team.
  4. Stay Organized: No more messy projects. Amoga keeps everyone on track with clear dashboards and progress reports, boosting overall efficiency.
  5. Automate Busywork: Let Amoga handle repetitive tasks. Focus your team’s energy on creative problem-solving, not tedious data entry.
  6. Work Together Seamlessly: Share data and updates in real time. Amoga breaks down silos and fosters smooth collaboration across departments.
  7. One Platform, Endless Possibilities: Amoga adapts to your needs, no matter your industry or size. It’s like building blocks for any kind of app you can imagine.
  8. Plays Nice with Others: Amoga connects with all your favourite tools and platforms. No more data stuck in separate systems.

Don’t just take our word for it. Try Amoga. Let’s talk about how we can do a POC for you and see how it can transform your development process. We’re confident Amoga can make a difference. Take your time, explore, and see if it’s the right fit for your team.

Not ready for it yet? Why not simply tell us your thoughts and experiences of digital transformations? You’ll find us keen company for a conversation on digital transformation any hour of the day.

Async Communication: Make your remote team communicate better

async communication

From the past two years, remote working has become the new normal, giving rise to an asynchronous approach, connecting from anywhere, at any time. It is a way to communicate, collaborate and coordinate with employees across countries from different time zones through email, team communication tools, Google Docs, etc.

According to the recent research by  Harvard Business Review, companies have seen an increase in productivity by using online tools for asynchronous communication.

Is It Time to Let Employees Work from Anywhere?

The objective of this article is to give you a clear idea of asynchronous communication and how it helps in remote work success. But, before going into the details, let us first understand the difference between synchronous and asynchronous communication.

Synchronous vs. Asynchronous

Synchronous approach: Simultaneous exchange

By definition, synchronous is anything that happens simultaneously, in sync. Therefore, when we speak of synchronous communication, it indicates a relationship in which the sender and receiver are interacting at the same time, whether they are in the same place.  

In this way, messages sent are immediately received and answered by other people. The communication happens in real-time, where the feedback is instantaneous.

Examples of synchronous communication –

  • Face-to-face meetings
  • Video conference
  • Digital notifications via Slack, WhatsApp, Microsoft Teams, etc. (if the recipient responds in real-time)  
  • Asking the teammate at your desk a quick question

Asynchronous approach: Flexible exchange

In asynchronous communication, the communicating partners do not enter into a conversation in real-time. It means the sender and receiver interact at different times, at the time that is most convenient for both. For instance, when someone sends you an email, you open it and respond hours later.

Examples of asynchronous communication –

  • Email
  • Discussion forums
  • Letters or other direct mail Project management tools  
  • Company virtual workspaces  
  • Text messaging via mobile devices

Challenges associated with synchronous communication at workplace

This highly synchronous way of working would be understandable if it produced results, but there is increasing evidence that all the overhead of real-time communication makes it difficult to focus, drains employees’ mental resources, and often makes it difficult to progress at work.  

Let’s briefly look at the main problems associated with synchronous culture –

  1. Constant interruptions
    The biggest drawback of synchronous communication is that it favors interruptions. When you work in a work environment that favors this kind of culture, you generally have more meetings and your colleagues come more often to interrupt you to ask you things. It can, therefore, sometimes be difficult to concentrate and do deep work.
  2. Loss of freedom
    When you receive a text message or email, you have the freedom to read it and respond to it later. With synchronous culture, this is impossible. If someone calls you or schedules meetings or comes to talk to you, you can’t ignore them and come back to them later. You must stop what you are doing to respond to him. This constraint gives less freedom.
  3. Creates unnecessary stress
    The expectation of being constantly available means employees have no control over their schedules. They spend business days reacting to requests rather than proactively setting their own agenda. Researchers also found that people who make up for time lost to workplace disruptions by trying to work faster lead to more stress, greater frustration, time pressure, and effort. This kind of synchronous culture can quickly lead to burnout.

