Tech Trends 2013 Preview: Social Reengineering by Design |
Social reengineering is about rethinking the context and the content of work - intentionally achieving a social business no longer constrained by 19th century platforms of command, control and communications.
Business leaders talk about the importance of people in the enterprise, but focus the most attention on structures and processes. And, the systems we designed and built for those processes assumed some inevitable constraints about how people accomplish work together. Constraints based on hierarchy, proximity, departmental allegiance, politics, or the limitations of technology when processes were defined. Today, we can enable the human “networks” to operate much more naturally, doing work in a way it should get done.
Looking forward, there are likely to be three elements to the trend that impact the way work will get done. The first is the shift from unmet needs to unknown needs, meaning that an organization can more effectively predict how employees are likely to respond and react to changes they make to the business. The second is the way in which work gets done – the way in which people interact through telecommuting and virtual work environments, increasingly using social channels. The third relates to learning and knowledge management – understanding who knows whom, who knows what and how work actually gets done.
With acknowledgement that there are differences and issues along generational and cultural boundaries, as well as legal, compliance and intellectual property concerns, each of those limiting assumptions should be readdressed in light of Social Business platforms. Platforms that combine social with mobile and analytics, leveraging the cloud’s rich services catalog, global reach, and elastic scale and pricing. Platforms that address security and privacy at the digital rights management content level vs. only the access control level. Platforms that target key value propositions for the business – People-to-people, people-to-product/service, people-to-information, people-to-money, organization-to-employee or -supplier, even device-to-person and device-to-device to capitalize on the “Internet of Everything”.
A platform is not a single system or solution; it combines processes and technologies to enable people to execute powerfully against strategic goals. So, realizing the potential of Social Reengineering isn’t a “project”. It’s a strategy. And it’s not serendipity. It’s intentional – by design.
To learn more about Social Reengineering by Design and what the future may hold, subscribe now to receive the next installment of Tech Trends – Deloitte Consulting LLP’s annual review of the leading technology trends impacting business today and into the future.
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Mark White Principal Deloitte Consulting LLP |
