Is the digital workplace our own Star Trek suit?

The digital workplace and the physical workplace are often perceived as great foes. Discussions leading to such conclusions make no room for nuances.

“Working from home is devastating for corporate culture and individual careers.” This is what Jeroen Lemaire wrote in the Flemish financial newspaper De Tijd on 7 March. In that same newspaper Frederik Anseel wrote that the physical workplace was a nightmare. A place where productivity and concentration kick the bucket. A remnant of the past and a playground for the micro manager.

Neither workplace is an enemy to the other. Both have their weaknesses and their strengths.

It is as clear as day that the physical workplace is ideal for resolving conflicts, providing shelter and housing awkward appraisals.

Neither workplace is an enemy to the other. Both have their weaknesses and their strengths.

But where does the power of the digital workplace lie? No one seems to be buzzing around for that.

But at least I am convinced of the following: the digital workplace is ideal for…

• asynchronous collaboration,
• sharing work in progress and reflective practice, and
• meetings with a small group of people who already have a trustworthy relationship.

Of course, this asks for a different view on what “work” actually means. In this sense, work is not just perceived as writing documents, sitting in on meetings and distributing officially approved information. Work also involves reflecting upon what you do (am I doing things right and am I doing the right things?), sharing your insights and bringing information into the light that hasn’t yet been fine tuned.

A mature digital workplace implies another view on what “work” entails.

What a shame it would be if such digital tools, discovered by corona, should simply provide a replica of our old ways of working! Emails would then be replaced by chat and badly prepared MS Team meetings would be the replacement for the just as badly prepared meetings at the office.

Yes, a headache is brewing.

If the digital workplace would be a poor reproduction of the physical workplace, it would offer scarce added value.

It makes me think of the suits worn by Star Trek characters. Remember those? Captain Kirk, Scotty, and Spock in their Lycra-tight suits? Those suits were supposed to make you think of the future, but they were just a poor reflection of the clothes worn by every Tom, Dick and Harry at the time.

A digital workplace as a poor reproduction of the physical workplace offers scarce added value.

I still hope for a real Star Trek, in a spaceship that will beam us up to the future. But that, dearest CIOs, HRMs and Program Managers, asks a razor-sharp vision from you. A solid path and an ever-striving spirit at wheel of that spaceship.

I’m counting on you.