Benefits of Async communication at work

Working remotely has long been synonymous with working in unsuitable environments for professional activity. This implies less predictable working conditions and obstacles to productivity (children, noisy neighbour’s, work, etc.). Asynchronous way of working in a telework context thus has the merit of allowing employees to regain control over their time management!  

But it is not only beneficial in a telework context. Many companies that still have offices are also adopting a more asynchronous approach to prevent their employees from being distracted or interrupted in their work.  

Among the main advantages of asynchronous approach, the most recognized are –

  1. Promotes the quality of work
    Asynchronous work style allows an individual to prepare for a good response by providing enough time. It means a particular answer has been sufficiently thought through, and thus a valuable and high-quality output is ensured. When employees are free to respond on their own schedule, they can focus on more important things, which eventually improves their performance and productivity, and it’s a win-win situation for everyone.
  2. Less stress at work
    Being constantly interrupted by notifications and messages makes work unproductive. With each interruption, there is a new cycle of concentration and focus to get back to what you were doing. Little by little, this creates stress, which further lowers focus and productivity throughout the day. Upfront, this will generate dissatisfaction with the job and the company and possibly even mental problems. Giving more autonomy to the employee allows them to plan better, to prioritize what is most important.
  3. Allows greater flexibility
    Isn’t it true that we all seek a perfect work-life balance? With asynchronous work, this goal seems more viable. The possibility of determining your own hours and calendar is the most attractive feature of remote and asynchronous employment. Some are most productive during the day, and some are more productive at night. Thus, asynchronous work culture gives the freedom to choose your own feasible work hours.
  4. Increases transparency
    While communicating asynchronously, one of the most important things is to pass on the information, at a later point in time in written form or in the form of pre-recorded videos and audios. As a result, your team can revisit and discuss the goals of a specific project or the expectations placed on them, leading to more transparency.

    Whether in written documents or recorded videos and audio, asynchronous communication makes it even more evident what is expected of your team and the time frame. This way, everyone knows what they are working on and has access to other project areas for an overall view. Transparency is crucial for your team’s growth and business development – it builds trust and allows your team to truly understand the vision behind the business goals.

Whether in written documents or recorded videos and audio, asynchronous communication makes it even more evident what is expected of your team and the time frame. This way, everyone knows what they are working on and has access to other project areas for an overall view. Transparency is crucial for your team’s growth and business development – it builds trust and allows your team to truly understand the vision behind the business goals.

How to build a more asynchronous culture within your team

The transition to asynchronous communication does not happen overnight. It requires a profound change in your organization’s work processes, habits, and culture. As too many emails have been plaguing workplaces for a long. But, the new modern digital workspace, collaboration tools, and work boards have replaced emails with more contextual and meaningful communication and interactions.

Here are some concrete steps you can take, individually and as a manager, to begin your transition –

  • Over-communicate – ‍When sending a message, include as much information as possible, both in writing and with visual tools. Be clear about what you expect from the other person, do not hesitate to detail your expectations. Set a deadline by which you expect a response/action from him.  
  • Plan ahead – ‍Give your collaborators time to reflect on your message before giving you feedback.  
  • Before meetings, share a common thread or document – ‍Share all relevant information and discuss key points before the meeting so that everyone can fully understand the topic to be addressed.  ‍
  • After the meetings, document your discussions and conclusions – Continue your thread, so people who weren’t there can have all the information they need. You can even experiment with video recording your meetings so they can “attend” them asynchronously.
  • Emphasize trust, independence, and responsibility – Without these values, asynchronous communication cannot work effectively. At the same time, set reasonable team-wide expectations for response times. For example, you can ask your employees to respond within 24 hours.

Wrapping Up

The synchronous and asynchronous forms of communication are two means that will always exist and coexist. There is no way to leave any of them aside, as they are great for different functions. However, in the current corporate context, prioritizing asynchronous approach is the best thing to do, especially in telework or hybrid workplaces. The fewer interruptions help the team be more focused, leading to better overall results.

