It’s amazing to consider how the workplace has changed.  Technology has enabled us to completely restructure how we communicate, work together, manage and measure productivity.  Rather than reaching any kind of plateau, technology is set to further evolve our work environments and how we interact with our peers and managers.

Evolving the Org Chart.

“Darwin said that it’s not the fastest or strongest that survive. It’s the ones most adaptive to change.”  Tony Hsieh, Zappos

Traditional “top down” organisational charts are being confronted and remodelled.  Companies with innovative attitudes towards culture and technology seek to replicate the agile nature of organisational structures more readily associated with start-ups.  Hands on and open, an environment that fosters sharing and opinion empowers employees to get on and do their job.

Technology is helping shape these attitudes.  Always on, anywhere access to information merges with the opportunity to communicate whenever, wherever people are.  Social platforms that encourage interpersonal connections at all levels are a conduit for greater corporate productivity.  The top down Org Chart is making way for flatter, more connected teams.

Stamping out the silos.

As a result of – and at the same time, the driver of – structural change within organisations, teams that have historically been siloed by function are increasingly required to converge their skill sets and work in cross-functional teams.

“Every organisation and the way you think about your business; you need to leverage the principles of diversity, of bringing together different skills, different cultures to create innovation, and put your customer at the centre.” Ray Velez, Razorfish.

This sort of thinking challenges organisations to break teams out of functional silos.  It requires a shift in attitude regarding data; the abolishing of departmentalised file shares that each take an autonomous view of how information should be stored and retrieved.  Technology platforms must support well organised information that can be shared easily and worked on collaboratively.

Disruption for better cohesion.

“Technology disruption” can be seen simply as the law that; if you aren’t placed to capitalise on changes that technology brings about in your industry or your processes, one of your competitors will be.

On a global scale, disruptions such as robotics, cloud, crowdsourcing, GPS and navigation (just to name a few) can affect the entire ecosystem of an industry.

A little closer to the hearts and minds of individual companies, when “technology disruption” in their own environment needs to happen, it can be daunting.  Any change in the fabric of  IT infrastructure needs to be considered and approached with vision.  The payoff for teams when it does happen in this manner, is that they have a new set of tools that can completely evolve the way they work together.

It is no longer adequate to look at technology as just infrastructure and data.  Without a vision for creating a foundation that supports greater team cohesion, optimisation and productivity, a company may undergo technology disruption simply to make changes at the infrastructure layer.  It’s potentially a huge missed opportunity!

It’s a safe bet that over the next few years, most companies will reach a point where they need to evaluate their existing infrastructure and ask “what is the business value this system brings to our team?” 

If you’d like to discuss how technology can help deliver real value in your business, call our experts today on 1300 766 554.