Is your workforce ready for the new workplace?
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As emerging technologies find their way in our daily activities, all of us are enabled to work anywhere, any time. As a result, whether sanctioned or not, both the workforce and the workplace continue to become more distributed.
This of course, is not new. Many well-known employers and even the federal government had telecommuting programs in place over 25 years ago. What’s different today is that messaging, video, social media and ‘mega’ collaboration tools are all now available on mobile devices. This makes it perfectly natural for every knowledge worker to take advantage of the unmistakable benefits. This new workplace is called distributed.
The new workplacehas taken on different forms
Record numbers of employers around the globe are now putting these technologies to work by embracing distributed workplace strategies that include:
- Activity-Based Work Arrangements: Personal offices and cubicles arereplaced with shared, open-office workspaces that are selected based on the type of work being done that day.
- Flexible Work Arrangements: Employee-focused trends are driving increased flexible work arrangements such as compressed work weeks, flextime, telework, part-time work, job sharing, and other options.
- CoWorking: Workers are enabled to work in remote work centers convenient to their homes or while traveling to increase performance, promote work &family balance, and to recruit and retain the best and brightest.
Activity-based work arrangements will continue to dominate much of the distributed work activity among employers. The Knoll Workplace Executive Survey revealed that 57 percent of companies foresee introducing more unassigned seating over the next 5 years, and the number of workers in unassigned workspaces is expected to nearly triple, rising to 32 percent of the workforce from the 11 percent today.
“You want me to give up my desk and work where?”
As one might imagine, radically changing the daily routines of thousands of employees in an enterprise can be disruptive for some, traumatic for others. But some of you might be thinking “Hundreds of organizations have already done this, so what’s the big deal? I’ll just Google it!”
In a way, you’d be right. When planning disruptive organizational change, it’s not all that difficult to find examples of how it’s been done by others, or to imagine what the new workplace will look like in its final state. It’s even possible to imagine how the organization will ideally function in the new workplace.
“It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent that survives. It is the one that is most adaptable to change.”
Charles Darwin
How doyou get there from here? Sure you can Google all the information you need to create a great plan to be successful, but the challenge is in the execution. Getting there can be tricky – because it’s personal.See our post Recalibrating your enterprise for workplacemobility for some strategy tips on how to get there.
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See the Evolving Workplace e-Learning Series: Technology-enabled workplace change can only be successful if the people change too. The e-work.com Evolving Workplace e-Learning Series modules accelerate workplace changethrough a deliberate mindshift in individuals, teams and theenterprise to work together in new ways.
Register to see the Making the Case for Workplace Change course outline.
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Will rumors highjack your change communication messaging?
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Are you adopting workplace change strategies such asan activity-based workplace, a flexible work program, telework,coworking or free agents?If so, chances are you’ve already realized the importance of enterprise training, acceptance, program buy-in, andovercoming resistance to change
It should come as no surprise that people remain the primary obstacle to enterprise acceptance, adoption and even the survival of disruptive workplace programs. Resistance to change is all about frame of mind.
Will internal rumorshighjack your communication plan?
Before internal rumors have a chance to shape opinions about the changes you’re planning, it is critical that everyone learns the reality of your plan quickly and simultaneously. Whether you have 200 or 20,000 team members, properly preparing the workforce for the new workplace is a matter of buildinga five-step”case for workplace change” by:
1. Explaining what’s driving the need for change: Show everyone thebig picture strategy, howthe program will maximize enterprise potential, improveteam level effectiveness, andsignificant benefits for individuals.
2. Helping everyone picture what will the future workplace be like: Explain how people will work differently and the new work environment and processes that will bein placeto support it all.
3.Describinghow thenew workplace will benefitsindividuals, teams andthe organization: At this point in making the case for change, it becomes personal. What’s in itfor an executive is very different froma manager ora team member, soeach is tailored with benefits fromtheir perspective,each seeing the personal payoff and value proposition for getting on board.
4. Describing theobstacleseach indivisual willneed to overcome: Executives, managers andteam membersare then presented with a reality check.You must acknowledge the many obstacles and challengesto getting to the ‘other side,’along withclear pathsand support forgetting there.
5.Explaining howeveryone can be a part of the change: This is where the rubber meets the road.Executives and managers are guided to make a commitment, map out a change plan, develop a strategy to communicate it, empower their direct reports, and measure success.Team membersare reminded they are key to program success, are encouraged to discuss what’s working and what’s not, and to work with their manager to make this the best workplace it can be.
–Given the accelerating technological advances, there is no room for people who say “I like things the way they are!”–
It’s easy for people to jump to their own conclusion about change when they don’t know the facts.To make the necessary cultural shift, every individual in the organization needs to know the plan and buy into the vision, they mustlearn their role in its success, andshould expect toreceive recognition and rewards for being a part of implementing it. Making the case for change is one of several steps inan accelerated change process that providesrapid application of essential knowledge,new skillsand re-invented processes.
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See the Evolving Workplace e-Learning Series: Technology-enabled workplace change can only be successful if the people change too. The e-work.com Evolving Workplace e-Learning Series modules accelerate workplace change through a deliberate mindshift in individuals, teams and the enterprise to work together in new ways.
Once you’vereceived approval for the new workplace and developed a great buildout plan,your attention should now focus on gaining enterprise buy-in.
Register to see the Making the Case for Workplace Change course outline.
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Preparing mobile workers can make a huge difference
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These days, most knowledge workers already perform plenty of their work away from the office. Even in situations where teleworkers, workplace mobility, and flexible work arrangements (also known as distributed work) are not sanctioned or formalized, checking email after hours, hosting virtual meetings from a hotel room, are all pretty routine.
But without the establishment of mobile work policies and preparation of participants for the remote work experience, unsanctioned distributed workers are nowhere near as productive, efficient, reliable and consistent as they could be.
Properly preparing distributed workers will make a huge difference
Working in a distributed team requires unique skills and routines to remain connected, effectively communicating and collaborating with others. Essential to their success is earning the trust and reputation as a consistent team contributor no matter where they work.
So, for each individual to become a high effective, successful distributed team member, they must:
- Get on board: Each must learn and accept the program strategy and objectives, then visualize how their habits and routineswill differ from the way things are now.
- Learn to participate in a distributed community: Successful distributed workers learn to create trusted, contributing, engaged relationships with their teammates, becoming a viable member of the team.
- Become an advanced communicator and collaborator: To maximize team interaction, each individual must learncommon communication processes, protocols and practices so that information is communicated effectively across the organization.
- Maintain visibility while working away: The ideal teammate is considerate and consistent, never goes dark, anticipates others’ needs, and masters mobile technology to stay visible and connected.
- Remain an accountable team contributor: Practicing consistent, reliable, measurable personal performance is essential for earning the trust and confidenceof the team.
To be fully successful, every participating distributed worker must be prepared by learning and accepting the program rules, improving their skills as a collaborating mobile member of the team, and knowing what it will take to become an active, contributingmember of their distributed work community.
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See the Evolving Workplace e-Learning Series:Technology-enabled workplace change can only be successful if the people change too. The e-work.comEvolving Workplacee-Learning Seriesmodulesaccelerate workplace changethrough a deliberate mindshift in individuals, teams and theenterprise to work together in new ways. course outline.
Register to see the Working in Distributed Teams course outline.
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