Data-driven decision-making process: A beginner’s guide

Data driven decision making

There is no doubt, we are in the 21st century, and digital transformation has brought a specific strategic interest: Data. 

“Without data, you’re just another person with an opinion.” 

– W. Edwards

Nowadays, companies seek to have data, more and more, about the users who visit their website and their networks to convert them into customers. But they also need the data to make decisions, to know their customers, and always offer them a plus advantage that makes them loyal. Not surprisingly, competition is fierce in each sector globally. 

So… What does it mean for a company to be “data-driven” and what is data-driven decision? 

Being a “data-driven company” means digitizing and updating the company culture to opt for decision-making based on the analysis of the information offered by the data since these decisions are more objective, faster, and optimal. 

The data revolution is here, and it’s just the beginning… but how does it benefit the decision-making process in organizations? We will discover it for you below. 

What is data-driven decision making? 

Data-driven decision-making is defined as the use of facts, metrics, and data to guide strategic business decisions that align with a company’s goals, objectives, and initiatives. Modern analytics tools such as interactive dashboards, work management platforms, and OKR tools help people overcome prejudice and make the best management decisions aligned to business strategies. 

It is often referred as DDDM or information-driven decision making. It pulls together historical information to analyze trends and make better decisions for the future relative to what worked in the past, rather than making decisions based on gut feeling, opinion, or experience. 

Data-driven decision making for business 

Data is one of the most valuable assets for every organization. It is a gold mine and a very strategic and invaluable resource that has the potential to transform the world, improve the way we live, grow a business, and enable better, faster, and cost-effective business processes. Unlike traditional companies, data-driven companies do not scale linearly, and one of the reasons giant companies like Google and Amazon always experience exponential growth is because their business models are fundamentally built around data-based decision making. 

According to PwC, data-driven organizations can outperform their competitors by 6% in profitability and 5% in productivity. 

Another study also reveals that organizations who enforce data-driven decision are 162% more likely to exceed their revenue targets and 58% more likely to exceed their revenue targets than non-data-driven organizations. 

81% of organizations also agree that data should be at the heart of all business decision-making. 

Before getting carried away by the above mind-blowing numbers, one crucial thing to remember is that data are “just like untapped gold” in its raw form and may not be very informative or valuable right away. Thus, to get the best out of data, the company needs to collect the appropriate data and transform it into a reusable format. That said, here are some key reasons why every organization should start using their data-based decision making effectively –

  1. Helps you understand customer behavior and improve their experience 
    We live in a world where products and/or services are countless, and your current/potential customers have multiple options on where to invest. In addition, competition between product suppliers has never been more intense than before. But without data, it becomes quite challenging even to know who your customers are, if they like your products and services, or if your marketing strategies/campaigns are effective or not. 

    In contrast, you can easily achieve all this with data by implementing customer surveys, extracting and analyzing access data, purchase patterns, etc. In most cases, business profits are closely tied to data-driven decision, customer-centric, and strategic business processes and decisions. Once you collect customer data, you can analyze the data points and gain insights generated from customer feedback. It proves beneficial for customer service, cross-selling, up-selling services, and/or product innovation. 

    For instance, Netflix collects and analyzes customer data to see what types of movies and shows are popular. Afterward, the company uses the insights gained to buy similar titles, if subscribers would also like the new titles based on their previous preferences. The company used this data-driven strategy to increase its business value by more than $50 billion during the peak of the pandemic in 2020. 

    Amazon also leverages consumer data such as browsing history, customer purchases, and preferences to power its product recommendation engine. This data-driven decision approach generates around 35% of the company’s revenue. 

  2. Make better, informed business decisions  
    Data-driven decision is an essential aspect of every business that often involves multiple business executives, shareholders, and millions of dollars that companies cannot afford to lose. With the correct data in hand, the company won’t have to make significant business decisions based on hunches, guesses, wrong assumptions, or uncertain inputs – even in times of crisis. The data-driven decision making will provide the facts, trends, statistical numbers, and insights that the business needs to make informed and calculated decisions or understand performance.

