Digital Action Field 6: Digital Leadership and Culture
The action field ‘digital leadership and culture’ is therefore an integral part of launching a digital transformation. It is primarily characterized by change processes in connection with aspects of leadership, culture, employees and new forms of work (new work).
The term ‘new work’ (or work 4.0) refers to the fourth industrial revolution, in which ubiquitously networked systems work largely autonomously. In a networked and fast-paced world shaped by digital technology, in which data and information are central and are constantly exchanged, work is also changing. In addition, the organization itself is also being renewed in order to remain competitive.
Managers are expected to distinguish themselves through innovative thinking, agile leadership and the ability to inspire their staff to digital transformation and thus create a corporate culture that welcomes and supports the transformation. Employees expect to be introduced to the new digital forms of work and must in turn be ready for the new technologies. All these changes can be summarized into three dimensions, which are presented below: people, place and technology.
1: People dimension (employees and colleagues)
With digital transformation, organizations are finding themselves in an increasingly dynamic environment. Developments are less predictable and greater flexibility is needed to adapt to constant change. This requires a new management style and corporate culture that is more contemporary. The demands on employees are changing, as are their ideas of what an ideal employer looks like. Communication and collaboration are also being shaped by technological developments and are accordingly evolving. In all these affected areas, there are now established concepts and approaches that differ from the traditional, hierarchically organized corporate structure, and approaches to collaboration, such as agile work and project methods, and flexible working.
2: Place dimension (working environment)
Digital transformation makes where and when you work increasingly flexible, allowing for greater choice. This influences workspace design. Long-distance collaborations from different locations are also driven by new developments in ICT. New technologies make it possible to use other workplaces and require the redesign of existing physical workplaces. It is associated with the emergence of new forms of work and new employment models. In the physical workplace, surroundings are important to the employee experience and are shaped by factors such as light, temperature and acoustics. This includes the extended environment, where lunchrooms and collaboration zones are appreciated by employees.
3: Technology dimension (communication and collaboration technologies)
Digital technologies primarily mean improved efficiency for organizations. This is an important enabler of workplace and digital transformation, as it contributes greatly to the competitiveness of organizations. In addition to automation in production, digital technologies that promote communication and collaboration among employees play an essential role. A willingness to integrate new technologies into everyday working life and to acquire digital skills will be critical in surviving in an increasingly digital working environment. The technology dimension includes the time and location independent collaboration of all participants based on digital communication and collaboration technology.
In the next blog post, we will introduce the final action field number 7, Digital Marketing, which provides a toolkit for the development of go-to-market frameworks for the digital age.
Strategy questions for the digital age:
- Do you provide your employees with a modern working environment with contemporary leadership, good equipment and flexible working arrangements?
- Do you use communication technologies that allow employees to easily and quickly access information, and to collaborate in digital/virtual teams?
- Do you know which new (digital) skills are needed in the organisation and are you building them to a sufficient level?