Everyone works with!

The trend has been going in one direction for years: A. ll should participate in the company and so far companies have always managed to do better. Driven primarily by digital technologies. When people talked about the “interactive web” in Web 2.0, apps and the Internet of Things made it much more interactive. Now there are numerous other possibilities through, among others, CloudServices. The goal of Futurework is now to adapt the workplace and work to this “hands-on culture”.

Work wherever you want (futurework)

Most of the articles on Twitter on futurework deal with the new workplace design. The articles speak of a result culture instead of a present tense culture. Under the topic: Activity based working, an “ultimate workplace” is defined, which is suitable for any type of work and in which there is a culture of trust and permanent networking. The illustration shows the idea behind the hashtag futurework and activity based working.

Futurework – a collection of office concepts?

Overall, the investigation of the hashtag shows a strong focus on room and office concepts to promote agility in the company. Sure, there is also talk of a cultural change and this is also dealt with in great detail, but mainly office concepts are evaluated. The following sentence sums up the topic very well: “The office is changing into a place of communication and networking. For this purpose, situation-oriented rooms are required that promote creative exchange or project work as well as offer retreats for concentrated and confidential work and optimally support routine activities. ” (Source Detecon ).

Is that agile?

Companies want agile employees. These should deliver high quality work, be creative, flexible and deliverable. I think the thesis that this is an important property in today’s knowledge society, I do not need to go into further. But are these new concepts really a factor in structural change in companies?
I have found many articles about concepts but have not yet found any direct case studies as to whether such a concept has really improved the work. Sure, these concepts in themselves promise really great work, but does every employee really want to work like this? To answer this question, I will conduct a case study with a company that has implemented such a concept and evaluate exactly whether and how this open space has changed the way we work.
[werbung]
Verwendete Quellen anzeigen

Der Beitrag Futurework – the agile working world? erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

• Technically this means the preparation of information for storage in a digital technical system.
• in the Overall context It means the technologicalization of entire industries in a profound sense, so strategy, organization and socioculture are also affected. For a further definition, read the soon as well Article on digital transformation.

On the one hand, these changes are profound and, on the other hand, they have been developing for years. In this sense, many speak of a digital (r) evolution. For this reason, the aim of this article is to examine arguments for the digital revolution as well as for the digital evolution.

Digital revolution

A revolution means a radical change in “one step”. The term revolution is even often associated with armed violence or a brutal coup. Representatives of this thesis include the aforementioned authors on digital Darwinism. “Adapt or die” say the authors in their numerous keynotes and call for radical changes to ensure the survival of companies. Many companies such as Kodak have already felt this revolution. Established manufacturers in the automotive market are also being attacked with Apple and Google. Here, too, there is a “head to head” race to digitize the automobile.

Digital evolution

On the other hand, digitization has been emerging for a long time. Companies such as Apple and Google have been dedicated to the digitization of our society for years and are making progress with it. So isn’t it a direct revolution but simply the “next step” in the evolution of companies? So are companies just slowly transforming into so-called “digital corporations”?

Digital (r) evolution

Regardless of whether it is a digital evolution or a digital revolution, one thing is certain: companies have to act. In his book on Digital Leadership, Petry uses the Chinese proverb: “When the wind of change blows, some build protective walls and others build windmills”. The digital transformation is coming to German companies and is forcing them to digital change. In the course of the research project, the special influence on the structure of companies towards agile and evolutionary companies is examined.

Medium-sized companies in the digital (r) evolution

I think the main themes of digital transformation are like Consulting 4.0 , Work 4.0 and Industry 4.0 are still in the formulation phase. Most of my practice partners are currently in the phase of testing the first digital and agile lighthouse projects or trying out frameworks in individual teams. This is due to the fact that medium-sized companies are slowly noticing that employee turnover is increasing and customers are no longer as easy to win as they used to be.

Corporations in the digital (r) evolution

Can you compare the pressure on medium-sized companies with corporations? Absolutely! The only difference is that companies get more or less time depending on their size. In a small company, missed trends quickly become noticeable and immediately put it on the wrong side, while a large corporation can often generate business successfully for years afterwards. But this also poses a great danger: How can a company, for example, precisely measure fluctuation? There may be a constant number of employees, but we have to ask ourselves: Are they the best people who switch to innovative startups or medium-sized companies because there are better and digital working conditions there? So many large corporations are currently in crisis. A famous example are our banks or, possibly, our major automobile brands soon. Large banks now have problems with the hyped Number26 and Tesla is also attacking our renowned automobile brands from the USA. What was unthinkable in the past is a reality today. Or did you ever think that startups would attack corporations and Apple build cars?

What do you think?

