A fluid organization, sometimes called a liquid organization, is agile, quick to adapt, innovative in its processes, data-driven, and mission-focused from the top down. Leaders of a truly fluid organization are customer-obsessed and refuse to remain stagnant. If a particular strategy isn’t working, that process gets pushed to the side and brainstorming innovative ways to transform begins. Not only does this instill confidence in employees and set the tone for a thriving corporate culture, but it ignites growth throughout the entire company – whether it be personal growth for the workforce or generating new business or partnerships.
Digital Transformation at the Forefront
It is no secret that digitization is at the forefront of achieving the traits mentioned above. The hot topic of digital transformation has taken the world by storm over the last twenty-plus years and has only intensified in the wake of the ongoing pandemic. Enabling technology to help a company be agile is one of the best decisions a leader can take right now. Analytics cannot be gathered efficiently to make data-driven decisions without the assistance of technology and innovative software.
Digital transformation fuels cross-departmental collaboration, information gathering, and ultimately information insight. The best way to stay attractive to a new breed of workers while remaining productive in a mobile-dominated world is to have innovative processes and procedures. These processes and procedures must veer away from outdated hierarchal structures and business models. While leaders, founders, and CEOs will remain the end decision-makers, preaching the importance of open dialogue and investing in solutions that put instrumental knowledge in the hands of your workforce is key to sustaining a fluid and well-functioned organization.
What Roles Does Information Insight Play?
Accepting that the business landscape and how the workforce operates is dramatically changing now and will continue to change in five years and then change even more in five more years is key to setting your organization up for success. The companies stuck in their old ways are the same companies that get left behind. To make pivoting easier, insights into company processes and competitors become necessary.
A fluid organization does not promote making decisions blindly. To adapt and be a leader of change in your industry, decision-making will come from data and advanced analytics surrounding the functional areas being examined. Many of my previous articles mentioned that access to this data could only come when data sources are consolidated into a single application with the ability to integrate seamlessly into popular programs (i.e. Office 365, Outlook, SharePoint, and Salesforce).
Artificial intelligence (AI) extracts information from all internal and external data sources and puts it into context for the user. Connecting all business units to this mountain of accumulated data boosts an individual worker or department’s chances to make groundbreaking realizations and insights. The data within a company should not only touch the hands of leadership, as this inhibits growth and opposes the ideology of a fluid organization
In addition, information insight can simplify onboarding and accelerate the learning process. This applies to new employees just coming into a company or a trained employee working on a new project. Access to details about a task or specific topic gives employees the confidence that they are doing their job correctly and productively. Without this knowledge, months of training may need to occur before one feels they can perform at their best. Quick learning and simple information finding can do wonders for your company regarding employee morale and freeing up resources, such as subject matter experts.
The Big Picture
The foundation of an organization starts with its values. The value of people and information go unmatched when striving to become the organization one wants to be. Taking a fluid or liquid approach broadens the scope of possibilities within your workforce, ultimately leading to convergence filled with opportunities for the business as a whole and every human being a part of it. When humans and information are linked, innovation and transformation can take place. Adjustments can occur in a matter of days, rather than months of back and forth and employee frustration. Letting AI drive you towards change in just one department will highlight what it can do for your entire enterprise, and sooner rather than later, your company will identify as a fluid organization.
