The digital revolution not only impacts strategies, processes and tools: it also drastically changes management operating frameworks. As a manager, how can you take into consideration the digital transition?
01
Facilitate information sharing
Deciding on whom to share information with was one of management’s key roles. Nowadays, information is readily available in massive quantities…
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Rethink your added value. Holding information is no longer what is at stake, but rather helping your team make sense of it.
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Help your team deal with the over-abundance of information, e.g. Organize information prioritization to facilitate the communication of the most useful.
02
Encourage contribution through collaborative tools
In a fast moving world, harvesting everyone’s ideas constitutes a key asset. But opening discussion forums is not sufficient.
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Create the conditions for a productive discussion on the digital platforms, by seeking your team members’ ideas on concrete real-life issues.
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Address your team members’ hesitations by showing they can express themselves without fear, e.g. Allow anonymous posts, listen sincerely to diverging opinions, thank contributors for daring to express themselves…
03
Reinforce your team’s agility and reactivity
The pace of change has increased considerably. Reinforce your team’s ability to rapidly adapt.
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Adopt agile project management methods: progress through short successive steps, learn the lessons from each of these steps…
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Value initiative: guide it and facilitate it while being clear as to the margins of maneuver and the conditions for «trial and error».
Take action
Contribute to the exchanges on the internal network of your organization (15 min)
Being active on the internal network will enable you to convey messages and to collect feedback.
Set yourself a weekly timeslot that you will use to post a message on the internal network: share your competitive analysis, a major milestone that has been achieved, an article from a trade magazine, an online conference or webinar, etc.
Make sure you respond to the posted comments, and take the opportunity to sound out your teams.
Comment and mark “likes” on the postings of other staff members. You will thus show your interest and your attention to the subjects that matter to them.
Organize an online survey (15 min)
Seeking the opinion of others has become easier with digital methods.
Identify a topic that lends itself to seeking your team members’ opinion.
Rather than organizing a meeting or sending a mail to solicit their opinion, create an online poll, on your intranet or using free tools such as SurveyMonkey or Doodle. If needed, seek the help of co-workers who are familiar with these tools. You can launch the initiative by posting a short video made with your webcam!
Don’t forget to thank the participants and to give them access to the results of this survey.
Improve your fluency and that of your team in collaborative tools (10 min)
A poor knowledge of collaborative tools sometimes hampers their every-day use.
Identify the people in your team who are most at ease with new technologies. This could be a Generation Y or a millennial, but not necessarily!
Plan with them the organization of short familiarization sessions on collaborative tools for you and the other team members. E.g.: Book a ten minute slot during a team meeting, organize a monthly breakfast meeting dedicated to this.
Ensure the sessions are focused on a concrete subject, which will enable everyone to take rapid action. E.g.: Create your profile, work on a shared document, post a message, organize a vote, etc.
Practical Tips
> Adapting your managerial practices to the digital age
Find out more
> How can you facilitate and encourage dialogue with employees?
© Managéris