    Every department in an average organization generates (or can generate) valuable data that can be used to create a business strategy, drive growth and profitability. For example,
    • Business executives need data to assess the most significant trends in their market, such as changes in production processes, logistics, or customer price sensitivity.

    • Sales teams need sales performance data to understand and differentiate products that are selling well from products that are hard to sell.

    • Marketing departments need market segmentation data to identify the most willing customers who want to buy from them and speed up the closing process.

    • HR departments need personal data to manage talent better and build more effective global remote teams. – The list goes on!

  3. Assess business performance and understand employee engagement 
    In addition to helping, you understand customer behavior, improve brand awareness, and make better business decisions based on data, data analytics also allows you to measure business performance, build more reliable long-term hypotheses, and a very vibrant workforce. 

    The company can drill down into the data to understand whether it is meeting the most crucial business indicators or not. For example, most professional teams today employ a team of Data Analysts, Data Scientists, and Data Engineers to help support and improve company performance using data. 

    By analyzing business performance data, the company can also understand strategies that have worked and have not worked in the past, business data-driven decision and/or policies that have brought the most returns, business operations and costs that can be optimized, and other business drivers. 


Data driven decision making process 

Step 1

Start with your strategy  

To avoid getting lost in the face of a large amount of data, outline your strategic objectives and avoid analyzing irrelevant information. For instance, this could be as specific as: are you going to look at sales or website performance? Or track business metrics? Ultimately, it will help you later in the process to choose key performance indicators (KPIs) and the right metrics that maximize efforts by taking all construction to a single path and prevent you from wasting team time and energy. 

But, how to ensure that you are measuring the right KPIs? 

KPIs are impactful metric that measures how businesses, departments, and individuals perform when it comes to tracking objectives and key results (OKRs).  

Step 2

Use data backed KPIs

KPIs are the critical point of any performance management system. Some people prefer to work without KPIs, while others prefer to use KPIs from a long list of indicators found on the internet. Thus, it is recommended to invest time in finding specific performance indicators for your business challenges. 

For instance, you want to decide more tangible and specific with KPIs. Then, think and ask yourself these questions –  

  • How will you track execution progress (trend indicators)? 
  • How will you validate the results achieved? 
  • When do you plan to achieve these results? (Setting goals of values) 

Step 3

View the progress  

It is easier to track trends and anomalies when you can visualize the data on a dashboard. Thus, our scorecard can put the performance data for trend and result indicators on the same chart. In this sense, you can visualize the data and roadblocks and take your data one step closer to strategic challenges. 

Step 4

Turn insights into action  

Formulate an action plan based on the current understanding of the situation. It is more important to formulate all the details behind the decision. This approach makes it easier for new team members to join the team, align decisions across the organization, and analyze results. 

Step 5

Analyze the result  

Now, it’s time to analyze the results. The final performance data is not as important as the work your team did along the way. What’s more critical is to analyze the deep reasons for failure/success and suggest strategic improvements. 

To Conclude 

The world has changed, and there is no longer room to be guided only by intuition. Using data-driven decision is guaranteed to choose the best path. Amid this digital age, the generation of data is enormous, and, in the same way, the possibilities of use are endless. 

Institutionalizing Innovation in Workplace

Innovation in Workplace

Pandemic, few experts argue, has slowed business growth for many brands. Cloud-native companies that have pivoted their business models have mostly thrived during the constant disruptions. History suggests that organizations that can flex, adapt to unexpected changes and invest in innovation through crisis outperform competition during the recovery. Institutionalizing innovation in workplace is necessary to remain competitive in any industry.  

Workplace
Let’s deep dive into 3 ways innovation in workplace can be institutionalized –
  1. Foster a culture of innovation and growth
    Fostering a culture of innovation in workplace with a highly creative environment and digital transformation is a top-down approach. Leadership is responsible for driving core values and bringing about a company culture that is inclusive and on a high growth path.  

