One of the biggest misconceptions about digital transformation is that it is all about technological change. With companies feeling an urgent need to transform digitally, technology is considered to be the panacea for business problems and a way to speed up transformation.

But while technology is an important part of digital transformation, it can only deliver benefits if it is procured as part of a wider plan.

The issue is that those making the decisions to implement technology for the sake of technology may be focusing on the process of changing their business, rather than targeting their ultimate goals.

In fact, the majority (71 per cent) of IT leaders say their business is so fixated on digital transformation that the projects may not deliver tangible benefits, according to 2019 research from database company Couchbase.

Caroline Carruthers, former chief data officer at Network Rail and Lowell, believes that understanding the problems the business is trying to solve or the value it is aiming to generate is crucial.

“Otherwise, how do we know we’re not cutting a square hole [with technology] rather than a circular one? People hear buzzwords and want a quick fix; it’s engrained that we want things faster, while advances in consumer technology have meant people expect the same from business technology. However, the problems are far more complex,” she says.

The temptation to pick a technology option is because it’s easier to put the business case forward, rather than a more in-depth strategy that focuses on data, processes and people.

“Data itself doesn’t save money, it’s about how you use it and eventually this can save you money or enable you to generate value from it. But this is quite complicated, whereas a business case for new technology can be about spending millions and generating a certain amount of value that the tech supplier will have suggested,” says Carruthers, co-author of the book Data Driven Business Transformation.

Business leaders often get blindsided by other companies, which may have saved money or generated value through implementing a technology tool, without taking into account all the other work the companies may have carried out to make the technology work effectively, including having a clear strategy about its purpose and complete engagement with its users.

“There are lower-level business benefits that the overall value can be tied to, such as improving the employee experience or engagement, but it’s vital these benefits still tie to the top-level business goals of the organisation,” says Angela Ashenden, principal analyst of workplace transformation at CCS Insight.

“It doesn’t need to mean extended approval processes and endless red tape, but it does force a connection to be drawn with the technology, investment and business value.”

Camille Mendler, chief analyst of enterprise services at Omdia, says organisations should welcome incrementalism. “Little wins matter too and add up, for instance the billable time saved with a mobile app that can scan employee receipts and populate expense reports automatically,” she says.

While it might be straightforward for leaders to think about business benefits, often they are not asking the right questions from the outset when it comes to transformation initiatives and this is undermining their efforts.

Technology first, business second

Organisations that prefer not to consider the overall picture and plough forward with shiny new technology without thinking about their employees or customers, can experience a negative impact.

Ashenden cites a company that made a huge investment to try and position itself as a cloud services provider. “It had to abandon this once the company realised it wasn’t a market it could compete successfully in. It was the ‘next big thing’ and the company wanted to be part of it, but hadn’t addressed what its customers wanted and it turned out they didn’t want the services,” she says.

According to Mendler, companies risk creating digital subversives or employees who actively try to get around or subvert new systems and processes with so-called shadow IT. The irony is that this is one of the core reasons many businesses attempt to transform in the first place, but without a clear plan, employee engagement is not guaranteed.

Tech can still help to innovate

While it is important to address business goals and only deploy technology when there is a clear business case for it that takes into account data, processes and people, there is an alternative perspective of experimentation with technology.

“A lot of innovation comes from abstract ideas that might initially seem tangential to a business’s goals,” says Ashenden. "This is where innovation labs within companies provide opportunities, but also allow for the creation of guardrails to ensure the investment doesn’t get too out of hand, without a clear tie to the overall business goals.

“Providing this type of incubator for technology innovation allows for much more experimentation and creativity, helping to inspire tech enthusiasts or just those people in the business with interesting ideas, and providing a vehicle to explore ideas to a point where a decision can be made about its potential.”

