Technology touches all of our daily lives and it’s growing at an exponential rate, especially with advances such as generative AI, natural language processing (NLP), virtual reality (VR), and augmented reality (AR).
Work environments are becoming more automated and technologically dependent, and this brings with it rapid changes to the workplace.
As a result, views of culture that traditionally revolve around values, beliefs, and behaviors now must consider policies, procedures, and best practices for using digital technologies and how they impact stakeholders.
Digital Culture Definition
A digital culture as it relates to the workplace is the set of values, beliefs, and behaviors shaped by the exposure, adoption, and use of technology. Building a strong digital culture is great in theory, but without an agreed upon operational definition that solidifies our team’s understanding, we can easily have very skillful people working diligently in the wrong direction. At the outset, the all-important question therefore is: What is digital culture? And this will be unique to your organization and is something you need to develop together.
Discuss what you would like yours to be as an organization. Write it down, challenge it, revise it collectively. Workers will already have their personal viewpoints on technology that feed into how they adopt and interact with digital tools at work. Including them in this process will benefit the plan adoption and implementation phase and improve the journey toward your desired digital culture.
Digital culture is not something that develops naturally without guidance. Just as you guide your workplace’s interpersonal culture through office policies and initiatives, executives and managers need to put solid practices and expectations in place when it comes to digital tools. AI will lead the future of your organizational culture, which means embracing technologies is critical, but must be done in a manner that considers the needs of your organization and team members as well as tech specific “fit” within your organization.
In business, a strong digital culture promotes continuous skill development so workers can feel confident using the technology their company wants and needs. Strong digital cultures also foster creativity and adaptability as teams use new tools and find new ways to approach old problems. Digital culture enhances communication, collaboration, efficiency, and agility and can be a means of competitive advantage but only if you’re able to develop a positive outlook regarding technology adoption.
Why Digital Culture Is Important
We are already living in a “digital culture”—from smartphones and the internet to robotic assistants and generative chatbots. As practitioners, we have to understand that technology on its own is neutral. Without a business strategy, there’s an equal chance that it can facilitate greatness in your teams or drive frustration, resulting in missed opportunities and inefficiencies. And we can’t simply chalk up failures to lack of hard skill training either. As seen in Figure 1, the majority understand how to use company technology, but the level of satisfaction or belief in its benefits has a significant impact on team outcomes.
When it comes to high-performing teams, technology plays a supportive role in their success, and this supportive role must be strategically selected and implemented accordingly. One company that lives its digital beliefs is Monday.com. Their 2022 Super Bowl commercial showed how they “work without limits.” But it’s their behind-the-scenes video that explains how using their own technology is how they got the commercial done in record time. Talk about living your digital culture!
How to Build a Functional Digital Culture
Looking back to our digital culture definition, companies need to plan and execute to bring the benefits of using digital systems. Technology alone will not facilitate effective teamwork or solve team dynamics as nothing within our organizations happens in a vacuum, but it can certainly be a valuable tool for progress in the right situations. Here are some steps you can take to begin.
Provide Training & Support. Every employee from interns to executives will have different experiences with, and aptitude for, technology. Training and development play a crucial role in fostering a digital culture that will lead to high-performing teams. Adequately equip your teams with the necessary knowledge by strengthening both hard and soft skills in your workforce.
Assess Needs. To build a functional digital culture, leaders must take into account their teams’ characteristics and needs. Workers will resist technology changes less when they see how they are included in the consideration of their usage and how the changes are being implemented to their benefit.
Assess your current technology usage, then identify where new tools could enhance communication or efficiency — but do so with the help of the workforce. Ask yourself and then share with others why these tools are being considered and how they can help achieve the overall organizational goal. At the same time, good leaders will welcome honest feedback from all those impacted and be willing to adjust course if necessary. Create policies and procedures workers can reference that reflect your technology goals and don’t implement new technology without a collective understanding of the “why.”
With technology, it’s just as important what you leave out as what you use. Again, this requires a very tailored approach based on facts, not guesses. For example, one Dale Carnegie study revealed that only 61% of responding team members preferred communication via online platforms versus 89% of leaders. This is a large gap and one that is easily overcome if you’re aware of your stakeholder’s view.
Building a good digital culture requires thinking of technology as a support, not an instant fix. Technology cannot replace human-to-human connection and tailoring adoption and use to specific needs is a winning formula.
Due to the rapid changes surrounding the tech space and the differences across generations relating to technology interaction, incoming workers may likely have more knowledge of a technology tool or system than a manager or leader. Effective leadership requires working with humility, taking on a “lifelong learning” mindset, staying open-minded, and remaining a true team player. Professional and personal development is important across all levels of the workforce, and in the tech driven markets of today, including seasoned veterans as well as day one hires into the discussion and creation surrounding our company’s digital culture, will pay dividends into the future.
Find Help Creating Your Digital Culture
You don’t have to build your digital culture alone. Whether it’s learning to hold meetings that work or simply developing your leadership potential, Dale Carnegie has the right course to lead your business to successful outcomes with technology. To learn more, browse available resources, or find your local Dale Carnegie partner, visit dalecarnegie.com.
Explore our diverse range of courses designed to empower your employees for success!