Connected employees is a phrase that can intimate workers and confuse leadership. When clarified, it becomes an integral part of your digital transformation.

Connected employees simply means that as employees move around doing their jobs, they have the information they need where they are at that moment. It requires mobile devices because employees are mobile.

An understanding of the types of mobile devices available and the types of information various employees need in what format will help you envision the physical aspects of this concept. Perhaps now you can see why some companies are prioritizing a private 5G network inside the operations.

No one wants a data dump. Some need a single number, some a graph, some a data set, some a visual picture of what they cannot see without the device. No single device will meet all those needs well. Drive device selection by employee need and convenience, not by what the salesman promises.

Headsets for AR, VR and MR have great potential to help employees, but so far their in-use success is somewhat limited. The reason? Size and weight mean they are uncomfortable to use consistently.

Tablets and phones are familiar to most everyone, but how should they be carried and which is right for presenting which kinds of data?

Think of the gains in productivity from merely eliminating the need for workers to find a supervisor to answer questions that could and should be answered with data out of your systems. Or from the supervisor being able to "see" the problem on his phone or tablet while in a different area. All of this technology, data storage and governance, analytics, and provisioning of information exists and is productive right now.

Machine health and connected employees are two components to consider when thinking about your digital transformation roadmap. It's helpful to know where you want to be in one-year, two, or five. Not in specifics, but in the capabilities you want the organization to have that are weaknesses now.

Giving employees what they need to do their jobs well seems a fundamental responsibility of leadership, and it is. It's not magic, but when you see the vast improvements you'll think it was.