A Cohesive Approach to Remote Work

SOCIAL, PRODUCTIVE, ADAPTIVE:

A COHESIVE APPROACH TO REMOTE WORK

Social, Productive, Adaptive: A Cohesive Approach to Remote Work

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WHY DMI RECOMMENDS A STRATEGY THAT’S SOCIAL, PRODUCTIVE AND ADAPTIVE We come together in social groups. We make tools and produce things of value. We adapt to new requirements.

These characteristics define what it means to be human. They also hold clues to crafting a sensible and sensitive response to rapid workplace disruptions like those imposed by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Like everybody, we at DMI have been striving to find the best path for our clients and our people in a time of relentless anxiety and uncertainty. We all need to figure out what to do in the next week, the next few months and the next couple of years.

After much study and discussion, we propose crafting a response that is: > Social — preserving the human element in

remote work > Productive — helping people collaborate

more effectively > Adaptive — scaling up and down to meet

changing needs Though the pandemic of 2020 inspired this e-book, we believe that focusing on these three distinctly human traits will help you build stronger communities that are better able to grapple with a broad array of challenges that spring from people working remotely.

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SO C I A L — BRI NG I NG PEOPLE TO G ETHER A workplace is inherently social. Remote work, by contrast, seems inherently anti-social. How do you reconcile these perspectives?

The trouble with working remotely on a laptop, tablet or PC is the risk of losing something essential in the process — our innate preference for in-person interactions.

“You want to enable people to do what they actually do every day at the water cooler, but do it in a virtual way,” says Michael Deittrick, DMI’s senior vice president for digital strategy and chief digital officer.

Making that happen requires a mindset shift.

Where we once placed most of the focus on improving productivity, remote work requires more attention to social dynamics. Preserving social interactions, Deittrick says, lays the groundwork for promoting productivity.

Fortunately, productivity tools like Zoom and Microsoft Teams have been transformed into social-cohesion tools almost overnight.

Friends, families, clubs and groups have put these apps to work at preserving human connections.

Moreover, people are already putting their personal stamps on their online experiences.

Zoom, for instance, lets people personalize their webcam backgrounds. People chose backdrops like the Eiffel Tower and the bridge of the Starship Enterprise.

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“I went on Zoom looking like I was broadcasting

interactivity there,” Deittrick says. “When we’re in a

from The Matrix,” Deittrick recalls. “These things

room together, at the whiteboard, four people with

spark great conversations and camaraderie in a

different-colored markers could be saying, ‘What

time when you're trying to lift your employees’

about this? Or this?’ So, we have to actually start

spirits when the world feels like it's all doom

mimicking the real world in the virtual world.”

and gloom.”

In the short run, Deittrick advises, companies Deittrick cautions that popular productivity tools

should identify the tools people already use and

may have social shortcomings. For instance,

strive to preserve the social interactions they

whiteboards are a staple of effective real-world

foster. Over time, it might make sense to integrate

meetings. But online productivity apps may limit

them all in a common interface. The overarching

whiteboard interactions in a virtual space.

goal: creating social experiences that facilitate the productivity outcome your organization needs.

“Picture an online whiteboard that can only be handled by one person at a time. There is no

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PRODU CT IV E — M A KIN G A WOR KFOR C E M ORE EF F ECT IV E Focusing on productivity may be the most intuitive component of your response to an emergency like the pandemic, given that improving efficiency is a core business objective. Still, there are plenty of nuances to figure out.

For starters, efforts to improve productivity improvements should consider the context of the people doing the work. It helps to build productivity strategies around distinct employee personas.

“Knowledge workers may need virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) and a laptop with specific applications installed,” DMI’s Michael Deittrick says. “Task workers may require a smartphone adapted to specific production processes.” Crafting user journeys that describe how they accomplish their work is another essential.

Even when everything seems in-flux, two pillars of productivity should prevail: data and measurement.

“We need data to create context around these personas so we can drive higher productivity and select the tools and apps they need to engage in a more remote and mobile workforce,” Deittrick says.

