Productivity Habits for the Digital Age

James Samuel
Jul 10, 2017 · 3 min read

To be innovative and competitive in today’s global digital economy, organisations and individuals will need to invest in information and communication technologies.

What’s often overlooked however, is that without the proper skills to put these technologies to effective use, we risk wasting the investment and the opportunities they offer.

Eric “Astro” Teller, CEO of Google X, thinks that while technology is increasing at an ever faster rate, human adaptability has been rising at a slower and linear rate.

While I’m not so sure that our rate of adaptation is linear, it does raise the question: How do we keep up?

We’re being required to process more information, and make more decisions than we ever have, and this is leading many people to feeling overwhelmed, but it doesn’t have to be that way.

Grovo’s 2017 whitepaper offers some valuable insights into how the digital skills gap is killing productivity, and what you can do about it. Here is a succinct summary, which matches my experience and observations over years of coaching others in their embrace of the digital world.

Working with documents

Digital documents are the backbone of the modern workplace. They are the tools used to store data, conduct analysis and communicate ideas and outcomes within almost every business.

Project collaboration & management

Increasingly employees are required to collaborate on projects both across departments and with colleagues working remotely, both in other offices and working from home.

Attention management

The “Information Age” is being replaced by the Attention Age, where attention is becoming the most valuable commodity, and focus the most valuable skill.

Communication

Communication skills are required to time-efficiently manage inbound and outbound communication, and to be able to clearly and effectively relay the desired information.

Digital etiquette

Failing to recognize that digital etiquette is on an equal footing with face-to-face communication is to risk damaging the productivity and creating disgruntled customers.

Search and research

These are the skills required to effectively harness the wealth of digital information available both online and via a company’s internal databases.

Platform flexibility

The ability to be comfortable using the growing range of devices, operating systems and platforms integral to modern business, now that Microsoft is no longer the dominant player in business software.

Security and privacy

Security threats to business are increasingly sophisticated and the impact from breaches are increasingly severe. However, a majority of breaches continue to happen as a result of human error and a lack of training.

Conclusion

There are no quick fixes but with regular focussed time invested, you can start to develop new and powerful habits that can give you an edge in this global and increasingly digital economy, and with confidence, learn to manage more than you ever thought possible.

James Samuel

Written by

Visualising data to reveal actionable insights, and crypto based local food projects. These are what float my boat. http://pinginsights.nz

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