For the average workplace, it can be easy to get buried in work and surface only at break or lunchtime to spend time connecting with fellow human beings. This is especially true in heavily digital-focused workplaces, where it’s easy to become isolated even in environments when collaboration is a must to succeed. So, what can businesses do to maintain that human connection and improve the culture of their office?
A digital workplace is a great place to start.
Encouraging diversity and equality in the workplace involves putting everyone on an even footing and giving them the tools and support to succeed. A digital workplace can provide that space in which to connect with other employees and develop meaningful workplace relationships that can make all the difference to attitudes, behaviours, and happiness at work. Here are just six ways that a digital workplace can promote that human connection, and provide your staff with an environment outside of their ‘work bubble’.
1. Offer an easy way to communicate
Despite co-workers often sitting feet away in the typical workplace, it can be all too easy to become isolated as a result of a heavy workload. A digital workplace offers a new and easy way to communicate without the guilt of stepping away from work, establishing social ties and promoting a culture in which talking to anyone is as easy as clicking a button. Communication is a must for a happy business, and a digital workplace can provide the tools to facilitate that.
Hello? Anyone there? Your co-workers might be sitting just a few feet away but you can still feel isolated
2. Provide the tools needed to connect with others
Maintaining that human connection is about far more than simply providing a platform where employees can talk strictly business to each other. Instead, a digital workplace can provide added value if stretched beyond the goals of your business, offering tools that allow employees to connect beyond specific work queries or scheduling requirements. Providing the tools and the atmosphere to enable even your remote employees to get to know each other a little better can be invaluable to incorporate a sense of personalisation into daily working processes. This also pays off in the long-term with improved employee wellbeing and happiness.
3. Improve productivity to spend more time on other things that matter
One of the significant advantages of investing in a digital workplace is the freedom it gives you beyond everyday tasks. By improving productivity and efficiency of often time-consuming tasks or difficult collaborations, your business can free up a little time for other important matters. A successful business is one that invests in the happiness of their employees, so giving them breathing room can be a step in the right direction to achieve a more balanced workplace.
Streamline time consuming tasks to improve productivity
4. Encourage diverse and inclusive working environments
While a traditional office setting can make it difficult to encompass and effectively support a diverse and inclusive working lifestyle, a digital workplace can do that with its eyes closed. By offering a way to work that’s ideal for all employees– from remote workers to employees with additional needs related to disability or care– being diverse has never been easier. With the cultural richness and maximum diversity, you can achieve excellent office culture, and going digital can open your business up to countless new opportunities beyond the immediate office setting.
5. Create a welcoming and consistent digital culture
Digital culture is a must for any modern business. With an increasing amount of work requiring a consistent online presence, making that digital space as welcoming and consistent as possible is a must to ensure that old systems or slow software don’t hinder your employees’ jobs. By creating an efficient digital workplace that’s suited to the needs of your employees, you are also promoting an environment that allows freedom of communication, relationship-building, and effective work even between individuals on different sides of the planet.
6. Add some joy to the workday
If you think that everything has to be black-and-white when it comes to your business, you’d be wrong. According to recent studies, a happy workplace is a productive one. So utilising a digital workplace that promotes not only a better working environment but more accessible communication and enjoyable functionality can only be a good thing. Spending every second of the workday knuckling down is not achievable in the long run. Instead, businesses can choose a digital workplace that embraces that positive behaviour, whether it’s internal social networking to connect with colleagues beyond work duties or simply time-saving services that allow for a little more downtime in the day.
