Blog originally posted on www.m-files.com/blog on June 12th 2019 by Garrett Hollander
“The work” will never go away. My high school soccer coach would end each practice by having the whole team shout the mantra: “If you want to get results, you have to put in the work.” Having to do the things that produce results… that part of the job is here to stay. Sure, It may shift shape or the tasks might change, but the work happens.
So, the question then becomes: How can an organization change the way people work so that “the work” becomes easier and faster? The answer is pretty simple. To thrive, there needs to be more investment in people, processes, and technology. We must adopt the new-found workforce and challenge existing models and methods of working.
Information management solutions make “doing the work” more efficient in several ways. These technology solutions have come to be so much more than just file storage applications. Solutions like M-Files are changing the way people work without changing “the work.” Here are a few ways.
The Company Hierarchy is Flattened Out with Better Collaboration
Information management solutions make collaborating simpler. Colleagues can share materials easily. They have quick visibility into what others in the organisation are working on. If a salesperson wants information on how to position the product in the manufacturing industry, for example, they can do a simple search and find materials that others have put together — battle cards, messaging summaries, maybe. Users can edit files together with co-authoring. They can keep track of tasks that require multiple contributors.
Thus, the company hierarchy is flattened out. Management is no longer in the “high tower” as easy collaboration and feedback creates connections in the org chart across management layers and among peers.
Workspaces are Now Genuinely Flexible
Back in the old days when brick and mortar offices ruled the day, if an organization had 1,000 employees, they had to build a space that could accommodate 1,000 people — with 1,000 desks and 1,000 workspaces to outfit with computers and whatever else they needed.
Things are changing. “We’re trying to be more flexible to improve from a retention and burnout standpoint. Automotive parts company Delphi has over 120 sites worldwide. IT vice president Andrea Siudara says, “We want to integrate tools and workspaces into people’s lives. It’s more about results than it is about desktime.”
Intelligent information management solutions like M-Files create a workplace more suitable for this changing workplace. “Work” is transforming from a place you go to something you do. Knowledge workers need to be able to do work at home or on the road just as they would at the office — and that includes working with documents. Information management technology provides for anywhere access to documents and files on just about any device, thus making the workplace truly flexible.
Artificial Intelligence and Automation Come into their Own
Artificial intelligence has made entry into the information management space in a huge way. How often have you been unable to find a document because it was in the wrong file folder? Or because it was badly named, and a search couldn’t locate it? Happens all the time.
AI in the context of information management can help automatically contextualise and classify documents by adding or suggesting metadata, which make that information easily findable by you and your colleagues. It’s a huge development and one we went into detail about in this post.
In fact, in our 2019 Information Management Benchmark Report, we found that 82% of workers say it would be beneficial if the system they use could automatically name and tag documents for them… and now that’s not a pipe dream. It’s a reality that unlocks huge productivity gains for employees, allowing them to focus on their work rather that finding the information they need.
All in all, companies want to drive efficiency into everything they do and an information management solution, among other advances, builds a bridge to greater productivity and efficiency.
If you're ready to revolutionise the way you and your team work, chat to us about M-Files today.
