News

The thriving digital village

Kerri Lawrence | February 7, 2021

In January 2020, the World Health Organisation released their first Situation report on the emerging Corona Virus Disease of 2019 (COVID-19), we now have globally more than 100 million infections, with over 2 million dying with this disease.

Consequently, our world dramatically shifted during 2020 and the ingrained rhythm of our lives changed irrevocably.  No longer did we leave home every day for work, instead, out of necessity, we used virtual means to help bridge the gap from isolation to socialisation and continue or working lives. In short, we created the “digital village”.

However, in the eagerness to pivot many organisations missed the opportunity to position themselves for success, instead existing organisational models were replicated virtually, replacing day to day meetings with video meetings and substituting the coffee catch up with video check ins. It became back-to-back calls, chained to dining room chairs without even the opportunity to stretch the legs on the way to the next appointment.

The excitement of the virtual workplace eventually wore off and these virtual meetings became more transactional and more tiring as we juggled home schooling, bad Internet, physical tiredness from not being able to truly exercise. Anecdotal evidence suggests that employees attend more meetings, work longer hours and report higher levels of stress due to hyper-engagement.

In my recent article, The Rise of the Digital Village, I highlight how, in response to the pandemic, we built digital villages; utilising technology to ensure we remain connected to our working and social networks. The rise of the digital village has helped us mitigate the impacts of the pandemic to our working lives and brings us full circle to those preindustrial revolution days where we once again, find employment on our doorstep. However, such a shift requires a fundamental change to our current ways of working, we need to create different relationships, new rhythms and develop culture that thrives in this post pandemic world.

A thriving digital village knows what is trying to achieve and the collective and individual roles in getting there. A thriving and sustainable digital village requires transparent organisational outcomes, clarity of team activities and well-defined individual accountabilities. It is built on transparency and an authentic culture that has the mutual expectation that you will deliver on what you have committed to.  A thriving digital village has clearly defined touchpoints that creates the necessary rhythm to foster creativity while providing the necessary quiet time to get things done. It utilises intuitive and trusted technology to stay connected but is disciplined in its use. In short, a thriving digital village creates a virtual ecosystem hallmarked by trust, outcomes focus, and a shared understanding of what is required to create success.

At Capability we work with organisations to ensure they develop the practises and tools they need to succeed in the digital village, and the confidence that there is a shared and collective understanding of what success, for them, looks like.

We understand that the key to realising organisational, team and individual success and the creation of a thriving digital village, is reliant on three critical success factors: a transparent and authentic culture, defined rhythms and intuitive and trusted technology.

We help create authentic organisational values that permeate throughout the organisation in a practical and demonstrable way from the CEO, across all layers of management and beyond; values which are grounded in accountability and responsibility, building a culture rooted in trust, creating a sense of place and connection to replace the overwhelming loss and isolation brought by the pandemic.

Building your capability to enable your success in this new digital village is our focus.