[yop_poll id=”10″]
[werbung]
Verwendete Quellen anzeigen

[fotolia]

Der Beitrag Digital revolution or digital evolution? erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

What is digital leadership

In the study mentioned, Tobias Greff (AWS Institute for Digital Products and Processes) and I (Lindner and Greff 2018) looked at over 30 definitions of the digital leader. Together we came up with the following definition:
Digital leadership is a cross-sectional competence and a collective term for various methods, theories and tools that describe leadership and, in particular, leadership competence in the digital age (Lindner and Greff 2018).
Reading tip: What is digital leadership

What are the CHALLENGES of a digital leader?

As already mentioned in the study by Lindner and Greff (2018): Leadership, like leadership research, has always been subject to permanent change. What characterizes a manager is dealing with new challenges (Wiendick & Wiswede 1990). Leadership behavior is shaped by learning processes, self-reflection, lived vision and adaptation as well as changing framework conditions (Enste et al. 2013). One example is Taylorism, in which it was the task of the manager to achieve the maximum efficiency of employees and machines. It continued with new topics such as the increasing number of women, which sparked a gender-specific leadership discussion, or globalization, which triggered a discussion about diversity-oriented leadership. Managers are now facing increasing digitization. This has numerous challenges. In a round table Tobias Greff and I asked 6 managers about their current challenges. These are:

• Generational conflict / digital maturity of the individual
• Remote and distance guidance
• Agile team leadership

To explain: Digital maturity means that some employees like to use a lot of technology and other employees even refuse to use it. A manager must therefore lead employees individually according to the digital maturity level
There is no question that all employees work in the same place. This increases the need for a virtual tour by phone, video or email. The number of so-called agile teams (e.g. Scrum), which can no longer be successfully managed using conventional methods, is also increasing.

How can a digital leader master digitization?

In the study by Lindner and Greff, 66 executives were asked about the current approaches to solving the three challenges mentioned above. The results can be found extensively in the study, but I would like to quote a few of the recommendations for action.

Generation management (from Lindner and Greff 2018)

• Understand: Generation X, Y and Z stand for employees in three phases of digital affinity – beginners, advanced and digital natives. It is recommended to build up knowledge about the individual generations.
• Evaluate individually: Not every employee can be clearly classified into a generation or an older employee is not always a newcomer to digitization.
• Use acceptance: New flexible work concepts are generally valued across generations and thus offer the ideal starting point.
• Employee orientation: Generation management does not replace individual leadership, but it does offer guidance.
• Reading tip: What is generation management

Remote and distance guidance (from Lindner and Greff 2018)

• Create awareness: According to the study, virtual leadership skills are becoming increasingly important. More than 90% of employees are permanently available digitally. In more than 55% of the cases, a virtual tour is mandatory.
• Coach & motivate employees: The motivation of the employees in a virtual employment relationship and the coaching are regarded as one of the most important tasks of the manager.
• Concrete goals: It is recommended to control virtual teams via goals. Regular status reports are useful as an instrument for target correction.
• Clear distribution of roles: In a virtual team, the stable distribution of roles and working according to the pull principle could relieve a manager.
• Employees trust: According to the participants, virtual leadership is based on trust. It can be assumed that the larger the work packages, the more trust is required.
• Reading tip: What is e-leadership

Agile team leadership (from Lindner and Greff 2018)

• Skills : There is a common understanding that a digital leader should have social, technological and visionary skills that can be trained.
• Characteristics are : Promote leadership at eye level, trust in employees, experiments and inspiration as well as agility and participation.
• Competencies are : the knowledge of new trends, agile methods, new work concepts, new technologies and new markets.
• Reading tip: Agile leadership

Conclusion

A digital leader is characterized by dealing with current challenges in the course of digital change. Using the example of three selected challenges, I have given tips and hints for solving these in this article.
[werbung]
Verwendete Quellen anzeigen

[fotolia]

Der Beitrag What makes a good digital leader? #TimeTac erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

I first met Dominic via Twitter and then via Xing. In the course of our dialogue we began to deal with the current and pressing topic of “New Work”. In this context, Dominic wrote my last book “All Power for Nobody. Awakening of the Corporate Democrats “read and today he publishes the review here. In order for all of us to be successful in facing the challenges of a social transformation towards more participation, including in the world of work, closely interlinked cooperation and ongoing dialogue about the risks and opportunities of democratic work design are required. Today’s review is a step more in this direction, which I fully support and which of course delights me. You, dear readers, have fun with the following review.
Dr. Andreas Zeuch (* 1968) accompanies companies as a consultant, trainer and speaker on their way to more participation and corporate democracy. In addition to his books, Zeuch has published around 70 articles in specialist journals to date.

Democracy in Business?