If you have people driving data and data driving digital then you have it in the right order

But Carruthers emphasises that technology is just a tool. “If you have people driving data and data driving digital then you have it in the right order. If you just focus on digital and technology and do not think about data and people then you’re missing big parts of the puzzle,” she concludes.

Several decades ago, an office desk would have on it a typewriter, telephone, paper-filing system, some storage for books and other work materials, a large calculator, lamp and a fan. Now, a laptop and mobile phone have largely removed the need for most of those items, while air conditioning and improved office lighting have made other previously essential items redundant.

But there has also been a change in the way desks are used altogether with the rise of hot-desking, remote working and co-working spaces.

Considering these types of work arrangements are only possible through advancements in technology and a streamlining of the spaces we occupy at work, there is even the possibility there may be no need for the work desk at all. After all, employees are working from home, a co-working space or café, and using video-conferencing and instant messaging to keep in touch with colleagues.

However, this is discounting the requirement for many businesses to meet clients in the office or the ability to brainstorm ideas in an interactive session. The reality is most businesses that consider ditching the desk do so to improve their bottom line. It is incredibly expensive to occupy desk space and, if there is a case that employees can still do their jobs without being in the office all the time, then it’s an easy option to go for hot-desking and remote working.

Personal space and identity

According to research by Dr Harriet Shortt, associate professor in organisation studies at the University of the West of England, employees find it important to have their items on their desk because it communicates to the outside world a bit more about who they are.

“It gives employees a sense of belonging, a sense of connection to the organisation,” she says.

Taking this away can be problematic. “As we are inherently territorial people, if you have a sense of identity and feel you belong, you tend to feel happier and therefore you could arguably say you’re more productive,” says Shortt.

“So it’s a word of caution for organisations that while it is more expensive to have individual desks, it can have an impact on your employees and affect your return on investment in the long term.”

The flipside is many employees would like the option of remote working and by enabling them to spend less time and money commuting, and more time with their families, their wellbeing may actually improve.

Mix of remote, virtual and office working

Rebecca Newenham, founder and director of Get Ahead VA, a virtual marketing and business support agency, believes that while the future of work may lean more towards remote and virtual working, there will always be a need for face-to-face interaction.

“The future desk at work is about flexibility, using the working method that fits the task at the time. It’s about travelling to an office, co-working space or meeting point when face-to-face interaction is required. It’s not about sitting at a desk because someone expects you to,” she says.

The future desk at work is about flexibility, using the working method that fits the task at the time

Shortt believes that to get the best from employees and affect the bottom line, co-working spaces could be the future as they allow for a social territory, without the price of an office space.

To stay ahead of the competition it is vital organisations of all stripes are prepared to embrace change. Not doing so will mean they are setting themselves up to fail.

Let me explain. The quality of consumer technology has resulted in higher expectations around the systems that people, especially younger generations, use at work. It is no longer unusual for employees to access cloud-based applications using a device of their choice, for instance.

This situation, in turn, has led to the creation in many industries of a remote workforce that is happy to operate remotely and flexibly in a number of different environments, ranging from the office, shared workspaces or even their own homes. Put another way, work has become something you do rather than somewhere you go. 

The upshot has been that many roles are now less time based and more outcome focused, which interestingly has both positive and negative implications.

On the plus side, remote workers no longer have to waste time on a stressful commute and are in a better position to create a positive work-life balance to benefit themselves and their families. 

On the downside some employees may be happy to work remotely, but find themselves unable to switch off their mobile phones or ignore their emails even at weekends and on holiday, which can lead to undue levels of stress and, ultimately, burnout.

This means that as a key element of their pastoral care, managers need to be mindful not only of each individual team member’s attitude and behaviour, but also of the example they themselves set.

Need for two-way communication

Another concern in a remote working context is that of workers feeling isolated and also potentially dislocated from their colleagues and workplace if they do not attend a physical site regularly. Therefore, to mitigate these circumstances, effective two-way communication between staff and their line managers is vital.

