Over the past several years, technology has become an essential part of our day-to-day lives, both personal and professional. For businesses specifically, technology in the workplace has completely redefined operational processes as well as consumer behaviors and expectations.
In fact, according to a McKinsey Global Survey of executives, 93% of companies surveyed said they had to shift to remote work, 62% said they had to deal with increasing customer demand for online purchase and services, and 34% said there was an increase in migration of their company’s assets to the cloud due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
There are numerous benefits of technology in the workplace. Continue reading to learn some of the reasons business owners want to ensure they are keeping up with the latest IT trends and have a plan to implement innovative technology solutions.
Functionality in the workplace refers to how well different teams, departments, and individuals work together towards common goals. High functionality enables smooth collaboration, efficient operations, and better outcomes. Here are the top 10 benefits of cultivating functionality in your organization:
1. Breaks Down Silos
When departments operate in silos, focusing only on their own goals, it leads to communication breakdowns and inefficient operations. Functional teams break down silos by bringing together cross-departmental members to work towards organizational goals. This promotes information sharing and big picture thinking.
2. Increases Innovation
Innovation often happens at the intersection of different disciplines and perspectives. Functional teams that bring together diverse experts can spark creative solutions and “outside the box” thinking that would not emerge from siloed departments.
3. Improves Efficiency
Rather than projects getting passed from department to department, functional teams can anticipate and address challenges early on since all key players are involved from the start. This prevents wasted time and resources on corrections and rework
4. Enhances Workplace Culture
Functional teams promote greater connection and understanding between team members across departments. This can enhance workplace culture by building relationships, improving communication, and reducing conflicts.
5. Develops Employees
Serving on cross-functional teams allows employees to develop new skills and perspectives. Exposure to different roles and responsibilities makes them more well-rounded and valuable.
6. Aligns with Organizational Goals
With diverse input, functional teams ensure initiatives align with and support overarching organizational goals, rather than just departmental goals. This leads to strategies and solutions that benefit the whole.
7. Encourages Ownership
Functional teams give employees a sense of ownership over projects and goals that go beyond their normal departmental responsibilities. This can increase engagement, initiative, and accountability.
8. Enables Quick Response to Issues
Problems can be escalated and addressed rapidly with a functional team that represents all key areas required to design and implement solutions. Rapid response improves client services and stakeholder satisfaction.
9. Reduces Workload Silos
Rather than overburdening certain teams while other teams are underutilized workloads can be distributed across functional teams to maximize resources and capacity. This prevents employee burnout.
10. Provides Support System
Serving on functional teams creates a support network for employees to turn to for advice, resources and assistance outside their normal reporting structures. This can reduce stress and improve job performance.
Overall, promoting high functionality between teams, departments, and staff streamlines operations, drives innovation, aligns strategic priorities, and creates a collaborative, engaging workplace. By leveraging functional teams, organizations can increase productivity, efficiency, and outcomes.
Some key strategies for boosting functionality include:
- Establishing cross-departmental teams with clear objectives
- Rotating team members to prevent stagnation
- Fostering diversity on teams
- Promoting open communication and healthy conflict resolution
- Providing team building opportunities
- Rewarding collaborative behaviors and outcomes
- Seeking input from all levels on teams
- Setting ground rules for cooperation and accountability
Small investments of time and resources to improve functionality generate substantial returns in performance. It enables an organization to fully leverage its most valuable asset – its people. When they can collaborate smoothly and effectively, there is no limit to what a functional team can accomplish. The road to organizational success starts with building bridges between silos.
A workplace that has embraced functionality and broken down silos will be more efficient, innovative, aligned, and engaged. By optimizing cross-functional cooperation, any organization can enhance outcomes and exceed stakeholder expectations. Functional teams keep an organization nimble, receptive to ideas, and focused on the big picture. When people feel valued as part of a supportive, communicative team, they are more committed to shared goals. A little functionality goes a long way.
Enhance Communication and Collaboration
Technology has made communicating with others easier than ever, which is important in today’s corporate environment where many organizations are still working from home and face to face interaction is nominal.
Cloud based platforms such as Microsoft Teams, Zoom, and others continue to provide a pathway for organizations to remain connected and achieve a level of communication that is arguably better than pre-pandemic and the shift to remote work.
That is largely in part because productivity platforms and applications supply features such as chat, file storage and sharing, and document collaboration to significantly enhance collaboration.
What’s more, this technology actually increases productivity for an organization and its employees, as feedback on a specific project or task can quickly be sent via instant message, limiting the number of emails and reducing response times.
With cyber criminals’ attack techniques increasing in volume and complexity, it is of the utmost importance that organizations have sophisticated security measures in place to help prevent infiltration of their network and systems that could lead to a costly data breach or worse.
While security technologies like antivirus and multifactor authentication are necessary and effective tools, organizations must also implement controls at the employee level. After all, nearly 9 out of 10 – or 88% – of all data breaches are caused by human error.
As employees are oftentimes the last line of defense in an attempted cyber attack, it is critical to equip them with the knowledge to recognize when such an attack is taking place and what steps they should take to mitigate the threat.
This can be achieved through implementing a security awareness training program. These programs aim to educate users on threat vectors and attack techniques and even provide real-world scenarios via simulated campaigns.
For employees that are phish prone, additional training can be done to improve their detection skills. This will go a long way in creating a “human firewall” and increasing security for the organization.
The Importance and Benefits of Technology in the Workplace
The importance of technology in the workplace cannot be understated; after all, it has become a core component of any modern-day organization’s success. Let’s take a closer look at some of the advantages of technology in the workplace.
Benefits of Wellness Programs
What are the benefits of working in a team?
These factors are essential to reap the benefits of working in a team. And the benefits of teamwork are unmatched. Giving team members the opportunity, tools, and support needed to click as a group makes it easier to contribute their unique skills and talents and work toward a common goal.
Why do you need functional skills?
More accurate and faster calculations: Functional skills help improve your mathematical skills, which you use when balancing accounts, calculating change and solving practical problems. Improved communication: Functional skills help with all communication, including writing a report or email and presenting to management.
How can i Improve my Functional Skills?
The easiest way to improve your functional skills is to use them as often as you can. You can practise your functional skills at work and home by reading, writing and using basic bookkeeping skills. Read as much as possible and give yourself spelling and writing tests to ensure you get sufficient practice before your functional skills exams.
What is workplace technology & why is it important?
As a driving force behind every successful business in the world today, workplace technology can include everything from customer management software and virtual meeting tools to the keycard you use to get into the building.