“In our private life it is the rule to shape our own life. In contrast, most of the companies in the company have become accustomed to handing over their independent thinking and acting at the gate.” This is how the teaser for the book begins: All Power for Nobody by Dr. Andreas Zeuch. But what advantages can corporate democracy offer? After the feasibility of Democracy in companies has been examined, the potential of democracy will now be examined. For this purpose I have the publications of Dr. Andreas Zeuch identifies and gives a brief insight into his considerations.

Companies are challenged!

Why are companies challenged? What new events require us to include approaches such as democracy and the like in our considerations? Zeuch sees the business environment as the motivation for the idea of corporate democracy, which is much more dynamic and complex than ever before. Second, he lists the demands of Generation Y on employers. This means that, according to Zeuch, the following challenges arise:

• Decisions have to be made faster and more directly
• Innovations determine the future viability
• Leadership must create a framework in which inner motivation can develop freely.
• Co-determination and participation must be given in companies

Companies to have a say!

Zeuch criticizes the fact that formal hierarchies do not make decisions where they are necessary. Zeuch also claims in his book that decisions in democratic companies are faster and better. He therefore claims that a democratic decision is even faster and thus invalidates a prejudice against democracy. His consideration is as follows: Although it takes longer to find this decision, in contrast to a formal decision, it does not have to be communicated in an elaborate manner and everyone involved has to be “picked up and convinced”. Zeuch makes it clear that the implementation of joint decisions is more efficient and effective than lonely topdown decisions.
He also criticizes formal innovation management and “command and control” mechanisms. According to Zeuch, a particularly large number of ideas arise where employees are allowed to develop new products and prototype on their own, at least up to a certain budget. Bureaucratic corporations solve the innovation dilemma by either buying start-ups or starting up.

However, if employees are constantly being told what they have to do and what not to do, this will in the long run neither promote their creativity nor the will to contribute new ideas (Andreas Zeuch).

Does corporate democracy make companies more agile?

In summary, Zeuch sees the following problem: “Often there is also a lack of the necessary trust, instead there is a climate of mistrust, control and punishment”. Corporate democracy is supposed to change this dilemma. He wants employees to participate directly in the company through democracy and sees this as an opportunity to outsource management of the company directly to the interfaces between the market and customers.

The more people are involved in decisions, the more perspectives flow into it (Andreas Zeuch)

But when are companies actually democratic? How democratic does a company have to be in order to achieve the effects already mentioned? Zeuch divides democratic companies into 3 levels of maturity.
Weakly democratic are companies that allow their workforce to co-determine operational decisions, i.e. their own work.
Moderately democratic are companies that have a say in tactical decisions. These are decisions that go beyond your own work area and have a wider scope, such as hiring staff.
Strongly democratic are companies when, in addition to operational and tactical decisions, strategic decisions, i.e. fundamental, existential questions, are also determined by the employees.
So the possible effects occur with increasing democratization. Zeuch limits the fact that democracy does not automatically have to mean the end of hierarchy and leadership. So there can be managers who have been elected by the workforce for a limited period of time. I had a brief dialogue with Andreas Zeuch on this point and he made it clear that there MUST be leadership and that hierarchies are automatically set up if you try to abolish them. His key message is the distinction between formal, fixed hierarchies and dynamic leadership. On the other hand, executive elections are just one variety, according to Zeuch. There can also be rotating systems, or employees can propose themselves as managers and are then accepted – but do not always have to be formally elected.
Overall, Andreas Zeuch’s considerations and arguments promote the agile principles of research in modern and sustainable companies. The core of the book is made up of many case studies and interviews on the subject of corporate democracy. So it shows that Zeuch’s considerations apply and can offer companies added value. In addition to the round tables, a Bachelor thesis on this topic .
[werbung]
Verwendete Quellen anzeigen

[fotolia]

Der Beitrag Is corporate democracy agile? Foreword by Dr. Andreas Zeuch erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

Digital strategy

To counteract the rapid pace of digital transformation, many sources suggest “transforming the company in an agile manner”. One Article on agility and digital transformation I have already published. A fundamental change from analog business models to digital is also in the foreground for the digital strategy. The basic idea in this blog is the structural change from companies to “agile” and “evolutionary” companies. Because in this way they can react flexibly and quickly to the coming complexity of the digital transformation. In the following, we will initially start with the fundamental structural change of companies as the basis for a digital strategy. This ultimately results in a basic model for formulating this strategy.

So goals should be defined first. These could include the integration of new organizational models such as mobile working. Based on these goals, appropriate measures can be derived which serve to achieve these goals. For monitoring, key figures should be defined that allow this strategy to be monitored. According to this model, a strategy map and a content strategy are also important. I also feel that this is important. Marketing is becoming increasingly digital. I also have one for this Articles on agile marketing published on the blog.

Digital change

Digital leadership in companies

The digital transformation recommends a new form of leadership: that digital leadership . I have already published an article on this. Basically, this means rethinking the leadership culture towards serving leadership. Due to the high level of complexity, many managers are no longer able to make decisions based on well-founded data and therefore transfer responsibility to their employees. This fundamental change promotes self-organization and motivation in the company. How exactly these principles can be implemented is what I have in the Article on agile leadership explained.

