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Trending tools for the digital workplace 1

Trending tools for the digital workplace

Workplaces today look a lot different than they used to a few decades ago. Since the pandemic, the digital workspace has witnessed a rapid shift in terms of the adoption of changing technology. As remote and hybrid work models are what employees are looking for today, organizations have prioritized digital transformation for their future growth. Even 56% of CIOs rank digital transformation as a significant tech priority in 2022.

There is no indication of the digital workplace slowing down any time soon, and therefore it will help to know about the tools that can serve as a catalyst for organizations in their digital transformation journey. Before we list tools that can help companies create digital workplaces, an overview of the underlying challenges will help companies envision the bigger picture.

Challenges of building a digital workplace

Organizational change

When you start cultivating digital capabilities in the organization, there is a need for wide-scale process changes. The company culture changes that result from adopting remote work can be a challenge to manage unless you are well aware of what changes virtualized workflows and digital collaborations will bring with it. The solution is to align your company’s corporate and technology goals so that you can use the proper tools to deal with challenges.

Continuous learning

As the digital transformation of business will affect all employees equally, people with less technological proficiency will be forced to adapt to these new tools. Your responsibility is to create a learning opportunity for all employees to operate digital tools. It would help if you also moderated the rate of introducing new technologies so that the employees have the time to learn. You must define what core competencies employees will need when they shift to a digital workplace. Finally, it’s also important to create a strategy for educating employees on new technologies and tools.

Redefining work-life balance

One of the reasons employees seek remote work is that it has the potential to offer employees a better work-life balance. A digital workplace environment should not strain employees; instead, should look at ways to help them be more productive. With the connectivity afforded by digital tools, it can be easy for the line between personal and professional lives to become blurred. You must ensure that the digital workplace is not exhausting the employees and causing burnout.

Once you address these challenges, you can utilize the tools listed below to create a progressive digital workplace. These tools can help digital workplaces increase operational efficiency and collaboration among culturally diverse and geographically distributed team members.

Tools for the digital workplace that every company can use

The cloud infrastructure

People are wearing away from the physical office space; IT infrastructure is shifting to the cloud. Cloud computing is the infrastructure that involves storing information over the internet instead of traditional local storage. The cloud is not a tool but the ubiquitous technology that any digital workplace will require to allow seamless collaboration among employees. With cloud infrastructure, it is possible to enable document sharing, collaborative project management, informed decision-making, etc.

Virtual personal assistant

As the digital workplace expands, there is increasing use of devices, technologies, and people. There is also a lot of data production that needs managing. Virtual personal assistants (VPA) are intelligent applications that help employees keep their productivity high by handling day-to-day activities, automating repetitive tasks, and aiding decision-making through analytics. VPAs act as an extension of your arm in a digital workplace, scheduling appointments, programming tasks, receiving calls, and replying to messages; the possibilities are endless. Depending on the requirement, you can deploy any available virtual assistance technologies like Siri, Google Now, and Cortana to help employees automate repetitive tasks and work smart.

Transitioning to ubiquitous computing

Another crucial digital workspace trend in 2022 is ubiquitous computing. It is a concept that has been forked from the Internet of Things (IoT). It simply implies that computers will be found in everyday devices, making them more intelligent and intuitive. At Microsoft’s Future Ready Conference in 2022, CEO Satya Nadella said, “We’re moving from a mobile and cloud era to an era of ubiquitous computing and ambient intelligence.” Ubiquitous computing is essential for a digital workplace as people will learn to work in an environment of ever-present digital assistants. You should focus on streamlining and simplifying the digital workspace using IoT technologies.

Information and knowledge sharing

Information researching is one of the biggest time killers when working on a new project. Organizations build support for employees through videos, documents, video conferences, and online courses, but finding the correct information at the right time in a digital workspace can be a challenge. Developing a decentralized knowledge base with SaaS tools like Jira and Asana will help employees find the correct information when they need it. With team collaboration software and enterprise intranets, you can create evolved digital workplaces.

Collaboration platforms

With a digital workplace, you enable teams to work from anywhere. Such distributed teams require reliable collaboration tools that allow connectivity anytime. Employees will need remote connectivity tools that allow for video conference calls, online project management tools, file sharing tools, etc. While the collaboration platforms you might use in a digital workplace can range from virtual messaging platforms to social tools, you also need to focus on data security. Collaboration platforms like Microsoft Teams, Jira, Zoom, and Asana can help you create a connected team environment. Such tools also allow employees to take ownership of their work.

Artificial intelligence

Artificial intelligence (AI) has reshaped almost every aspect of our lives, including work. As companies adopt assistive technologies to beat the competition, AI-backed solutions are helping the workforce with analytics data to improve production and boost workflow processes. Integrating AI in the digital workplace helps with customer support and increases productivity, but it can also automate the recruitment process, identify security risks and enable on-the-job training. The applications of this emerging technology will continue to expand significantly in the coming years. You need to adopt this technology and make your digital workplace suitable to integrate with future AI applications.

The 2022 tech landscape will continue to enable the digital transformation of businesses. Explore and pick the right tools to improve employee experience, facilitate collaboration, and boost ROI in the digital workplace.

Talent500 is helping companies of all sizes to hire, build, and manage teams for their digital workspace. We connect companies with elite talent across 50 countries. If you are looking for team expansion, request a consultation.

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Vikram Ahuja

Vikram Ahuja

A serial entrepreneur and co-founder of Talent500. Enthusiastically strives to expand businesses across multiple domains by bringing creativity to the table. Zealous about pursuing ventures at the intersection of art, technology, and business. An award-winning short film-maker, and well-traveled theatre-performer. Took part in Google's global Daydream Impact program, which promoted the use of Virtual Reality for impact-based stories.

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