Across almost every organisation I work with, the story is the same. People aren’t resistant to technology. They’re exhausted by it.
Drawing on the work of Cal Newport, it’s becoming clear that the issue isn’t a lack of tools or effort — it’s digital overload and constant context switching. Work has become noisy. Attention is fragmented. And the cost is quietly showing up in wellbeing, performance, and culture.
This is why digital workspace transformation matters far more than most organisations realise. And why we LOVE helping organisations fix theirs.
What we see happening
In practice, I see workplaces where Microsoft Teams exists, but it’s used inconsistently. Conversations start in a channel, move to a private chat, get followed up by email, and then end with someone standing at a desk just to get an answer. Before work can even progress, people are trying to remember where the conversation happened.
Documents tell a similar story. Some live in Teams, others on desktops, local drives, shared folders, or a document management system. There’s rarely a shared agreement on where the “right” version lives. Finding a document can take far longer than it should, and confidence quietly erodes along the way.
Leaders often don’t realise the role they play in this. When leaders don’t actively engage in digital tools, staff feel they have to chase information in multiple ways… which not only slows them down, but can lead to a ‘them and us’… the rules don’t apply to Leaders and it’s on the employee to chase.
Simplifying your Digital Workspace
This is what Cal Newport describes when he talks about the modern workplace rewarding responsiveness over value. Constant connectivity creates the appearance of productivity, while slowly undermining the ability to do meaningful, focused work. This is not a personal time-management problem.
It’s a digital workplace design problem, and at its core, a digital workplace change challenge.
What’s often missed is the cultural impact. Poor digital workspace practices don’t just slow work — they shape how people feel at work. When leaders don’t show up digitally, people feel less connected. Decisions feel harder to track. Trust and momentum weaken.
Digital workspace transformation
When leaders do lead digitally — by modelling consistent use of tools, being clear about where work happens, and communicating in shared spaces — connection improves. People feel included. Teams feel more aligned. Culture strengthens quietly but noticeably. Leading digitally has become part of leading, full stop.
True digital workspace transformation isn’t about adding more technology. It’s about simplifying how technology is used so people can think, focus, and work well. This is where workplace technology adoption either supports people or drains them. Without shared norms, even the best tools create friction. With intention, they reduce it.
How your digital workspace links to wellbeing
Improving the employee digital experience is therefore a wellbeing strategy as much as it is a productivity one. Thoughtful employee digital experience consulting looks at how work actually flows, where attention is being pulled, and how digital expectations are shaping behaviour.
Simplifying the digital workplace also helps reduce recognised psychosocial hazards such as excessive workload, constant interruption, and poor role clarity; all of which are now explicitly referenced in Australian workplace health and safety legislation.
In hybrid environments, this becomes even more critical. Effective hybrid work enablement consulting recognises that flexibility only works when digital ways of working are calm, predictable, and human.
Cal Newport’s work reminds us that focus doesn’t survive by accident. It must be designed into the way work happens. That’s where practical digital transformation support makes a real difference.
We’d love to help!
At MEC Consulting, we work as a digital transformation consultant alongside organisations navigating digital workplace change. We help simplify digital ways of working, strengthen workplace technology adoption, and support leaders to lead digitally — not just technically. The result is a calmer digital environment, stronger culture, and work that feels more connected and more sustainable.
In an always-on world, simplicity isn’t a nice-to-have. It’s a competitive advantage. Not because organisations do less — but because they make it easier for people to do what matters most.