Digital structure in companies

The next step for companies is a change in structure. According to many magazines, classic process and line organizations have become obsolete in the course of the digital transformation. The new models are called Democracy, Sociocracy or Holacracy . This change to “agile” and “evolutionary” companies enables the dynamics and speed of the trends around big data, Industry 4.0 and to master digitization. The picture shows an “agile evolution”. Companies are therefore required to introduce any kind of change slowly and carefully. Such a change will not become established overnight but must be tested on the basis of a pilot project. This project can serve as a model for other departments in the company. For that I have articles too agile departments published to define such pilot projects.
[werbung]

[fotolia]

Der Beitrag Digital change requires a digital strategy erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

Leading digital

Leading digital means market leadership through digital transformation of the company and / or the business model. The article deals with why companies are striving for this and how this change manifests itself exactly and which steps are necessary to implement it.

The trigger of the digital transformation

The digital transformation is called  the rapid growth of technology launches in German companies. Through global markets and a high level of competition, companies strive for differentiation (leading digital). Since 1970 the dynamics of the markets have increased sharply due to globalization and even large corporations like Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW are now threatened by IT giants like Apple and Google. It seems to be a race to digitize the automobile. In other industries, the conditions don’t seem to be any different. For this purpose, Niels Pfläging published the following illustration in his book, which shows the increase in complexity after 1970. For more information on the complexity of digital transformations, read my article on Complexity in management .

From settlers back to pioneers – leading digital

According to Brandes et al. “back to the risk”! The example of automobile manufacturers shows that it is no longer enough to just improve the established, but that new markets such as electric mobility must be opened up with the digital transformation. So from settlers to pioneers or to the “departure” to innovation.
So settlers rely on predictability, i.e. infrastructure such as rails and strict guidelines. So you have already founded a city and are trying to improve it permanently. Here lies the difference to the pioneer, who, on the other hand, creates new markets or cities and “makes something work”. According to Brandes et al. not overnight, but you have to approach it step by step. According to the authors, this is chaotic and aims to develop something new in order to survive. An example can be cited here when a city is threatened by a long ice age and the residents will all freeze to death sooner or later. For the pioneers, the idea of “get out of here and survive” counts while the settlers try to withstand the Ice Age as long as possible and to optimize the city accordingly.
But how can this be implemented in the digital transformation and how can companies create such a departure and fulfill the vision: “leading digital”? The digital work should provide information on this. Take a look at Brandes’ book  or read mine Article on Management Y .

Digital work

It felt like the great lightness of being. The workplace, no longer in an anonymous office tower. The working hours, no longer controlled by a clock, but designed by yourself. The notebook as an office, the network as a bridge to the world. The work as great freedom ( Friedrich Ebert Stiftung ). This is how the aforementioned foundation defines the project of digital work. This type of work could be an answer to digital transformation and leading digital.

People and digital work

As early as 2010, Appelo examined modern knowledge workers with its Framework Management 3.0 and found that these are a bizarre combination of management frameworks and are actually specified from front to back as a kind of “Frankenstein” monster about theories. Take a look at the book Appelo!
Back in 2016, authors called for “companies to be revitalized” (Pfläging) and provided various approaches such as Management Y, sociocracy or holacracy . All approaches are agile and evolutionary in their own way. However, one thing is certain for the authors: “Frankenstein’s Monster” does not seem to be able to cope with the digital transformation. Instead, they call for a new form of work and employees. Sattelberger et al. define them as “designers” in “agile networks” and realize that many organizations have many employees in the implementation role and are therefore increasingly overloaded. So this does not seem to be a sufficient answer to digital work and the vision of “leading digital” will hardly be fulfilled with it. Take a look at Sattelberger’s book!

Employees as “designers” and digital work

At current HR conferences, the topic of agile or digital HR is increasingly being dealt with as the main focus of German companies. Together we consider how to find and retain such employees. The former  however, should not be addressed in this article and can be found in an extra Article on agile HR can be read.
The figure below clearly shows that such employees demand and need a lot. According to many companies, you are asking too much. Certainly this statement can be correct in many cases. However, the figure by Brandes et al. Shows that some requirements also seem to make sense. in the Course of the roundtables It has been shown that companies make every effort to take on such demands and thereby become one “Agile” and “evolutionary” companies to walk. According to the first statements of the managers who work with me in the course of the research project, they even appear to be more successful and sustainable. More on this can be found in mine Article on digital leadership.