For example, ensuring you hold a regular, weekly one or two-hour-long team meeting to discuss progress and address any issues or problems is a good opportunity to both keep on top of what is happening and to enable team members to bond. Guest speakers from other departments may also be invited to take part, on the one hand to impart information and, on the other, to enable the cross-pollination of ideas.

But at a more personal level, these team meetings should also be supplemented by regular, scheduled telephone or videoconference-based get-togethers with individual staff every two weeks or so. The aim is not only to check on developments and set objectives, but also to catch up on how they are doing personally.

Holding quarterly face-to-face meetings in a central spot likewise helps to foster team-building as does meeting for coffee if an employee is in the vicinity or calling rather than emailing them if you have a question. All these approaches contribute to building rapport.

In this context, it is also worth bearing in mind though that while emails are a good means of communication for quick, one-off queries, they do not support a two-way dialogue and should certainly not be used as the primary means of interaction.

Communication and collaboration software, such as Microsoft Teams and Slack, are a different story, however. These kinds of applications enable you to do the equivalent of sitting on the side of an employee’s desk having an informal chat and also make it easy for others to join in the conversation too if desired.

But even this kind of important social interaction is not enough. Just as vital is that workers understand and feel connected to the organisation’s values, mission and purpose.

Changing role of the manager

To this end, it is important that both leaders and managers articulate clearly and consistently what the company’s ethics and reason for being are as it is unlikely employees will be able to absorb such information from the atmosphere without it being laid out and the message being reinforced regularly.

What this situation means in reality though is that the days of the old command-and-control leader, who barked out orders and expected staff to jump, are well and truly over. Their role is no longer one of hiring and firing and ensuring people dance to their tune.

The idea of taking active responsibility for effective communication at all levels is indeed a step change

Instead these days, as traditionally hierarchical structures continue to flatten and networks of cross-functional teams that can be created and dismantled quickly becoming increasingly de rigueur, it is all about facilitating, influencing and guiding employees to empower them to make the right decisions. But it is also about treating them with empathy and respect and ensuring their health and wellbeing are well supported.

In other words, it is vital for leaders and managers to brush up on their soft skills and put more focus on the people rather than simply the technical side of the management equation. To do so effectively not only involves consulting with the team to understand what works for them, but also with their own managers too.

For instance, to ensure communication with your line manager takes place in a way that works for them, it makes sense to ask how they prefer to receive information and at what level of frequency. This might include a weekly written report, a fortnightly bullet-point list or a monthly PowerPoint presentation.

Whatever the approach taken though, the idea of taking active responsibility for effective communication at all levels is indeed a step change. Although all the old rules of good people management still apply, in a remote working world it is about doing the same, but in a more amplified way, so communicating your point more explicitly, more frequently and more clearly than you would ever need to do in an office setting.

The point is that as remote workers become increasingly widespread and serviced offices and shared workspace hubs become increasingly common, any company that declines to embrace change is destined to fail. Refusing to adapt to a changing world of work will result in talent going elsewhere and that is a risk none of us can take.

Anyone who’s trudged to the station on a rainy Monday morning or spent an entire afternoon in a stuffy meeting room has probably fantasised about life as a digital nomad. But the popular image of digital nomadism – one fuelled by Instagram posts featuring sunset-streaked skies and Pina Coladas perched next to laptops – doesn’t tell the whole story. In fact, all those ‘living the dream’ hashtags and shots of white sand beaches are pretty misleading.

“From our experience, digital nomads are some of the hardest working people in the economic ecosystem,” says Ott Vatter, managing director of Estonia’s e-Residency programme, which allows nomadic entrepreneurs access to Estonian services such as company formation, banking, payment processing and taxation. “It’s not easy to stay constantly on top of your business while travelling, and although this lifestyle may sound appealing, it actually involves a lot of multitasking, accommodating different local infrastructures, and missing out on social interaction.”

