Digitizing the Executive Suite Managing Without Paper

Digitizing the Executive Suite: Managing Without PaperThis “day-in-the-life” story illustrates the many ways digital experiences replace those traditionally associated with paper for today’s CEO. But why? After all, paper is a great companion. It’s handy. It travels well. It makes reading easy, and it can be tracked visibly as it moves from one person to another. Paper is always somewhere.

But paper represents one of the last silos of information within your organization—a place where information resides in a format that’s difficult to capture, store and share. Paper keeps executives at arm’s length from the information they need to make timely decisions. Smart leaders are finding ways to eliminate organizational silos and encourage collaboration across their operations.

From somewhere to everywhere. Executives don’t want to know that the information is somewhere; they want it to just be there when they want it. Data and documents stored in the cloud are accessible to any connected device, anytime. The tags and categories that describe and organize information become keys to discovery and sharing; they inform collaboration and liberate the content from two-dimensional representations. Digital information can reflect the complexity of contemporary organizations and their networks of service providers and partners. Information goes from being sequestered away on paper to permeating the entire enterprise.

Every executive today owns an office full of technology capable of replacing paper documents and manual processes. Some executives already embrace a workstyle that replaces print with digital solutions that facilitate enhanced collaboration, reduce process friction, enable real-time access to data and insight, and better model the fluid, responsive, strategic priorities of the business.

Four major technology advancements form the foundation for the modern executive digital workstyle:

Touch and pen-enabled devices and displays enable direct manipulation of text, slides, and other objects through gestures and touch. On the personal level these displays make reading everything from email to internal reports to trade literature less taxing. Large displays eliminate the silos between people in meetings by creating a shared view of everything being discussed, and can reflect the documentation of decisions immediately.

Cloud-based data and content simplifies access to documents and information, keeping track of changes and synchronizing across devices so every stakeholder has access to the most current version. Documents stored as paper in folders, on USB sticks, and on PC drives create duplication and confusion. Cloud-based data and content means one shared version of the truth.

Collaborative, ink-based applications allow groups to coauthor documents, scribble notes in margins, or draft new ideas on open, digital canvases. Insights previously captured with dry-erase markers or on individual notepads become accessible through digital worksurfaces where everyone, anywhere, can view the content, and those authorized can comment and contribute.

Advanced digital imaging employs the ubiquity of high-resolution cameras to capture information from whiteboards, flipcharts, or handwritten notes, instantly creating digital forms that can be uploaded to shared storage services and made available to teams. When digital imaging combines with digital audio recording, the meeting becomes its own record.

Underlying these very visible technologies is a common platform that creates the environment for recognizing gestures, synchronizing information, ensuring security, and managing access to people and content through directory services. This creates a seamless experience that stretches from decision making and internal communications to off-hours reading and learning.

Reducing paper in the work environment is not just about advances in technology. Organizations strive to be paperless for operational, environmental, and other reasons; but whatever the motive, executives should lead by example. They can do this by designing work experiences for their direct reports that maximize the use of digital wherever possible, while increasing the effectiveness of information sharing and the quality of decision making.

A Day in the Life of the Digital CEO

Carl reaches out to his tablet and stops the alarm. He is being good this week, so he hops on the elliptical. The tablet joins him, as do the overnight notifications from Europe. He taps on an inventory issue in Hungary. A OneNote notebook opens with a full history of the situation. Looks like László has it handled.

Carl grabs his travel cup full of coffee, tucks his tablet under his arm, places the smartphone in a pocket, and clicks open the garage door.

After setting his coffee into its holder, Carl backs out the car and requests, “Playlist, ‘Mellow Jazz.’” A few minutes later a voice politely announces: “Incoming mail.” Carl instructs the car to read it to him.

“Reply. ‘I’m just around the corner; we’ll talk when I get in.’”

Raj is waiting for him. Carl sits, flips open his tablet, and taps on Raj’s notebook. He pulls out the stylus and says, “Okay, what else?” As Carl writes, the notes are displayed on a large shared screen. Raj gestures to pull up a few diagrams to illustrate the details. Both satisfied, they close out the session. Instantly, members of Raj’s team receive update notifications.

Raj rises, looks at Carl. “I wish I could figure out how to get rid of all my papers. I guess it’s just the engineer in me.”

“I don’t have paper because I’m an engineer,“ Carl responds. “Remember Raj, design is about simplicity.”

Join Carl. Read on to see how to create your own paperless work experience…

Don’t lose a great idea. Draw a picture, record a note, scribble a plan. Share and collaborate with colleagues to turn great ideas into action.

Eight Ways to Go Paperless in Your Executive Suite

1 Store data digitally in on-premises, hybrid, or pure cloud-based storage services so it can easily be shared and synchronized across devices.

2Use digital imaging to capture handwritten notes and drawings and to quickly access information represented by digital tags.