[werbung]
Image source: People photo created by freepik – www.freepik.com
Verwendete Quellen anzeigen

Der Beitrag Leading digital through the digital work of the future! erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

The change of leadership

In the recently published book on the topic, the reasons for digital leadership are summarized as follows:

• Every company will be a software company
• Generation Y and Z want to participate and
• middle management will be abolished.

Software company

Holacracy, Management Y, Democracy in Companies … There are many frameworks for running companies in an agile way. At least according to the authors of these frameworks. The fact is, however, that companies are increasingly having to deal with technology in every area. RFID chips in clothing and software solutions for complex problems. Every area should soon come into contact with technology.

Generation Y and Z

The new generations want to have a say. Even according to that Framework Management Y young people want to get a “desire for work” again. However, what Generation Z really wants is still a very controversial topic. Generation Y representatives dreamed of having a career when they started their job. Generation Z is more emotionally distant. For this generation, too, the workplace in the company is a part of life – albeit a clearly delimited part. So there is again a clear separation between work and private life. At least that is the current status of the studies.

The “middle management”

So the so-called “sandwich manager”, who has the highest burn-out rate, should be abolished? According to the authors, this development should be promoted by frameworks such as Scrum. Short decision-making processes and “close to the board” teams.

Give up control, keep leadership (Prof. Dr. Thorsten Petry)

Agile leadership or digital leadership?

In the literature, the terms agile leadership and digital leadership are currently used quite arbitrarily. Because of this, I have a separate article too agile leadership written. Until then, however, I would like to add a quote in front of the explanation:

Agile leadership enables people to do more than they could ever do on their own (Boris Gloger)

According to the authors, the topic seems to be highly relevant for the productivity of companies. This leads to the question: “What is digital leadership?”. Some answers can be found in the aforementioned book and are as follows:

• Openness and trust towards the employees
• Speed through networking
• Expertise and knowledge
• Develop employees
• Community of Practice
• transparency
• Make successes visible
• Big picture

All of these terms sound sensible and have been supplemented by 5 rules:

1. Recognize and respect the new power of your employees.
2. Share information to build trust.
3. Show curiosity and humility.
4. Demand openness.
5. Forgive mistakes.

All in all, this sounds very exciting and requires a strong rethink in the minds of employees and managers. How exactly this new type of leadership is implemented will be examined in detail in the course of my research.
[werbung]
Verwendete Quellen anzeigen

Der Beitrag Digital leadership: the new leadership? erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

Consulting 1,2 and 3.0

The first legitimate question that comes to mind as a young management consultant is: What was actually before? What characterized Consulting 1,2 and 3.0? Unfortunately, I cannot name a clear source here, as I had to look for the information from various sites.
Consulting 1.0 is thus the classic solution advice for technical questions. Questions are answered by the consultant with professional competence.
Consulting 2.0 With process consulting, it should now also revolve around communication and interpersonal processes. Customers and consultants are moving closer together.
Consulting 3.0 Consulting is probably the way we currently know it. So with a high level of social complexity and the advisor as a specialist and process advisor. You realize your goals hand in hand with the customer and you are more closely involved.

Consulting 4.0

As a consultant you have recently received a lot of inquiries about tenders such as: Digital transformation consultant , Data scientist or Industry 4.0 expert . The customer’s requirements seem to have changed suddenly and the digital transformation has the industry firmly in hand. Consulting 4.0 seems to be the consulting firm’s answer to this fact.

Good times for specialists?

It wasn’t that long ago that the competencies were clearly defined: A proper management consultant had to be comprehensively trained; He needed special methodological knowledge, of course, but above all he had to be able to demonstrate experience and expertise across industries and specialist areas (Brand Eins magazine in the Consulting 4.0 edition). According to this quote, expert knowledge is primarily required. In-depth know-how and expert knowledge in an industry. The magazine brings many examples of highly specialized advice such as agricultural and forestry advice or “crowdsourcing advice”. There are also voices in the magazine from large consulting firms such as McKinsey: “We used to negotiate margins with the customer’s purchasing department. With our expert knowledge in a niche, we are unrivaled and no longer have to negotiate for margins ”
According to most voices, the focus is currently on digitization. The consultant as an expert for digitization in the customer’s industry. The questions move away from “What actually is digital transformation? “to” How do I lead my company into this new digital world? ”

“Mating season”

So what exactly does a new company look like after this “Consulting 4.0” trend? There are few answers here, but the tendency should be towards strong specialization in-house and the permanent acquisition of partners who are also highly specialized.

Risks and Criticism

What could such a specialization mean? On the one hand, it can mean for a consulting company that we have the following disadvantages:

• Dependence on a few customers
• high quality requirements as well as new employees and
• Danger of competition.

If we move into a niche, there will be few customers and as soon as 1-2 competitors also act in this, it will be tight. There are also high demands on employees every day and I see few opportunities for those starting out on the job.
For companies, this specialization can also lead to a greater need for coordination, as more service providers are required. As a result of specialization, employees could quickly lose interest in the job and the change rate could be very high. Specialists are also said to not have an eye for the big picture.

