DWG’s 2019 research programme blends thought leadership and practical guidance to help members excel
Digital Workplace Group (DWG) is delighted to announce the topics for its upcoming member research programme for 2019. “For more than 12 years, DWG’s expert research programme has been trusted by DWG members to deliver focused insights across both intranet and digital workplace good practice. In fact, in a recent survey, 83% of members said that access to research and case studies is one of the best things about DWG membership!” says Nancy Goebel, Managing Director, Membership & Strategic Partnerships, at Digital Workplace Group. Our selection of topics is guided by a combination of DWG’s unique insight into the industry, together with member priorities for the year ahead. This year’s topics will investigate how the digital workplace is best managed as well as its role in innovation and employee experience. We’ll revisit perennial themes of search and communication, as well as exploring the interface between the digital and physical workplaces. From time to time, DWG also makes a report available publicly for free download. Here are the six topics we’ll be covering in the coming year:
Digital workplace management: Programmes, products and people
DWG’s digital workplace management reports – covering topics such as roadmaps, governance, UX, and more – combine to form a playbook for digital workplace and intranet teams wanting to fast-track the programme. This year we’ll be adding to this robust collection with new insight into how to manage wide-scale digital workplace programmes, approaches to product management, as well as the team structures, roles and relationships needed to be successful. Related research:
- Digital workplace integration: Key approaches to drive benefits
- How mature is your digital workplace? What leading organizations discover from the DWG Digital Workplace Maturity Benchmark
- Digital workplace roadmaps: From strategy to implementation
The role of the digital workplace in employee experience
Employee experience (EX) is the new customer experience! In other words, organizations of all kinds are waking up to the positive impact that a great EX can have – and the drag on key indicators like engagement and productivity if it’s bad. As employees increasingly work digitally, the digital workplace has become crucial to the overall EX. This research will build on our diverse work on building a human-centred digital workplace, to explore the practices and priorities for digital workplace teams looking to deliver on digital EX. Related research:
- Setting up a user experience programme: The path to a user-centred digital workplace
- Digital workplace integration: Key approaches to drive benefits
- Understanding the relationship between organizational culture and the digital workplace
How to drive innovation in the digital workplace
Over 90% of executives think innovation is key to their business success. Digital workplaces are maturing – although there’s still a long way to go for many – and the opportunities are growing for them to be pivotal in how the organization innovates. This research will explore the opportunities to enable innovation by embedding it into the digital working lives of employees – helping to catalyse fresh and imaginative thinking, making it easy to share and foster ideas, encouraging experimentation, and facilitating the process of refining ideas and bringing them to fruition. Related research:
- The art of collaboration: Optimizing online collaboration for success
- Knowledge management lessons for digital workplace practitioners: How to avoid reinventing the wheel
- Social intranets in action: 21 great examples of social intranets
Office 365 search: How to get the most out of it now and moving forward
Search remains a key challenge for digital workplace teams, with many still striving to implement a holistic and effective approach to search management. With our previous research on search and Office 365 as a foundation, this project will take on the complexities of modern search in Office 365. It will paint a clear picture of its value and benefits, the opportunities and potential pitfalls, and provide a blueprint for how digital workplace teams should prepare for and approach Office 365 search in order to get the most out of it for their organization. Related research:
- Office 365: What digital workplace teams need to know
- Intranet search: A holistic approach to management
Communicating in real-time in the workplace
Real-time communication tools have become central to how people work and communicate inside organizations. This research will explore how the capabilities to communicate in real-time in the workplace are changing the way we work. It will delve into the current state of such tools, the benefits and challenges of how we use them, and present approaches/tactics on how to optimize their implementation, adoption and use by employees. Related research:
- The changing role of internal communications
- Digital channel matrix: Creating employee-focused internal communications
- Success with enterprise mobile: How tools for frontline employees drive value
How organizations are innovating at the interface between the physical and digital workplaces
Exciting new possibilities are continually emerging at the interface between the physical and digital workplaces as technologies advance and our collective notions of what work is and where it can happen become increasingly fluid. From security and energy solutions through to how people work and collaborate, this research will inquire into the latest evidence, trends and examples from the world of the smart workplace and Internet of Things. For digital workplace teams with a rapidly expanding vision and remit, this thought-provoking paper will help them engage stakeholders and have informed discussions. Related research:
- Digital Workplace 2030: Preparing now for the digital worlds of work to come
- Measuring the digital workplace: The power of metrics in the connected workplace
As always, the DWG team is incredibly excited to see the launch of the new programme. DWG’s Director of Research, Elizabeth Marsh, says: “In 2019, it feels like we’re able to ‘supercharge’ the member research programme with exciting topics such as innovation and employee experience. We can do this because our existing library already provides a robust basis for members to develop their intranets and digital workplaces by covering an array of core topics that together provide a ‘playbook’ for managing and delivering these services. We’ll be blending thought leadership and new ideas with practical guidance and blueprints, as always, to ensure that member organizations can understand both the ‘now’ and the ‘next’ of the digital world of work.” To join organizations like 3M, Adobe, BT Group plc, The Coca-Cola Company, IKEA, Scottish Government and UNHCR, who are already benefiting from DWG research, contact Nancy Goebel, Managing Director, Member Services & Strategic Partnerships to learn more.
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Categorised in: Research reports