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Measurement ensures that social interactions

With thoughtfully produced personas and user

help accomplish business performance goals.

journeys, you can make sure everybody has

Merging measurement and data can help you

the proper tools to get their work done without

understand the technologies people use and how

imposing more stress by requiring them to learn

they improve productivity. A remote model may

new apps or devices they won’t actually use.

disenfranchise some of your workforce — can you find ways to help them engage in the business without having to give them a physical device?

Monitoring tools and usage data can provide vital clues.

Short-term goals might include automating parts of your customer service and support operations with simple chatbots. Over the longer term, companies will want to explore more advanced technologies like digital twins and robotic

It all comes down to collaboration: Doing what

process automation.

it takes to help people accomplish their goals regardless of temporary dislocations.

Still, tomorrow’s plans must be rooted in today’s realities. “There's always going to be jobs that just

“People need to be able to share ideas effectively,”

require someone to show up with a nail gun and

Deittrick says. This requires analyzing how well

build a house,” Deittrick says.

interactions are happening on specific social/ productivity applications. Do you have all the bandwidth you need to make videoconferencing effective? Can you spot gaps or breakdowns that prevent people from reaching consensus in an

Staying productive while preserving social interactions can strengthen on-the-job cohesion, which makes it easier for people to adapt to their changing environment.

online meeting?

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ADA PT I VE — ANTICIPAT I NG THE NEED FOR S CALE Today, a company could have 4,000 people working remotely on a VDI app because of social-distance requirements. Three months from now, that number might sink to 2,000.

But two years from now, a new disruption might force a rebound to 6,000 VDI users.

“Being adaptive is really about our ability to scale up and down,” DMI’s Michael Deittrick says. “How do you make sure you can adapt to both massive shifts and slow shifts and find ways to scale in the right directions?”

Becoming more adaptive will also help you develop forward-looking habits and avoid nasty surprises when a new threat or disruption arises. Where to start?

“In the short term, you need a strategy for ramping up and down in very specific ways, creating priority lists and projecting the numbers of users and personas you’ll need,” Deittrick advises. Monitoring and measurement generate data you can model to predict the financial impact of scaling decisions. What’s the most cost-effective way to shift from 1,000 to 2,000 VDI users?

Do you have enough computing and network capacity to handle a sudden influx of users? And what do you do with dormant resources after you scale back down?

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Moreover, you might consider using a learning

technologies as they emerge. “You want to learn

algorithm to track users’ behaviors and

to bring innovations on faster, prototype them,

allocate resources based on real-time needs.

execute them to get better scale and integrate

A strong model can help you address more

them into your adaptive ecosystem,”

big-picture issues.

Deittrick adds.

“You can ask whether it makes sense for your

Ultimately, making it easier for people to work

company to become more mobile and more

from home is not a business challenge in search

remote,” Deittrick says. “Can you reduce your

of a technology solution. It’s a human challenge

footprint in the world? Do you really need so

in search of a humane solution. That’s why DMI

many buildings?”

believes the proper response must reflect what humans always do: socialize, produce value and

The long-term view of adaptability shifts toward

adapt to new circumstances.

innovation — creating models and frameworks that help you adapt to new ideas, products and

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D MI ’S R OL E IN P R O MOTING REMOTE WO R K As a company, DMI has the same challenges as our clients in confronting a global public health emergency that we all hope is temporary. Our people work from home if it’s practical. Virtual meetings avert unneeded travel.

We differ primarily in that we have the technical, strategic and consultative expertise to help clients respond to the emergency with care and compassion. Our work reflects these time frames:

to integrate technologies into a larger business strategy. Tools might include intelligent virtual

> Immediate. Issues to be resolved in days, not

agents for contact center support and a unified

weeks. These can be rapid technical fixes like

interface for collaboration and productivity.

adding more virtual desktop infrastructure and creating simple customer-support chatbots. We

> Long term. Innovations and inventions that can

advise a quick analysis of what works and what

reshape your operations. Our work on short- and

doesn’t, and then building from there.

medium-term solutions forms a foundation for innovating long after the Covid-19 crisis takes its

> Medium term. Decisions to be made over the next

place in history.

few months. We do more consulting work here

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