The traditional medium-sized company in danger?

I observe many medium-sized consulting houses, which have been producing individual software for customers for more than 30 years, increasingly in danger. Smaller houses are already in the red and larger ones are increasingly switching to “temporary work”. I don’t think it’s consulting when I deploy an employee full-time for a customer all year round. I think that traditional medium-sized companies in particular have extensive expertise and should now prepare this for the customer in internal workshops. A specialization could thus be achieved quickly. One thing is certain, however: if I loan my employees to customers all year round, they will change in the medium term. Either to the customer or to another service provider who has already made the transition to Consulting 4.0. I have also noticed a heated discussion here in which many employees ask themselves: Is this still consulting or is it already temporary work? That means, it should now be made a credo: Maintain expertise and train high potentials.

Already temporary work or still consulting?

So the question arises: temporary work or consulting? It is noticeable that medium-sized companies in particular tend towards temporary work due to a lack of expertise. This is mainly known from software development. Many of my interviewees expressed themselves here in such a way that they actually do a completely normal job as a developer for the customer. Wikipedia says: “ Temporary employment (also: Temporary work called or to ANÜ abbreviated) is when employees (temporary workers) are provided by an employer (lender) to a third party (hirer) for a fee for a limited period of time. “This seems to be absolutely the case in this case To become a personnel service provider because the internal knowledge is lacking. The formula is obvious: You get a consultant to a customer if he has more expertise in a topic than the customer. A temporary worker is usually given to a customer as soon as The third form, which is a kind of mixed form, is called service (often in Time & Material) in which a consultant supports a customer with various tasks from consulting and normal activities. Usually these are positions like that Support from a manager or a project leader.

Are you also a consultant?

[yop_poll id=”11″]

The eternal dilemma with travel time

Every consultant knows the following scenario: “The working time itself lasts at least 40 hours per week, since the customer pays five days of eight hours in almost all cases. The actual working hours are usually longer. Traveling around six to 16 hours a week without daily commuting between the hotel and the customer increases the free time to a minimum. With additional activities for the customer or a service for an internal project, the small amount of free time in the hotel is usually lost (source: Computer week ). It also clearly shows that travel is not good for health and social life. Many of my colleagues complain of a lack of fitness, weight gain and the desire to socialize outside of business. After almost 3 years, they actually “just want to go away”. Due to the large number of positions, it currently seems quite easy to get a position in a consulting company. But many of my respondents actually no longer want to go back to consulting, but rather “do something internally”.
In consulting, digitization has been carried out in customer projects for years, but its own industry has so far eluded digital change. For this reason the buzzword: “Consulting 4.0” was developed.

Regionalization against travel stress?

The problem with many consulting firms I have spoken to is that many applicants either quit because of the long travel time or do not even want to start. The goal is therefore: Regionalization . Consultants from Munich should stay in Munich, etc. But somehow this answer was not enough for me and I also believe that this has little to do with digital transformation.

The digital consultant

In the research area of the August Wilhelm Scheer Institute there are subject areas such as: eConsulting stores , virtual consulting, crowd consulting, Consult-Yourself Services and eConsulting Social Networks as an answer to the digital transformation in consulting. At the moment there is still little concrete information on both topics, but I would like to present the basic idea of Consulting 4.0.
The central question is why the consultant supports numerous digital projects and is supported by even more digital tools but has not yet been digitized. The consulting service is therefore still heavily dependent on the individual consultant. If this leaves the company, this leads to extensive damage to the project at the customer’s site.

New target group: Mittelstand advises SMEs

It has been proven that medium-sized companies have significantly lower R&D budgets compared to large companies and can hardly bear the costs of the traditional consulting they need themselves without any scale effect. This is a promising future, especially for medium-sized businesses. He can benefit from the advantages of consulting in a new way that is more suitable and compatible for this type of company (Werth and Greff IM +).
Thanks to digitization, SMEs will be able to use consulting much more efficiently in the future. Central questions in this context are how consulting has so far been used by German SMEs and how its use can be fundamentally optimized through digitalization instruments. It is particularly important to refer to the diverse software-side potentials that arise from topics such as remote consulting, platform markets, self or crowd consulting (Werth and Greff IM +).

Consulting Yourself Service

Consult-Yourself Services transfer self-service technologies, which enable customers or end users to use services independently, into the consulting industry.
The consulting industry is an expensive, not very scalable industry. A consultant can only provide one consultancy service at a time. Consult Yourself Services in management consulting can help to overcome these scalability limits and thus make a significant contribution on the way to digital consulting.

