Digital transformation in the boardroom
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As the landscape of business is transforming; so are boards, management and C-suite workflows driven by the new technological, political, societal, economic and environmental challenges of today. Enterprises have understood that the pace of technology change is increasing exponentially but have not always taken the measures to update their collaboration spaces to keep up. Yet the digital is entering the boardroom. But even at the highest levels of organizations, the physical environment in which decision-making happens, the technology used to collaborate is not adapting. In the era of the digital boardroom; the new generation of boardrooms should be an integrated and interoperable collaboration and decision-making space within organizations. Spaces where design, functionality and availability sit at the core. Cyviz listed 5 areas that executive meeting rooms and boardroom solutions will have to take into consideration to allow for top level decision-making. Step into the new generation of executive meeting rooms.
#1 Common situational awareness – the value of visuals to understand the full picture
An efficient and informed decision-making process comes from sharing a common situational awareness amongst stakeholders. Where some boardrooms were designed with this intent, very few executive meeting rooms can deliver on this in practice. Common situational awareness can be achieved when two key elements are integrated in a boardroom. First, it requires a large seamless canvas where information can be shared, visualized and manipulated. Secondly, it requires all stakeholders to be able to see, hear and be heard to contribute and collaborate effectively. With these two elements incorporated into a boardroom solution, the purpose of the meeting is at the center and technology is the enabler. The way we design executive meeting rooms at Cyviz allows management, leaders and stakeholders can meet and visually collaborate to take better decisions. This shared common situational awareness acts as the single shared source of truth for direction setting and strategic decision-making. It is crucial for global enterprises and organizations, and requires that information and content are accurate, displayed in real-time, and are movable and zoomable. A vivid example would be a meeting between a CFO, a CEO and the business unit leaders where they need to simulate a what-if-analysis and create a predictive forecast. To achieve this, they will have to run different software and applications, such as SAP FI/CO or SAP BW/BPC, together with forecast data but also internal historical data and collaborative tools to take notes, share laptop content and more. The sheer amount of data and software required would mean having to run different meetings focused on one program or one set of analytics or having multiple laptops open side by side as it would be too much for one single session, too hard to compile comprehensively, to messy to visualize. These decision-makers want to be able to visualize, compare, and aggregate some of the following insights: income statement, balance sheet, cash flow. They want to understand the impact on cost of sales, the profit for custom duties change and be able to decide on which proactive measures could be introduced. All these different insights have to be shared and displayed at the same time alongside each other so that board members and executives can translate them into actionable decisions. Only a boardroom solution powered with a large video wall and video processor allowing for such high-resolution juxtaposition and switching of multiple data sources can truly be helpful.
#2 Application-agnostic and flexible solutions
At least 30% of enterprises have fully embarked on the digital transformation journey and 78% of business leaders have said that achieving digital transformation is critical to their organizations. The time has come for executive decision makers to fully utilize the potential of data-driven decision-making and real-time analytics tools, so that they can truly take these insights to the next level with team-driven collaboration and decision processes. Yet, boards and executive teams are missing the holistic view only permitted by a flexible and agnostic solution. Boards and C-suites need a space where they can visualize and manipulate data from multiple sources. Cyviz solutions are software application agnostic, built on a Windows platform to enable users to decide which is their preferred tool and seamlessly enable the use of any analytics software or industry specific applications to display BI software, data programs side by side, at the same time. Today, the reality of forecasts and budget planning, as an example, means that multiple different data sources are required to make decisions. These insights live within different programs and applications that have to be shared and displayed at the same time alongside each other.
#3 Real-estate cost optimization
The reality for organizations is that space is scarce, and we need to utilize every square meter effectively, as rooms that do not get used are a direct cost to organizations. So even though we might call it a boardroom, we know that organizations are looking at the return on their facilities utilization and investments. Opting for a boardroom based on a flexible platform that can make the space versatile and repurposable can help them deliver greater ROI on real-estate costs. With a more open-minded approach to facilities cost where budgets aren’t ear-marked towards specific teams or groups, space can effectively be shared utilized in a more optimized way.
Energy efficiency is another cost argument that is often highlighted, and with today’s IoT and sensor based systems in the meeting rooms the savings can be great. With usage analytics available, paired with automation of powering up and down of systems based on calendar bookings, energy can be saved and rooms optimally used at any given time.
#4 Multipurpose use of space: one premium space for multiple use cases
We suggest that the use case of a boardroom might be broadened as spaces that are fit for multiple purposes. By choosing technology that is configurable and adaptable for different scenarios the boardroom as a space becomes usable and adaptable to new use cases swiftly and effortlessly. Far from the static image of mahogany and stillness, boardrooms should reflect the new corporate culture of the digital transformation era and be high-end tech spaces that are versatile enough to accommodate any type of collaborative work. Indeed, where boardrooms might have been used once quarterly; now equipped with leading edge technology these premium facilities should be repurposed by organizations for different use cases. From task force management, to all-hands preparation, to agile project management sessions or war rooms, these premium spaces should be designed to be adaptable to all collaborative and strategic work scenarios.
#5 Emergency response or crisis management rooms when a crisis hits
In today’s context with the spread of the Coronavirus at a global scale, Boards and C-suite decision makers are gathering to take decisions impacting the future of their businesses on a daily basis. From operational changes, to critical supply chain issues, postponing or shifting investments and staff related matters; boardrooms are ideal for crisis management. In these boardrooms, entire teams meet to facilitate communication, problem-solving, risk mitigation and status reporting. Cyviz’ solutions were designed with this flexibility in mind. They offer the perfect collaboration and meeting space when crisis hit by assuring richness of functionality, guaranteeing productive meetings when there is no time to spare. Crisis management teams and leaders can focus on the important decisions at stake knowing they can rely on the technology without further training to operate the room systems. The Cyviz standardization approach across rooms throughout the organization guarantees that communication flows seamlessly. Technology becomes the enabler and unnecessary stress is relieved. The user experience is easy, consistent and premium when decision-makers need it the most.
Read more about the Cyviz boardroom solutions.
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