3Deploy a common operating system that offers security, directory services, and the touch-and-gesture features that underlie the digital workstyle.

4Install high-resolution touch screens, for personal or team use, in order to enable rich environments for the display and manipulation of data and information.

5 Natural Input for applications uses touch, stylus, and gesture-based input to take notes and mark up documents digitally, replacing notebooks and whiteboards.

6 Place audio-visual conferencing systems in executive conference rooms to enable remote meetings and team collaboration around data without print.

7Provide small notebook computers, tablets, and smartphones so people can access their information anywhere, anytime.

8Use tablets and smartphones to shift the consumption of information from paper to convenient, portable, connected digital devices.

Store Data Digitally

Use Digital Imaging

High-Resolution Touch Screens

Natural Input for Applications

Provide Small Notebooks and Tablets

Use Tablets and Smartphones

Deploy A/V Conferencing

Deploy Common Operating System3

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Links and resources

Check out the following resources for more information about Microsoft technologies that power today’s digital executive workstyle.

WindowsWindows offers the underlying technology for gesture recognition, ink, high-resolution fonts, security, synchronized file storage, and other enabling technologies that make a more digital work experience possible.

Microsoft OfficeOffice creates the work environment for authoring, review, and editing of word processing documents, spreadsheets, and presentations, all of which offer rich review, annotation, and sharing features to eliminate the need for papers and enable better collaboration.

Microsoft SharePoint and Office 365SharePoint serves as the on-premises or cloud-hosted hub for collaborative work, storage of shared documents, and facilitation of group communications in a centralized, all-digital way.

Microsoft OneNoteAlthough many Microsoft information work technologies incorporate touch, gestures, and ink, OneNote offers the most comprehensive and integrated experience for eliminating paper from the executive, manager, or staff work experience. Taking personal notes that synchronize with recorded audio; drawing; capturing web content, email, and images for organized storage and commentary; as well as easy sharing through Microsoft SkyDrive exemplify the digital workstyle.

Take a deeper look into the Microsoft vision for your workplace

Contact your account representative for an EBC and Envisioning Center visit, or follow the links below to get a glimpse of current and future products and visions for tomorrow’s workplace:

Executive Briefing Center: www.microsoft.com/ebc/redmond.mspx

Windows 8: www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/enterprise/products-and-technologies/windows-8/default.aspx

Microsoft Office Future of Productivity: sharepoint.microsoft.com/businessproductivity/en-us/Pages/Productivity-Software.aspx

Notes on the digital napkin

Handwritten notes, highlights in documents, and scribbles on the back of napkins occupy an important place in the workstyle of even the most tech-savvy executive, but remain siloed from collaborative practices if they are trapped in paper form. Microsoft OneNote offers a natural and convenient way to capture these insights in a format that can be shared, searched, and stored in a digital format.

Consider how Carl, the paperless CEO from the opening vignette, interacts with his team during a product development meeting. As the team presents, he jots down notes on his tablet, poses questions, and captures his thoughts through mind-maps and drawings. A member of the engineering team draws out some ideas and equations on the whiteboard using a digital stylus. These are automatically captured by the OneNote application where Carl and the other team members can access them, comment, and share.

At the end of the meeting, Carl shares the record of the meeting with the management team so that everyone has a common basis of information for the next set of decisions, adding a few verbal comments as an embedded voice note.

Going digital beyond the executive suite

While engineers, designers, and other roles may still need paper because mainstream enterprise tools do not yet offer all the high-touch, high-fidelity tools for creative and highly technical problem-solving, there are areas where today’s technology can contribute to transitioning to a fully digital workflow in routine information work scenarios.

Awareness campaigns: Technology such as large-screen displays in common areas and shared information spaces can replace old paper-based practices and reduce low-value email traffic.

Digital brochures: Replace printed brochures and boilerplate internal materials with tags and markers that link to web-based information. Hold up a camera, scan the tag printed on a poster or display, and reams of previously published information are instantly reduced to a stream of explorable content on a smartphone or tablet.

Conference rooms: Even the smallest conference rooms can be outfitted with cost-effective audio-visual tools that allow groups of people to share information more effectively. Microsoft research suggests that when people can anticipate access to shared audio-visual equipment, they are far less likely to print information before attending a meeting.

While innovation continues, all the technologies needed to eliminate executive suite paper silos, and silos in the broader organization, can be implemented today. Success depends on discipline, practice, and leadership.

All the technologies needed to eliminate executive suite paper silos can be implemented today.

Three Recommendations

1 Leaders should consider reducing paper to create a more integrated, cost-effective, and environmentally friendly decision-making environment.

2 Adopt technology that enables collaboration and sharing of digital data and documents anywhere, anytime, on any device, and offers rich touch, gesture, and stylus-based input.

3 Organizations should develop a communications strategy that uses digital media rather than paper, wherever and whenever possible.

Published July 2012

www.microsoft.com/enterprise