EConsulting store

Of the eConsulting Store is the online shop of the management consultancy. More precisely, it is a fully integrated web solution that enables both the sale and the processing of digital consulting services. During the purchase process, the customer is continuously informed by the switchable Online sales advice supported. Virtualized consultations are then activated in the form of links to the remote session in the ECS dashboard at the scheduled date. The links will also be sent as a reminder by email shortly after the appointment.

Summary

If we take these two examples, there are 2 different use cases for digital transformation in consulting. I think that the trend is towards “remote” and flexible work in which the consultant decides for himself how he works. The approaches are there and the question now arises: will the customers of such consulting houses accept this? Since I have been a consultant myself for almost 3 years, I estimate that the consulting houses themselves would be ready and the employees too. I see the strong process more in the hands of the “customer”. He always has the luxury of choosing from what feels like 100 different consulting firms, which are actually all almost equally well qualified. So the question would be justified: why should they then want to get used to a new system? I am definitely looking forward to the further results of the study.

What do you think?

In summary, every consulting company is required to specialize and to prepare services for the customer in a transparent manner. The traditional medium-sized company for individual software will no longer be able to exist in this form. But regardless of whether they are specialists or generalists state-of-the-art. I think the healthy mediocrity will prevail as always. Perhaps it is enough to simply set up a consulting firm a little more agile and react promptly and correctly to trends. Almost every senior consultant has industry knowledge and there are often numerous certifications. So the core is actually only in this consultant now practices of digital transformation, Industry 4.0 or Big data bring closer. Or what do you think, how and whether the consulting industry will change to Consulting 4.0? Have you already noticed changes in your work as a management consultant or as a manager in your work with management consultants?
[werbung]
Reading tip: Consulting 4.0 whitepaper
Verwendete Quellen anzeigen

Der Beitrag Consulting 4.0 – digital transformation? erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

Work-life balance

Home office and mobile work stand for free time management, a lack of commuting, greater personal responsibility and the compatibility of work and family. Demotivating the need to control and distrust. Anyone who sits in the home office can work more independently or at least feels that way says that Magazine CIO . The magazine also says: Many employees who work long days complain that they “get nothing else”. I mean shopping, washing clothes, repairing the bike. All of this has to take place on the weekend because between Monday and Friday the person concerned only drives to work, works, drives home, eats, sleeps, gets up … etc. This shows a significantly higher work-life balance through mobile work.

Automation of activities

“Digital automation does not stop at IT administration either. However, IT administrators not only see the danger, but also the opportunity for more efficient work processes and are driving automation forward themselves.” says she Computer week . Let’s be honest: how often do we do annoying and monotonous tasks at work that can be automated? In the context of digitization, there is the opportunity to set up some of the most common and monotonous office tasks such as setting up databases, updating databases, creating Excel reports or finally automating mail processing. This in particular would increasingly relieve busy employees. Below is a diagram showing the top office activities that could easily be automated.

Location flexibility of distributed teams

Especially for medium-sized companies in rural regions or employees who are based in rural regions and do not necessarily want to move, a home office could soon be found or they could become part of a distributed team.
Above all, a single employee also has access to potentially more exciting projects within Germany without having to move. A distributed team is also good for the further development of the individual. There are no geographical restrictions, so an employee has access to significantly more knowledge resources. If an expert for a certain topic is only available in another country, he can still become part of a team. This also saves travel costs.

Innovation and creativity from distributed teams

Another advantage of the digital world of work is the increased effectiveness and productivity through technology. Networking and supporting employees can help focus on the essentials. Thanks to the distributed teams, the work can even be spread across different continents and time zones. You could even work on a project 24 hours a day.
Working in virtual teams is also more complex and varied for the employees and rarely causes boredom. There is also the chance to work with the best. A virtual team should be put together according to professional criteria.

Conclusion on the digital world of work

Digitization offers numerous opportunities for automation, innovation and a better work-life balance as well as more fun at work. In particular, work-life balance, monotony and fun at work are serious issues that companies currently deal with. This potential should certainly not be left unused.
In this text I have deliberately only dealt with the opportunities and not the risks of the digital world of work. Read my about this Article on the dangers of the digital world of work. Here I explain what an # office factory is. Here is an excerpt: Everything is standardized: name tags, the incoming and outgoing mail concept, uniform labels for folders, tidy drawers and the use of roll containers. Monotony in the service of efficiency. What do you think? How is your workplace developing?
[yop_poll id=”22″]
[werbung]

[fotolia]

Der Beitrag The opportunities of the digital working world – NewWork erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.

Digitization in the workplace: Home offices are usually better equipped than the office

In the Study by WiWo on digitization in the workplace can be summarized as follows: “ Digitization is more advanced at home than at work in the office – this is shown by a study among German office workers. “ The study continues: The road to a truly digital office is still a long one. Because at the moment, the majority of German workplaces are not equipped to enable knowledge workers to really work digitally. Many administrative activities that can be handled much faster digitally are still carried out in analog form. That is the central result of a study by the hosting service provider Host Europe, which is based on a YouGov survey of 1,000 employees with office workplaces.