    When employees feel that their contributions matter and they have scope to experiment, they give their best shot. The expectations are changing and the pandemic has witnessed more employees quit than ever. Experts believe that we’re in “The Great Resignation” and as many as four million people quit in April 2021.  

    Nurturing a culture of innovation in the workplace means –
    • Actively encouraging experimentation across teams.
    • Enabling rapid development and scaling.
    • Observing environment and the market proactively.
    • Making the most of technological advancements.

  2. Failure should not be dreaded
    An agile business can only be successful if there is full support from the leadership in removing the fear of failure. Employees don’t want to take risks because they fear failure will negatively impact their reputation, which inhibits growth for both employees and businesses. They need constant confidence and support so they can fail quickly, learn from mistakes and move on.

    An organization that punishes failure and preaches innovation is a phony organization, to say the least. Fearless action is only driven by the lack of fear. Not every path is straight or successful, and not every idea will be worth investing time into. Perhaps 1 out of 10 ideas will actually make sense. What’s important is to understand that failure does not equal wasted effort. The workplace that rewards failure supports a high growth and innovation culture.  

  3. Operational agility is not a choice
    Operational agility is an essential component of any competitive business model and is the ability to quickly and effectively respond to changes within a company. The 3 key pillars of operational agility are flexibility, robustness, and resilience. Agility is what allowed the leading companies to stand apart during the pandemic.

    Practicing agility at the top sets the culture for teams and employees; leaders who can act quickly, pivot when needed, and scale with stakeholders help organizations to rise above adversity. Gartner estimates that by 2025, over 50% of government agencies will have modernized critical core legacy applications to improve resilience and agility. This goes on to say not just private firms, govt agencies have also felt the need to be agile in order to be sustainable.  

Wrapping Up

Identifying risks and predicting disruptions is not a gut feeling. It requires a comprehensive understanding of the entire value chain: technologies, digital transformation, processes, environment, and customers. The leading organizations today are building new levels of resiliency, institutionalizing innovation in the hybrid workplaces, and aren’t just dealing with the challenges of today. Rather, they have established an innovation culture that embraces changes that are yet to come.

Digital Workplace with a Human Touch: Make your workplace more human-centric

Digital workplace

The pandemic has changed people’s lives by unveiling the full potential of digital tools. Some of the features that make up a digital workspace are online collaboration, video calls and remote meetings, document management, and cloud services. This has been a lifeline for many companies to continue operations, but it is still an unexplored path for many others.  

Many business leaders believe that implementing the right technology like a low code development platform will transform the business. But the truth is, you cannot rely on technology alone to solve the problems. Technology is just a tool that enables employees to accomplish goals. So, employees must come first while designing a successful digital workplace. 

Humanizing the workplace is an essential step towards improving employee morale and retention rate and, in turn, improving the company’s productivity and capacity. Employees who feel connected to their digital workplace are much more likely to exhibit higher rates of morale and satisfaction levels than those who feel dehumanized in their work environment. This is the first and most crucial step towards digital transformation. According to a global survey by JLL, workplaces of the future will be versatile and hybrid, focusing on employee-centric solutions. 

What is a digital workplace?

A digital workplace is a cloud-based work platform that allows organizations to work virtually.  

Gartner analysts define it as “a business strategy that enables innovative and more efficient ways of working, leveraging worker-centric organizational models and technologies, and improving employee engagement and productivity.”  

A successful digital workplace aligns technology, people, and business processes to improve operational efficiency and achieve business goals.  

The next step in digital transformation strategy is to focus on employee engagement and provide them with an intentional and crafted digital experience to accomplish their work. As it is no longer mandatory to limit oneself to the office’s physical space to carry out professional activities, organizations need to think deeply about aligning their business processes and employees with technology.  

Ways digital workplace helps in making work more human 

Thankfully, there are several measures that business leaders can take to create a human-centric digital workplace. Here are some key elements to focus on –

  1. Trusting employees and encouraging their autonomy 
    The first step to bringing a human-centric approach to the digital workspace is trusting your employees and empowering them. Since you won’t be physically next to the team, you won’t be able to supervise tasks all the time, and this is where trust is required. If employees are well-associated with their tasks and perform activities with quality, they do not need full-time supervision. In these cases, it is necessary to encourage autonomy and assign responsibilities to them.  