But while the carefree digital nomad image can be misleading, it’s only so up to a point, says Matt Dowling, CEO and founder of The Freelancer Club. “Freelancers who have the capacity to work remotely or on project-based jobs can, and do, take their work to Instagram-friendly locations. Aided by cheaper costs of living and the ability to blend their work with their day to day lives, communities of nomads around the world have the freedom to move beyond the traditional office.”

Mr Dowling believes misconceptions about the digital nomad lifestyle often relate to the amount of work it takes to get to that point – a view echoed by Athena Simpson, a business and marketing optimiser and digital nomad who says digital nomads need patience and discipline to succeed. “While it does allow for flexibility in your life, allowing you to visit new places and live life on your time frame, you have to be diligent and always planning for things to go wrong,” she says.

That includes power outages, poor or non-existent Wi-Fi, computer problems and travel difficulties. Working in a different timezone to your clients also comes with its own set of challenges, while sorting out accommodation and getting your bearings in a new location can eat into your working time and create further stress.

The big shift

Nevertheless, countless writers, coders, designers, and marketing specialists have successfully made the jump to digital nomadism. These pioneers are at the forefront of a broader shift toward more flexible and distributed forms of work. For instance, one study from Upwork in 2019 found that 57 million Americans now identify as freelancers – a 4 million increase from 2014. 

These flexible workers benefit from reduced commutes, as well as more time for family responsibilities, hobbies and exercise. Full-time remote working can also benefit individuals who live outside of large cities but have the skills to work in roles that are largely city-based. “For example, those that have technology and IT skills but are based outside of the capital could work remotely for the increasing number of companies based in London that are facing a skills gap in the tech sector,” says Anne Marie Ginn, head of video collaboration EMEA at Logitech. 

She adds that younger employees – largely members of Generation Z – are the most likely to seek out flexible and remote working opportunities. “Before entering the workforce, this generation has grown up with technology at their fingertips, and are more familiar with the culture of ‘digital nomadism’ than generations preceding them, who have largely experienced traditional offices and the idea of a career for life,” she says.

Collaborative tools like Slack, Microsoft Teams, Google Docs, Trello and Dropbox allow remote workers to communicate and collaborate with the rest of the business regardless of location or time of day. “Work is now also increasingly being done by teams of people rather than individuals, even if the individuals are spread far and wide,” says Alex Dalglish, head of future workplace at SoftwareOne.

Changing attitudes

Companies like Buffer, Zapier and GitHub and Brave are mostly or even fully remote, allowing them to draw on a vast talent pool while saving on real-estate overheads. But the situation is more complex for large enterprises. “In big organisations, change can be slow – it’s far harder to enable nomadism if you have a thousand employees, have made considerable investments in legacy technology, and have governance, regulation and compliance requirements to meet,” says Mr Dalglish.

A work culture that rewards presenteeism also persists in many large organisations. “A lot of people still believe you need to be in the room to make an impact,” says Adrienne Gormley, head of EMEA and VP of global customer experience at Dropbox, who has managed teams across different regions, locations, and time zones throughout her career. “In my experience, if everybody's clear on the goals and objectives of the team, and you build in the touch-points you need, you don’t need to be face-to-face all the time. We really need to challenge ‘presenteeism’ if we want to create a more intelligent workplace that’s in step with how people live and work today.”

We really need to challenge presenteeism if we want to create a more intelligent workplace that’s in step with how people live and work

Part of this involves challenging the myth that flexible and remote workers are less productive than office-based employees. One study from Stanford University, for example, showed that remote workers took fewer sick days and were 13% more productive than traditional office workers. However, “Even with such positive evidence that remote working benefits organisations, the world seems bogged down by myths about remote working and productivity,” says Mr Vatter.

This myth, along with the belief that digital nomads are all carefree beach dwellers, should fade as more organisations and employees discover the benefits of flexible working. After all, if you can do your job from anywhere – and even be more productive – why not make the world your office?