Status quo on digitization in the workplace

The Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs published a digitization monitor. The results of the study in a nutshell:

• The majority of all respondents in companies with at least 50 employees subject to social security contributions use digital information and communication technologies (ICT) in their everyday work.
• While only half of the low-skilled use ICT for work, almost all of the high-skilled do.
• Managers are equipped with mobile devices by their employers much more often than employees without managerial responsibility.
• Almost four fifths of employees have experienced a change in the technical equipment of their workplace in the last five years, and here too the proportion increases with the level of training.
• As a result of the technological change, employees experience physical relief and reduced demands on their own skills and competencies on the one hand, but also the need to develop and multitask on the other.
• Almost 30 percent of employees report physical relief due to technological innovations, 15 percent report decreasing demands on their own skills and competencies.
• Employees who perceive decreasing demands take part less often in further professional development.
• Almost 80 percent of employees see the need to constantly develop their own skills due to technological changes. 65 percent perceive a consolidation of the work.
• Employees who perceive a need for further development take part in further professional development more frequently.
• 13 percent of employees consider it likely that their job will be taken over by a machine in the future.
• Around a third of employees experience greater freedom of choice due to technological developments.
• More than half of the respondents perceive an increase in their own productivity.

This is how digitization is changing the world of work

In one Article on Xing the changes caused by digitization in the workplace are shown. First, the article mentions the increasing spatial and temporal independence that results from the fact that employees can use laptops and other mobile devices to carry out their tasks from almost anywhere and increasingly at flexible times. Employees are thus more flexible overall and can better reconcile work and private life.
The importance of lifelong learning was also mentioned. More than ever, employees have to be ready to constantly learn new things, as the half-life of knowledge is significantly decreasing.
In addition, there is a high level of automation and this makes work much easier. The article mentions: Doctors, for example, who are shown important information about their patients using augmented reality glasses while they are operating, or mechanics who are shown the next steps for their planned repairs virtually and flexibly.
The article also notes an increased complexity and says: Information is continuously made available to employees via a variety of channels. Multi-tasking and the ability to focus become a basic requirement, so to speak. The speed in the company is increasing overall – there is a constant acceleration, which employees have to adapt to with agility and flexibility.
Last but not least, the article by Xing states that in the digitized world of work people work more in team structures than before. Above all, interdisciplinary teams that extend across different company areas or company boundaries are gaining in importance in order to achieve the best solutions for complex problems.

Chances of digitization in the workplace

The subjects of the study by the BMAS say about the opportunities of digitization: The technological innovations have given me more freedom of choice in structuring my work. Currently, 32% of those questioned confirm this sentence. The graphic below also shows that women with medium qualifications perceive the increase in their own work performance slightly more often than men due to technological innovations. Only minor differences can be observed between employees with different training levels and between occupational groups.

Risks of digitization in the workplace

Just as there are opportunities, there are also risks. Of the Articles by education experts shows this. The first risk is a devaluation of human labor. Intelligent software makes human work superfluous in some areas or devalues it financially. Professions such as salespeople, copywriter, language teacher or bank clerk are losing their social importance. Internet platforms are now providing service providers or tradespeople at low prices.
Another risk is the stress-related illness due to constant availability. Employees who are constantly available and constantly have to take on new tasks often suffer from an increasing workload. The result is increasing stress-related illnesses such as burn-out or depression. Due to the increasing pressure, many people can no longer switch off from work and only think about their job in their free time.

Furthermore, data protection is a high risk. The blog of education experts says: The topic of data protection has also played a major role in the digitized world of work, and not just since Edward Snowden’s revelations. Employees need to be confident that their data is secure.
The last risk is the “transparent employee”. Here the blog article by the education experts says: Whoever gives information about himself on social networks, be it on Xing, Twitter or Facebook, may turn himself into a transparent employee. In the worst case, it can even damage his professional success. It is not uncommon for companies to use the personal profiles of their employees in a targeted manner to find out about them and to make inquiries.
[yop_poll id=”14″]

Conclusion: digitization in the workplace is coming!

In the future, the use of digital gadgets in the workplace will increase and human work will change through automation and intelligent machines. People will probably increasingly take over areas in which a high level of creativity and thinking is required. In the last part of the article we see that digitization in the workplace also harbors the risks. Employees have to learn to deal with digitization and “just switch off”. It is therefore important to build digital skills among employees and managers so that digitization can support people instead of becoming torture.
Reading tip: Opportunities of the digital workplace and Risks of the digital workplace
[werbung]

[fotolia]

Der Beitrag Digitization in the workplace – opportunities and risks erschien zuerst auf agile Companies.