The Organization in the Digital Age.
April-May 2016 Briefing Note.

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Collaboration and Control

 from Jane McConnell

 

Dear ,

What is collaboration? How free should people be to collaborate as they wish, choosing their own tools and timeframes? What is work anyway? Isn't it primarily based on exchanges among people - colleagues and customers? The articles in this Briefing Note touch on different angles of these fundamental questions. But first, some updates about the ongoing survey: The Organization in the Digital Age.

 

The 10th annual survey opened mid April and will close mid-June. You can see the topics here. There are three new initiatives in 2016

Sign up if you're interested. There is still plenty of time.

 

I hope you enjoy the articles below. As always, get in touch to share your own experiences. Thank you for reading my briefings.

Jane McConnell (jane@netjmc.com or @netjmc on Twitter)

Bringing our own devices to work - people on the edges are leading

Jane McConnell, 4 May, on HBR 
For the last five years or so, one of the major discussions in the corporate IT world has been around the related issues of the consumerization of IT and employees who bring their personal devices to work (the so-called BYO movement, for “bring your own”). I explored the BYO movement, looking at official policies and real-life practices for BYOD (bring your own device), BYOPC (bring your own computer) and BYOA (bring your own application, including using the public cloud). I discovered that while the BYO movement has plateaued overall, it has risen significantly in one part of the workforce — client-facing employees. It’s also more common among the high performers in that category.

 
 

Is going rogue the new normal?

Jane McConnell, May 9, on LinkedIn Pulse
In the work world today, people often need to go rogue in order to get things done. The online urban dictionary defines going rogue as "To cease to follow orders; to act on one's own, usually against expectation or instruction. To pursue one's own interests"....

You can go rogue right where you are today. By becoming digitally skilled, well informed and connected in meaningful ways to others, you will develop a rogue mindset ­­– confident of your ability to survive and thrive outside an organization as well (or better) than inside.

 
 
 

Caught between platforms and trying to get everything in one place? 

Jane McConnell, March 29, on NetJMC
Although organizations have struggled for years trying to get managed, collaborative and social activities all in one place, it is now clear that the single magic solution is on the way out. Ecosystems are the longterm platform vision for digitally maturing companies....Data show that most organizations are aiming for ecosystems of tools and platforms, and not trying to do everything with a single platform.

 

Recommended reading for May

Why it's OK for social collaboration to encourage shadow IT 

From CIO: The use of unsanctioned social collaboration tools in the enterprise can be a real challenge for any IT organization, but they also often spark productivity and help teams focus. In fact, many CIOs and IT professionals say workers who use apps such as Yammer and Slack can both raise the threat associated with shadow IT and drive productivity gains.

Work is interaction

From Esko Kilpi: ....If we subscribe to this relational view, it means that people and actions are simultaneously forming and being formed by each other at the same time, all the time, in interaction. Perhaps in the future it will not be meaningful to conceptualize work as jobs or even as organizational (activity) structures like the firms of today. Work will be described as complex patterns of communicative interaction between interdependent individuals.

Trying to get a handle on our work, or rather, on our lives

People and companies are looking at different ways to "give us back our lives". The four-day work week is one attempt to help us manage our time and maybe help the environment. The Guardian reports The four-day week: less is more. Restricting emails to a time box is another attempt: the BBC wonders could work emails be banned after 6pm? Might be hard for people working across time zones! Or for people in organizations where they can choose when they work, taking a long break during the day, and working in the evening. This is indeed a tricky thing to regulate without being top-down command and control, which (hopefully) is not the intention.

 
 
 

Thank you again for going all the way to the bottom of this Briefing Note!  Be sure to get in touch with your comments. Let me know if there are topics you'd like me to cover in future Notes.

 
 

About Jane McConnell

Advisor to large, global organizations for 17 years.  
Analyst researching the digital work environment in organizations for 10 years. Annual reports since 2006.
Speaker and workshop facilitator.

Why you received this Briefing Note

You have subscribed, or you have participated in one of my surveys, or we have communicated about digital matters. If you prefer not to receive this briefing, you can unsubscribe using the link in the footer, or drop me an email and I'll take you off the list. You can also read the briefings on my website where they will be published each month. jane@netjmc.com

Contact Jane McConnell

Get in touch if you'd like more information about the ongoing 2016 survey,  if you're interested in an evaluation of your digital workplace or if you'd just like to talk about things digital!

Cell (in France) is + 33 (0)612036634.
 
Jane McConnell, NETStrategyJMC, based near Avignon, France.
You received this briefing note because you have subscribed, or you have participated in one of my surveys, or we have communicated about digital matters.