16 January 2008

Enabling People Through Technology

New research has been released which demonstrates the business benefit of enabling people through technology. Betsy Frost (Microsoft's Information Worker Group general manager) discusses the implications of this research by "The Economist Intelligence Unit", suggesting that people-centric technology represents a key source of competitive advantage. The survey includes feedback from 1,351 senior exec's + managers + employees from across the world

It often amazes me when I meet partners & customers who say that their people are their most important asset. When the conversations turns to empowering their employees with tools to work from home example, I hear all too often, "nah, we don't allow that" or "our technology doesn't allow that" or "that's not a secure option". Clearly these people haven't seen our People Ready Messaging :-). It's interesting to read how different cultures from across the world have different ways of working together and how software helps...

Highlights from the study on how business can be more effective by enabling employees include:

Two-thirds of business executives said their organizations have a high degree of enablement.
53 percent reported having the IT tools they consider necessary to optimise performance
Respondents estimated that just 15 to 30 percent of employees use technology tools beyond e-mail;
Less than 15 percent of the executives surveyed reported using distributed meeting software, ( e-mail, instant messaging, the telephone and collaboration software that allow employees to convene ad-hoc meetings);
Fewer than half of executives believe employees have the information they need to be successful.
Of those respondents whose companies had revenue growth that outpaced their competitors:
52 percent said enablement was “very important” to their business
25 percent considered enablement “not important” to their success
58 percent report using collaborative software regularly

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