The digital age should make us, knowledge workers, geographically independent of our homes, offices, and crowded cities. Isn’t proximity redefined by continuous connectivity and ubiquitous information? Finding answers from a machine or in a virtual meeting has never been easier, so much so that, by now, connectivity should have made colocation a necessity of the past. In reality, widespread telework, digital nomadism, and the seamless creation of value across long distances have yet to materialize. A recent array of studies even suggest that innovation and knowledge creation in the 21st century depend more and more on the colocation of knowledge workers in overcrowded, expensive urban hubs. Why is this? If location-neutral professions seem within reach, the conditions have yet to be met so that seamless collaboration and global innovation can really happen. Starting this revolution is a job for KM. While making the case for the inevitable rise of distributed workplaces, this talk examines what distance means for innovation before proposing concrete KM strategies and techniques to conquer space and save the day!

After a very successful launch of Fulton’s SharePoint-based intranet (The HUB) in 2016 replacing an aging 1990s era collection of poorly managed web pages, the work to develop the next generation of The HUB is underway with a collaborative approach to ensure a user-centric design. Taking an “‘under-the-radar” approach to fit into everyone’s schedule to avoid the need to engage the corporate project management prioritization process, the group includes a user experience expert, SharePoint team, change management leader, and the KM team. Starting by setting design standards, developing user journeys, benchmarking with top intranets, and the customer facing website, the team quickly developed a collaborative working relationship not often found in a traditionally hierarchical, conservative enterprise. During the design period, continuous improvement was a key change management technique to ensure user engagement in the next-gen intranet with full KM capabilities. Get the strategy and techniques used by the design team, learn from their experience, and take home solid insights.

As enterprises transition from traditional intranets to employee-centric digital workplaces, technology decisions around employee experience become more —but also more significant. How do you make the right choice for your particular needs? This fast-paced session by an experienced industry analyst offers an adaptive methodology for making effective strategic and technology decisions. Learn a modern approach to evaluating and selecting the right digital workplace technology that will save you time and money, as well as reduce risks!

The idea of the customer experience is a powerful one, and it’s a strategic consideration for most big organizations. As a result, we’ve seen a huge degree of customer-centric digital transformation. Within the enterprise, the concept of the digital employee experience (DEX) is equally powerful. Going beyond basic usability and UX, this takes a holistic view of how solutions are designed and delivered. Office 365 is bringing enormous amounts of new capabilities into the enterprise, but with it comes the potential for confusion and complexity. To achieve both project success and strategic benefits, Office 365 projects should make use of the concept DEX. This practical session outlines how digital workplace professionals and projects can use DEX as a strategic driver for change, shares real world examples of great employee experiences from around the globe, and provides a road map for future initiatives.

This is the 13th year of the Global Intranet and Digital Workplace Awards. With an awards ceremony at KMWorld for the North American winners, this session is a chance to see what they’ve actually delivered. Be prepared to see creative, inspirational and valuable ideas, many of which you can apply on your own intranet or digital workplace.