7 Essential considerations for getting your digital workspace strategy right

7 Essential considerations for getting your digital workspace strategy right

Digital transformation has been one of the biggest buzzwords in recent years. As companies struggle to become more efficient in an increasingly complex and competitive market, there’s more pressure than ever to modernize and do more with less.

But there’s far more to establishing an effective digital workspace than upgrading IT systems. Above anything else, it’s about building a strategy that can adapt seamlessly to the constant pace of change.

Here are the top digital workspace considerations for small business leaders today:

#1. Prioritize technology alignment

Most digital transformations fail because of the lack of alignment between business and technology. All too often do business leaders make the wrong investments, like purchasing software that is incompatible with other systems. In the worst cases, they can even end up in a worse place than when they started.

When evaluating your digital systems and new opportunities, keep in mind factors like workplace demographics, the capabilities and core competencies of your existing team, and the impact any changes are likely to have. Go for technology that affects wide-scale positive impact, high adoption rate, and minimal learning curve.

#2. Identify your technology needs

Newer isn’t always better, and investing in technology for the sake of chasing after something new is a surefire way to enter the wrong stage of the hype cycle. Before you even start thinking about which solutions to go for, you should identify the need. Perhaps your team is having a hard time keeping track of important documents across multiple branches, in which case there’ll be a clear need for a new document management process.

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#3. Consult with your team

For marketing teams tasked with communicating with customers, customer personas are an essential part of the mix. But the same applies to business decision makers seeking to better their internal processes. They need to think about the needs of their employees, which means thinking about employee personas. These are essential for establishing the right baselines or determining how a new technology might impact your employees’ morale and productivity.

#4. Establish your performance metrics

No digital transformation will succeed without an established methodology for quantifying the success of your initiatives. That’s why you need to establish your key performance indicators (KPIs) from the outset. Naturally, these should be based on fundamental business goals. For example, you might incorporate cloud-based document management to boost productivity, or you might do it to simplify compliance and security.

#5. Incorporate employee training

Few things hinder employee productivity more than forcing new systems and processes onto them when they’re not ready. Poorly executed changes can result in low adoption rates at best and serious performance and security issues at worst. Not every change requires extensive training, but for those which do, you need to have an established onboarding program in place. For particularly impactful changes, you should also consider giving your employees a say in the direction of your projects.

#6. Implement security by design

The rapid proliferation of digital technologies in the workplace has led to a dramatic increase in the size of attack surfaces. Businesses face many more risks than they used to across an increasingly complex operational environment. To innovate without adding risk, design your processes with security in mind. For example, your document management system should not only be able to store and classify data; it should also have the option to regulate who can access certain files. It’s no good simply tackling these things later.

#7. Have a contingency plan

No matter how careful you are, there’s always a risk of something going wrong. When moving to the cloud, for example, data might be left vulnerable during transit. A critical third-party supplier might also experience problems that can lead to serious disruption or security compromises.

There’s no such thing as a completely foolproof digital transformation, which is why you need a contingency plan in case your strategy doesn’t go exactly as planned. Always prepare for every eventuality before making any significant changes to your operational infrastructure.

Complete Document Solutions helps businesses across Southern California enable growth with expert guidance and managed technology services. Call us today to find out more.


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