Digital workplace, digital transformation, organizational change, all valid subjects and important ones. However, I feel our industry is communicating too much theory and not enough operational and workable ideas today. We need to focus more on the H O W.
I ran a Quick Poll this month, asking people what their toughest “how challenges” are. The results surprised me.
Top 2 challenges: How to cultivate a collaborative, cooperative mindset and How to help people find what they need.
Two very different issues, or are they?
- The number 1 challenge for over 50% of the survey participants (n=112) is “How to develop and cultivate a mindset of collaboration, cooperation and sharing in our organization”.
- The second challenge is close behind at just under 50% of the respondents: “How to make it easier for people to find what they need to do their jobs.”
The top two challenges may be closely related. People often help other people find what they need. A strong cooperative, collaborative culture will certainly make it easier for people to ask questions and get help finding what they need. More on this later in a separate article.
In addition to the survey items, people added some important “how challenges” of their own which I have grouped by theme:
How to get people to take personal control of their future.
How to help people take ownership of their own development and start looking for opportunities to learn. The most relevant challenge is how to get people personally involved with their own work and their own future, and give them the courage and trust to take action.
How to cultivate a work environment that promotes career advancement and empowers employees to seek out new opportunities internally before looking externally for a new job.
How to develop truly new ways of working.
How to encourage thoughtful risk-taking.
How to develop and master listening skills.
How to challenge common processes and tools and try more flexible module based processes and tools.
How to raise the bar across the board for digital literacy, basic technical skills, and instill a sense of the value of digital data and information.
How to get the right balance between the old and the new.
How to help managers to find their place with new practices.
How to help occupational groups let go of old ways of doing things in favor of new ways – prove concrete gains associated with social collaboration.
How to keep the organization aligned with the needs of all generations within an organization. Avoid being stuck between keeping status quo versus starting to accept, understand and make use of the continuous change.
How to increase understanding and decrease territorial resistance.
Build consensus on the organization’s identity and purpose, as well as a deep and broad understanding of roles of the entities or business units within the organization.
How to help groups understand the value of letting go of what they see as their domain in order to move the entire organization forward.