Harmony in Bytes: Integrating Aikido Philosophy into Digital Workplace Design
Cristian SALANTI
Operational Comms, Employee Experience, Intranet, Digital Workplace, M365
Using aikido, a small woman can put down a thug twice her size. She can do this using the attacker energy, some very precise techniques, and a specific philosophy.?As someone who has been practicing this martial art for over 6 years, I want to share some concepts that can simplify your digital workplace design practice, and make a significant difference for your colleagues.
By applying underlying principles of aikido, interactions between employees and the digital workplace can be optimized. Each interaction essentially involves the employee and the owner of the specific topic. Aikidō, known as "the way of harmony with universal energy," teaches how to harness this energy in relationships with internal partners, ultimately reducing headaches.
RELEVANT AIKIDO CONCEPTS
To better understand this philosophy, let's explore some simple yet relevant concepts:
1.??????Never attack first: Aikido is a self-defense martial art. You never initiate an attack; instead, you wait for the opponent to make the first move. The moment they attack is when you apply your technique.
2.??????Use the partner's energy: When someone attacks you, you can utilize their energy to redirect them to the floor and immobilize them with a few moves. From a distance, the movements of both attacker and defender appear harmonious, almost like a dance. This is in stark contrast to activities like boxing, where partners expend all their energy pushing back and forth for an extended period.
3.??????Technique is crucial: Aikido relies heavily on biomechanics. Applying precise pressure on the upper limbs and executing the correct movements helps you control your partner. Failing to apply pressure correctly or neglecting the sequence of movements will yield ineffective results.
4.??????Always stay balanced: since you must always assume a new attack could come, you must finish a technique in a balanced position.
Traditional work practices
Put yourself in the shoes of somebody from HR, Finance, or IT that must support dozens, hundreds, or thousands of people. When these people email, message, raise tickets, call, or come to your office, there is a good chance that you might feel like that small woman being attacked by a thug.
This happens mostly because of the way people and departments choose to interact within a company, which resembles very much to boxing, pushing energy back and forth.
Let’s review some common activities:
1.??????Internal comms: Communicators' main responsibility has become delivering news across various channels at the most suitable times for employees. However, employees, having been exposed to advertisements for decades, have become adept at ignoring and deleting information. While this approach may have some limited effectiveness, it mostly falls short. Communicators, both professionals and managers, compete for employees' attention and memory, both of which are limited resources. Careful consideration must be given to how these resources are utilized.
2.??????Training: Similar to internal comms, attempting to teach employees too many things at once will backfire. Numerous studies show that trainees forget 70% of the information within a few days, reaching 90% after just 30 days.
3.??????Coordination: Implementing changes across a network of 50 stores, for example, often involves exchanging dozens of messages. Once again, this resembles a boxing match.
4.??????Task management: Employees receive tasks through multiple channels such as email, chat, or various applications. This, too, resembles a boxing match but with multiple opponents.
5.??????Support: It's not uncommon to hear someone responsible for an internal topic complain that the employees they support are unaware of recent changes that have been "shared with everybody." The problem lies in the fact that the "obvious" place for support information differs from topic to topic, with each department having its own way of providing information. This scenario becomes a game of "hide and seek."
6.??????Onboarding: When new people join the company they are required learn a lot of things, very much like driking water from a hydrant. Probably this the biggest "push" of all. Do you remember what percentage of these things will the employee remember in 30 days time? It is like 10%.
All these scenarios share a common theme: a continuous "push" rather than a "pull." The managerial focus is on producing resources and pushing them towards the employees rather than refining the way they are consumed.
And here is, in my opinion, the biggest challenge for modern businesses: the limitation of the employee to handle effectively all the overwhelming volume of corporate resources that is being pushed onto employees.
How do you apply Aikido to the digital workplace design practice?
Energy: When should you spend energy? Aikido emphasizes using the partner's energy. The best time to make use of this energy is when the employee (your partner) wants to perform a task. They are motivated and attentive due to their desire to complete the task and avoid complaints from peers, managers, or customers.
Technique: At this moment, you must provide all the necessary resources the employee wants and needs for the job. I categorize these resources into three groups:
1.??????Things the employee actively searches for, such as app links, procedures, work instructions, manuals, etc.
2.??????Things the employee may not specifically look for but greatly impact the task's outcome. This includes explaining why the task is important, sharing recent changes or related news, which help the employee adjust their approach.
3.??????After completing the task, the employee may have feedback. Just as I learned a lot from my instructor, peer feedback is equally important.
All these resources associated with a topic should be aggregated in one place. Failure to do so will lead to the dissipation of the employee's energy and time, resulting in poor outcomes.
Flow: If you look at people practicing aikido, it will look very much like dancing, because energy flows naturally. The same should happen in business operations. There are internal flows of services that, if performed right, can look more like a dance and less like a struggle. ?
Balance: In aikido you always look to be as balanced as possible in order to be able to handle the next attack. Because you are using your partner’s energy, spending little of your own by employing well crafted techniques, it is less likely to be stressed and fatigued.
The same should happen in business. You and your colleagues will have a much easier life when you are using the true power of a well-designed digital workplace. This means that your employee and customer satisfaction will improve, stress levels will decrease, and costs will go down.
Below there is an example of a topic page that will incorporate the above philosophy. Instead of pushing information to employees, all you have to do is to gather all the information on a topic in one easy to each place.
How can the mentioned activities change by applying Aikido philosophy?
Overall, applying Aikido philosophy can bring about positive changes in these activities, promoting efficiency, coordination, and a more tailored approach to employee engagement and development.
If you find useful my little analogy, please like my article, share it with your friends, or let me know in the comments below what other analogies would be relevant.
BTW, I post stuff like this each week, but if you don’t follow me, you probably won’t see them -?Cristian SALANTI
Also, you can hire me as a consultant and see the DW design from a completely fresh perspective. Contact me for a free consulting call!