Without any system integrations, optimizing an office while supporting hybrid working can be difficult. Employees and organizations can grow frustrated with admin processes, misaligned functionalities, and expenses that quickly accumulate from a poorly organized tech stack.
That’s why teams need workplace management tools that work alongside existing ecosystems: enhancing functionalities without creating over-complicated workdays. But how can organizations facilitate that?
The pitfalls of digital overload
The average organization loses over $500K annually due to poor business integrations. As companies face a build-up of admin tasks, they cannot focus on effectively supporting employee satisfaction and productivity: this then contributes to a sense of digital overload.
Digital overload refers to an environment where there is simply too much tech. Companies often feel overwhelmed and distracted by the countless apps used daily and a seemingly endless stream of online communication. Digital overload makes employees perceive nearly half of their working day as unproductive. And when faced with a barrage of apps and notifications, the average employee checks their phone 80 times in a workday.
So, what’s the solution to this state of digital overload? Simple: an integrated IT ecosystem.
When all software is connected and working together, organizations can optimize their space. An integrated ecosystem lets employees focus on their work, gives organizations control over their spaces, and allows IT teams to optimize their workflows continuously.
IT teams can avoid unnecessary work and get the most out of their technological optimizations when all solutions come together in a unified IT ecosystem. Here, we’ll discuss the four key ways IT teams can create an integrated ecosystem that optimizes workspaces, benefits employees, and increases flexibility through continuous workspace improvements.
Assess current platforms
To create an integrated IT ecosystem, you must first understand and evaluate how your software is currently working. By considering how people and teams use existing solutions, IT professionals can analyze which functionalities are missing and which processes take too much time. Assess your current platforms to see their other limitations that could prevent your IT infrastructure from being streamlined. Consider talking with your employees and teammates to understand if they have any pain points that need to be addressed.
You can begin looking for solutions that support your workdays by better understanding your tools and how employees use them. One McKinsey report suggests that the average employee loses almost two hours a day inefficiently looking for information and answers. You can reduce the time spent looking for technical solutions with fully integrated systems. Everything can be streamlined, from login information to workday data insights.
Go over your current solutions, and see whether they offer single sign-on (SSO). SSO is a crucial feature of an integrated solution, as it allows users to log in to multiple applications without manually remembering or storing all their credentials. With 59% of employees using the same or similar passwords on multiple accounts, tools with SSO can drastically reduce digital overload.
Choose easy integrations
Large businesses use an average of 175 apps to optimize productivity. With a range of solutions designed to streamline the workplace, selecting those that can be easily used and integrated is essential. Without an easy-to-use solution, you’ll waste time and energy setting up, configuring, and troubleshooting your tools.
Ensuring that all employees can use your solutions is vital in promoting engagement and ensuring the longevity of your investment. In the case of creating a more optimized workplace, make sure that the integrations and tools you select can synch with your existing systems while giving employees a more accessible working experience.
For instance, seek out for workplace technology that offers an Open API: allowing for quick, seamless syncing between platforms. Additionally, a user-friendly solution might include sensor capabilities to help workers easily understand workplace and meeting room availability. These kinds of workplace solutions build a fuller understanding of the office and ease the creation of in-person connections and facility accessibility.
Put privacy first
Data collection is critical in making smarter decisions on how to better employees’ workday. But managing user privacy in a surplus of data can be difficult. This is especially true if employee or workplace data is collected across several platforms. By keeping systems integrated and choosing solutions that are privacy-oriented, you can assure employees that their privacy and security will never be in danger
When integrating a new piece of software, involve privacy and security officers early in the process. By incorporating people who understand the complexities of policies like GDPR, IT professionals can better grasp how to select and build solutions that optimize the workday and maintain a secure future.
By setting clear privacy goals and restrictions, you can ensure that you’re only working with and seeking out the kind of tools that meet these standards. This will effectively reduce the crowded market of solutions to choose from while increasing the trust and security of your integrated IT ecosystem.
Consider custom solutions
When optimizing your IT ecosystem, choosing flexible solutions that will grow and change with your business over time is important. This means selecting software that works with open API to give organizations the power to build additional, custom features that uniquely enhance their own workdays. The best way to ensure that every one of your workday tools is fully integrated is to create those unique pathways yourself.
By combining an integrated system with software that is designed for this kind of customization, you can build a constantly evolving set of workday solutions that fulfill the needs of your company and the wants of individual employees.
Moving forward
In many ways, the modern workspace offers us too much: too much choice, too much to consider, and too many apps. And yet, everything quickly starts to fall into place when things become integrated. With a unified system, employees can avoid issues that frustrate them, whilst organizations can save money and time.
If you’re looking for an easy-to-integrate solution to streamline your workday, look no further. Mapiq’s solutions are designed to be user-friendly while continually improving dynamic workspaces. Built with privacy and security in mind, Mapiq offers unique, future-proof solutions specifically for an organization's most pressing needs.
What’s more, with implementation times of a week or less and great customer support for any troubles along the way, there’s never been a better time to get started. Book a free demo today to learn how to optimize your IT ecosystem with Mapiq.