    Before granting this independence to the entire team, it is essential to know each employee well and understand their level of maturity in the position. For instance, recently hired people may need your supervision more, so their autonomy will not be equal to professionals with more experience.

  2. Keeping lines of communication open
    A strong communications strategy based on modern, intelligent delivery systems can help employees feel safe, secure, and connected in a digital work environment. But, with tons of apps now available in communication, it is quite easier to send a quick message than have a real conversation with your employees. IMs and emails can often come off cold and distant or leave the employee feeling like you do not really want to engage with them. Therefore, it is essential to have a more human approach to interaction when possible.   

    With digital workplaces, you can set up an effective communication channel making it easy for the remote staff to collaborate easily with other team members and keep up to date with business changes.  

    Moreover, eye contact helps you empathize with employees and see if they understand what you’re talking about! For this reason, at times, you should turn on the camera during team meetings and ask your team members to do the same.  

  3. Aligning and engaging your workforce 
    Keeping remote employees engaged isn’t an easy feat by any means. As most of the employees and managers work remotely, ensuring the same level of motivation has become quite difficult compared to when they are at the office premises. So, implementing OKR here is the secret to digital workplace success.   

    The acronym OKR stands for “Objectives and Key Results.” As its name indicates, it implies employee career success by allowing employees to focus and communicate more effectively and be more aligned across teams. OKRs assist in organizing teams and their day-to-day work around achieving common objectives. It helps employees connect with their managers or business leaders with increased transparency, improved focus, and better alignment.   

    Moreover, the OKR framework also helps employees to:   
    • Keep regular track of their progress.
    • Increases focus & productivity. 
    • Elevates employee engagement & commitment. 
    • Allows employees and their leaders to work cohesively.  

  4. Offering flexible working-hours 
    It is worth saying that flexible working hours are the key to productivity during remote working. Gartner’s 2020 Reimagine HR Employee Survey revealed that only 36% of employees were high performers at organizations with a standard 40-hour workweek. And organizations that offer employees flexibility over when, where, and how much they work see 55% of their workforce as high performers. When employees are getting the job done, being a business leader, how can you support them and provide the digital workplace solutions they expect and need?   

    To start, organizations should strive to provide employees with modern digital experiences that enable them to work according to their convenience. Empowering employees with this sort of flexibility delivers significant employee experience benefits and helps them to better manage their work-life balance, improve their wellness and be more productive.  

  5. Main advantages of human-centric digital workplace 
    Now that we comprehend the concept of the digital workplace and the implementation of a human-centric work environment, let us explore the advantages of putting it into practice. 

  6. Increased productivity  
    Adopting the digital workspace will allow your company to rely on more effective processes, generating a positive impact on the entire team’s productivity. Technological advancements have entirely reshaped organizations by streamlining business activities and automating some tasks.   

    With this improvement provided by the digital workplace, team members will produce more in less time. Moreover, they will be able to leverage these smarter tools to collaborate better.  

  7. Retaining talent  
    Every employee wishes to be valued, and it is common for everyone to like it when superiors express the same. Employees who feel valuable and essential to the company have a great tendency to remain part of it and do so of their own free will. Thus, business leaders now can value their employees, skills, presence, and all the excellent work done in the process using technological tools.   

    A digital workplace enables businesses to take advantage of technological developments by centralizing information and organizational processes, creating a social network and collaboration platform, thus building a strong employer brand, and retaining talent.  

  8. Superior team engagement  
    Keeping your team members engaged with their activities is very desirable, as it contributes to the efficiency and quality of their deliveries. Although it appears that a digital workplace will make people more distant, the reality is quite the opposite. In most cases, there is an increase in team engagement. It is because the digital workplace facilitates access to learning platforms, making it possible to train your team independently. Moreover, gamification features help to amplify that potential.