Reduce Digital Friction
Analyzing and measuring digital friction can enhance employee productivity and streamline digital workplace experiences.
Analyzing and measuring digital friction can enhance employee productivity and streamline digital workplace experiences.
Digital friction makes everyday tasks harder than they should be. Poorly integrated systems, clunky tools, and constant IT issues slow employees down and hurt productivity. However, identifying these challenges and making the right improvements can create a smoother, more efficient digital workplace. This article explores practical strategies to reduce digital friction, with insights from three IT experts.
Organizations must prioritize end-to-end visibility into their digital infrastructure to effectively reduce digital friction. A 2023 SOTI study revealed that 90% of enterprises lack complete visibility into their device endpoints. This lack of visibility can delay issue detection and remediation, ultimately hindering productivity. Organizations can gain deeper insights into CPU and application performance across all endpoints by implementing comprehensive monitoring tools.
“Providing deeper visibility into CPU and application performance across all your endpoints, including PCs and even virtual desktops, enables faster issue detection and remediation for your users. This proactive approach reduces digital friction across the digital workplace and ensures a high level of user productivity.”
Ziad Lammam
Director of Product Management for Digital Workspaces @ HP
By leveraging advanced monitoring solutions, organizations can proactively identify and resolve issues before they escalate. This approach enhances user productivity and contributes to a smoother digital workplace experience. As organizations evolve their digital strategies, maintaining end-to-end visibility will be crucial in minimizing digital friction.
Empowering employees with self-service IT support is another effective strategy to reduce digital friction. By 2027, generative AI will produce more IT support and knowledge-based articles than human contributors, according to a CNBC article. This shift towards AI-driven support can significantly enhance the efficiency of IT service delivery. Organizations should invest in user-friendly online portals that allow employees to self-schedule IT services and access relevant information.
“Users want to be able to self-schedule IT service, and to have access to relevant information through a user-friendly online portal that enables them to immediately resolve many of their own issues. This is why an effective user self-service portal should be a help desk initiative that is on every CIO’s list.”
Mary Shacklett
President of Transworld DataSource: CIO.com
By implementing seamless self-service IT support, organizations can reduce the dependency on traditional help desk services and empower employees to resolve issues independently. This approach enhances productivity and fosters a culture of self-reliance and continuous improvement. As AI technology advances, self-service IT support will become increasingly vital in reducing digital friction.
Personalizing the workforce experience is essential for minimizing digital friction and enhancing employee satisfaction. A 2024 study from WalkMe found that large enterprises lost an average of $104 million due to digital inefficiencies. Meanwhile, their employees lost an average of 36 workdays to IT roadblocks. To address these challenges, organizations must adopt flexible governance policies that accommodate the diverse needs of their workforce.
“I’ve seen overly rigid governance at some firms, where employees feel that they’re not able to get their work done because they’re not able to use specific software. In these cases, it’s important for employees to feel heard by enterprise architects by their understanding of what software is viewed as being needed.”
Erik Gfesser
IT consultant and former director @ DeloitteSource: CIO.com
Organizations can create a more personalized and efficient digital workplace by fostering open communication and understanding employee needs. A customized approach involves providing access to necessary software and tools while maintaining security and compliance standards. Personalizing the workforce experience reduces digital friction and boosts employee morale and productivity.
In conclusion, reducing digital friction requires a multifaceted approach that includes optimizing performance with end-to-end visibility, enabling seamless self-service IT support, and personalizing the workforce experience. By implementing these strategies, organizations can create a seamless digital environment that enhances productivity and supports their workforce. Addressing digital friction will be key to achieving long-term success as digital workplaces evolve.