Author of the "Organization in the digital age" paper, Jane McConnell has advised organisations from Europe and America on their internal digital strategies over the last 17 years.

People sometimes misunderstand what a digital workplace is. They consider it to be technology or the natural evolution of the intranet.

In reality, digital workplace should be viewed as an intersection between:
1. people who work together (sharing information, taking part in projects),
2. organization culture (work and management practices, leadership styles) and
3. technology (digital platforms, online tools that help work)

Method used:

9th annual global survey
26 countries

two angles for analysing data:
- early adopter organisations compared to the majority (top 20%)
- high-performing organisations

4 different key indicators:
- learning indicator (ease for people to learn)
- customer (ease and efficiency for facing customers)
- agility (when confronted with sudden unexpected events)
- knowledge (preserving know-how and sharing knowledge)

Common practices in mature digital organisations:
- digital is viewed as a strategic role for the whole organisation; objectives are in line with the overall business goals
- highest level of responsibility is either at C-level or with a person reporting directly to the CEO
- senior managers are 100% involved providing resources and becoming part of digital initiatives
- HR people and customer-facing workforce are involved in the decision making
- priorities are clearly identified at top management level, minimizing politics and slow decision-making

General finding:
Digital makes work more personal.
Over the past seven years, digital helped individuals be more open to co-creating content with others, communicating open and in real time with their peers
=
Humanizes the working place

Customer Satisfaction correlated to strong digital workplaces.
Top performers in the customer indicator, associate their success to information management.
Only 10 out of 300 consider it's very easy for their customer-facing teams to do their job seamlessly.

26% of companies with a well developed digital workplace consider it a strong tool in customer satisfaction and retention.

Digital workplace maturity is higher in organisations promoting a culture of trust:
- a strong, shared sense of purpose
- distributed decision-making
- freedom to experiment and make decisions

Most common challenges rated as "holding us back":
- too many competing priorities
- slow decision-making, often consensual
- too much focus on tool, not enough on people
- politics in the organisation
- no proven value or ROI

Three stages of maturity in developing a digital workplace:
1. start (establishing the why) characterized with some awareness in different areas of the organisation, senior leaders aren't involved, some ad hoc initiatives present in the company, few self-organised communities or networks

2. developing (reaching critical mass)
- senior managers are beginning to get involved
- multiple initiatives are taking place around collaboration, mobile and social
- some digital services are rolled-out at organisation level but, it's too early for a widespread adoption.

3. Maturing (sustaining momentum)
- digital is part of work practices
- most or all senior leaders are involved along with customers and external partners
- digital workplace is considered a strategic asset for the organisation

Community management becomes a skill set included in other job roles, rather than a job in itself.
Communities and social networking play an important role in the success of early adopter companies.

New roles appear in a digital workplace seen as new leadership forms:
CDO (chief digital officer) - a role that overlaps other existing roles and who's main objective is accelerating digital transformation
Internal Change Agent - the activist of the organisation who recognizes the need for change

Senior Management involvement is directly correlated to maturity stage - the tipping point for a digital workplace comes when well over half of senior managers understand its value and become actively involved in developing it.

Performance Management becomes social:
Managers and employees establish and share goals and track progress in real time
This is a developing practice (even for early adopters)

Having a sense of "why" is the biggest change driver when adopting digital transformations.
"Behaviour of senior leaders" and "behaviour of colleagues" are the next drivers.

Who should be involved in defining a digital workplace strategy?
- customer-facing teams (Marketing, Sales)
- operational managers (people behind call-centers, logistics etc.)
- Communications and IT
- people outside headquarters

Where should you start?
Assess what initiatives are already in place and start from building on them

How?
- run internal communication campaigns sharing internal success stories
- emphasize top management involvement
- research external stories of companies who've successfully become mature digital workplaces

Over 60% of early adopters envision a digital ecosystem comprised of various platforms for providing services.